The Influences of Scientific Management on Organization – Mgmt Essay
Taylor, who firstly brought up a new topic, Scientific Management, which is considered the strongest and only economical motive by both workman and entrepreneur in the early 20th centuries. It includes three parts: a)
the study of time and action; b) the management on
assignment; c) the theory of organization. (8)Taylor’s theory created a revolution in the subject of management because it was the first scientific method in field of management science. (1)After that, management became a truly scientific knowledge and it expanded and modified by later generations. Therefore, Taylor is “known as the father of scientific management”. (2) Taylor put forward a perspective which was “study the character, the nature and the performance of each workman” and moreover, to “train and help and teach this workman”. (3) In the following paragraphs, will exploring the relevant and irrelevant hypotaxis between Scientific Management and organizations.
Scientific Management also has a relationship with today’s environment because it has two advantages. Firstly, compare to the past, management is getting more scientific. How to improve production efficiency is the starting point of Scientific Management, and also is the final destination. It aims to unearth and cultivate workmen’s endowment, let them have the best performance in their work —to obtain the highest efficiency farthest. Taylor said that the enormous increasing in production efficiency was the evident distinction to differentiate which a nation was civilized one or not. Moreover, it is the huge progressive emblem of human’s community. To change the production efficiency, he focused on management and labor. It based on “co-operation between the management and workers” (4) close together. The most quick and effective way is to import scientific analyses and knowledge into management practice, using scientific method instead of experienced way in various categories of work. “Bring everyone’s production efficiency into full play to accomplish maximum profit.”(5)For example, nowadays in the situation of teem of two workers in the factories, the fact is clearly identical. To understand that a worker and his helper, their workmanship become a extraordinary skill .The worker and his helper can produce two TV sets in one day, meanwhile, their competitor and helper can only produce one. After selling, the worker and helper can earn more money; the management can make more profits. In the same way, two competitive companies, different areas in a country, even between two nations, they will have the same situation while they in the same competitive market. In any case, maximum profit can only be occurred when the production efficiency is maximized. And Scientific Management is a better medium to increase production efficiency (6).
Secondly; it created a revolution in the inner world of labor and management. The change in the mental world is absolutely necessary if management try to control more efficacious. “Scientific Management’s routine characteristic is in harmony, but not in discord.”(7) The most important point in each element of Scientific Management is the labor and capital closely co-operated; peaceful coexistence, but not struggle; show love and respect instead of quarrel and conflict; take a identical target instead of proceed in opposite directions; to understand and trust each other instead of to be envious; let the labor and capital become friends instead of opponents. (8) These are the essence of Scientific Management. “To co-operated, but not to be individualism.”(7) Taylor placed emphasis on the capital need to respect, show consideration and feel sorry for labor; eliminate the uneasy factors in a work conditions; make workers feel happy during working hours. He believed that management and worker can be co-operated because of they could agree with each other for making profit. Higher wages is the only target of labor. Capital wants to seek out the way to achieve minimum capitalized cost. Taylor deemed that if capital and labor can agree with him, and makes the mental revolution happen afterwards, thus they can sign the productivity agreement and then pay more attention on how to increase the surplus rather than argue about the distribution of surplus make, until the surplus make is big enough. Anyway, it is the first time to treat a worker like a human being, but not a tool as machine does; the first time to pay close attention to human factor’s effect in the business management. Those opinions he had pointed out, take a big step in the history of management idea.(8) In this day and age, one Japanese company which called Panasonic has followed what Taylor said, the boss always thinks about the inferiors, listens to what they claim about. The head tells everybody in the company that Panasonic belongs to everybody and he gives workers about 10% shares in the stock market. All employees in the company have strong sense of responsibility. So Panasonic become one of the most famous companies on the world. In China everyone knows one adage, “A gentleman is ready to die for his bosom friends”. They have analogous meaning. Capital cares labor, thus labor would “fight” for them.
“Taylor was not really concerned with other organizational or management issues.
His focus was on efficiency.”(9) Consequently, for aim to improve the production efficiency, he suggested that people had to follow what his method said. However, workers might not be adopting Taylor’s method. (10) Although the time for products is decreasing, whereas products reiterate again and again. Taylor’s method was “characterized as the machine model of organization”. (9) His opinions caused a conspicuous influence on the business organization and how workers were took over. However, unfortunately, labor dislikes this way. Labors are humans, not machines. They can not do the things like machines do. They have feelings, they can not over working and concentrate for long periods, and otherwise, they will feel deep pressure and decrease the working efficiency. In this case, some workers will slack in work, no matter how much the wages are. (If wages are too low, they will leave the factory or company). Several times later, others who originally work really hard will be affected by those people, such an example like termites, a big house maybe destroyed by merely a small brood of termites. Therefore, others will follow those “termites”, because they might think that if everybody has the same salary, why should they keep doing hard at work? It is unfair. At last, a vicious circle created. Theses firms will decreasing productive and might be exit the market.
The ultimate purpose of Taylor’s method is aim to improve economical benefits. If a firm in the market can not produce the economical benefits, it will be supplanted by others in the market, and not only of this, a firm which can not make economical benefits also waste of social resource, commit a crime. (8) However, Taylor omitted the social benefit. It will make firms resort to dubious shift to further their interests, ignore the long-term benefits, offend against the law, ruin social benefits, and lose market or even make the social economic shaky and unstable. For example, one famous magazine has discussed and elected top 500 businesses in the world in 1950s.After 40 years, half of them disappeared. The basic reason is that they only seek about the economical benefits. However, Panasonic has done quite well. It combined the economical benefits and social benefits. This is the reason that why Panasonic undefeated. (8)
Although Taylor’s Scientific Management brought out many scientific points, he leaved one important thing out of consideration. That was what people called humanism. (8)What he researches is still the technological innovation inside the work. Nowadays people can only consider it to be an excellence theory in workshop management. Because in the capitalist society which based on private ownership of productions, capital is wanted as primitive accumulation and surplus wealth is shortage, capital and labor can not agree with the radical benefits. Capital purses infinity surplus value, so they would not authentic care or feels sorry to labor. Thus, what Taylor’s method tried to harmonize class contradictions between the capital and labor, unite them as a unity that share the mutually beneficial, however, it will only be treated as a beautiful fantasy. (8)
To sum up, Scientific Management attaches importance to technology and individual work efficiency too much, omits many limitations such as the whole function of business. However, because of Taylor, production efficiency has improved, products become more and more plentiful. Nowadays people can have a rich and colorful life like a king in the past. (8) “Much of core of Scientific Management remains with us today, only been modified, updated and given a human face.”(9)
References:
Samson, D. &Draft, R. L. (Pacific Rim Edition) Management. Australia: Thomson Learning.(page 51-52)
Patricia H. W. &R. Edward Freeman. (1995) Business ethics. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, vol.11, (page 622).
Taylor, F. W. (1947) Scientific Management. New York: Harper.(page 47)
Nigel Slack. (1995).Operation Management. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, vol. 10, (page 186-187).
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