Scientific Management(1910-1935)

Frederick Taylor

Henry Gannt

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

Luther Gulick III

Max Weber

Henri Fayol

Scientific Management

The process of approaching various aspects of organizations in a scientific manner using scientific tools such as research, management, and analysis.

Scientific Management Theorists

PURISTS

Frederick Taylor

Henry Gannt

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

TRANSITIONALISTS

Luther Gulick

Max Weber

Henry Fayol

History of the Era

Industrial Age- Migration to cities- Reliance on electricity and

gasoline- Changes both on the farm

and in factories - Autos, airplanes, movies,

and radio became common

History of the Era 1913 – Federal Reserve

System created WWI begins and Panama

Canal opens 1919-1933 Prohibition 1920 - Nineteenth

Amendment 1929 - Stock Market Crash

Prior to Scientific Management Owner, manager, sales, and front office personnel had

little direct contact with production activity. A “superintendent” was responsible for all planning and

staff functions. Worked with “journeyman” mechanics to try to schedule

production. No recognized staff functions. Work methods were determined by individual mechanics

based on personal experience, preference, and what tools were available for the job. “Rule of Thumb”

Frederick Taylor Efficiency Expert in U.S. Steel

Industry Invented New Tool Designs

and Handling Methods Designed Stop-Watch Task

Timing Created Piece-Rate Payment

Scheme Developed Industrial

Departments

Time Studies and the Piece-Rate System Studied most efficient

worker Used stop-watch timing to

measure each production step

Eliminated any unnecessary movements

Designed standardized instruction cards for employees

Employees paid for meeting the established rate of production

Henry Gannt Worked with Taylor at Midvale Steel Company Specialized in incentive wage plans Introduced a differential piece rate system – Task

work with a bonus Permitted workers to improve the production

system Introduced a bonus for foremen based on the

number of their workers who earned bonus

Gannt Chart Information Developed to help

industrial age managers plan for mass production

Utilized to coordinate WWI shipbuilding

Visual display used to schedule based on time

                                                                           

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth- Associates of Fredrick Winslow Taylor, their work was intertwined with his and their motion studies predated Taylor’s system first published in 1903.- Developed the laws of human motion from which evolved the principles of motion economy

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

Pioneers in the field of motion studies and provided the foundation for job simplification, meaningful work, and incentive wage plans.

Analyzed each motion of work for wasted efforts in an attempt to reduce each task to the smallest amount of expended time and energy.

Professed: effective training, effective work methods, improved work environment, positive psychological perspective.

Made the connection between standardization and efficiency Believed that time could not be separated from motion; the two

were intertwined.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Systematically examined how repetitive tasks were performed These repetitive tasks were broken down into Therbligs, which are

systems for analyzing the motions involved in performing a task. This consisted of identification of individual motions, as well as moments of delay in the process, designed to find unnecessary or inefficient motions and to utilize or eliminate even split seconds of wasted time.

Invented and refined Therbligs roughly between 1908 and 1924. Each Therblig had a mnemonic symbol and standard color for charting

Luther Hasley Gulick III Believed that public administration could have made more effective if it were

practiced according to a set of guidelines. All organizations are characterized by a tension between the need for division and

the need for coordination. Work division is the foundation of organization. It is important to recognize that there are limits beyond which labor cannot

usefully be divided. Gulick stated, “It might be more efficient to have the front half of the cow in the pasture grazing while the rear half is in the barn being milked, but any attempt to divide the cow in this fashion would, for obvious reasons, fail.”

Gulick believed that, labor divided makes for efficiency, but only if the labor and its outputs are harmonized with the organization’s goals

Organization of Work Units - Gulick By Purpose – the aims of the work unit By Process – what the unit actually does By Clientele – work with similar materials or

clients By Location – organized together due to

geographic location, regardless of function

Five Factors that Limit Full Coordination - Gulick

Uncertainty concerning the future Lack of knowledge on the part of the leaders Lack of administrative skills on the part of the leaders A general lack of knowledge and skills on the part of the

other members of the organization The vast number of variables involved and incompleteness

of human knowledge, particularly with regard to man and life

Seven Administrative Procedures - Gulick

Planning Organizing Staffing   Directing   Coordinating   Reporting Budgeting

Gulick’s Definition of Leadership

The most difficult task of the chief executive is not command, it is leadership, which is the development of the desire and will to work together for a purpose in the minds of those who are associated in any activity.

Gulick sees ideas as more potent and more powerful than organizations.

Gilbreths and Gulick ComparedGILBRETHS

- Devoted to Efficiency- Analyzed Motion and

Movements of Workers- Created Therblig System- Their studies were part of

the manufacturing revolution in the U.S.

GULICK- Applied Scientific Method to

Management- “Dean of American Public

Administration”- Division of Labor and

Integrated Organization- Applied Scientific Approach to

Personnel Management- Defined work in terms of

positions needed to carry out a process, rather than the people doing the work

Max Weber Weberian Model of Bureaucracy

Division of Labor and Specialization Impersonal Orientation Hierarchy of Authority Rules and Regulations Career Orientation

Weber’s Description of Power and Authority in Organizations

CharismaticTraditionalLegal

Criticisms of Weberian Bureaucratic Model

Dysfunctional Consequences Neglect of the Informal Organization Internal Inconsistencies Gender Bias Oppressive Features Organizational Pathologies

Weber’s Influence on Educational Organizations

Described the bureaucratic characteristics used by most educational institutions.

Described organizations as social systems that interact and are dependent upon their environments.

Provides a starting point for modified structures.

Henri Fayol (1841-1925)

Fayol’s Five Functions of Management

1. Forecasting and Planning

2. Organization

3. Command

4. Coordinate

5. Control

Fayol’s 14 Principles for Organizational Design and Effective Administration

1. Specialization/Division of Labor

2. Authority with Corresponding Responsibility

3. Discipline

4. Unity of Command

5. Unity of Direction

6. Subordination of Individual Interest to the General Interest

7. Remuneration of Staff

Centralization

9. Scalar Chain/Line of Authority

10. Order

11. Equity

12. Stability of Tenure

13. Initiative

14. Esprit de Corps

Weber and Fayol ComparedSimilarities

WEBER- Ideal Type- Hierarchy of authority- Division of Labor- Career Orientation- Rules and Regulations

FAYOL- One Best Way- Top Down Management- Specialization- Stability of Tenure- Discipline

Weber and Fayol ComparedDifferences

WEBER- Organization as a Social

System dependent on environment

- Rationality- Impersonal Orientation- Administrative Efficiency

FAYOL- No parallel- Personal experience and

observation- Esprit and Initiative- Future Planning

Scientific Management’s Impact on Organizations

Defined Administrative Roles

Supervision of work rather than people

Work specializations Span of control Cost accounting

Homogeneity of Positions Engineering for Efficiency Assembly Line Production Emphasis on Quality

Control

Scientific Management’s Effect on Schools

Teaching Objectives Vocational Curriculum Design Division of Labor Subjects Departmentalized Improvements by Analysis

Data-driven decisions Outcomes for Instruction

Standardized assessments Teacher Merit-pay Staff Development Programs

Scientific Method of Management Contrasted

Scientific Management- The most efficient manner to

perform a task is determined and everyone does it that way

- Task Analysis- Personnel Selection and

Training- Bureaucratic Organization

Structure- Span of Control and Top

Down Management

Humanistic Approach- Concern for people not the task- Participatory decision-making- Emphasis on Individual

Contributions and Personal Awareness

- Flexibility

Scientific Method of Management Contrasted

Scientific Management- The most efficient manner to

perform a task is determined and everyone does it that way

- Task Analysis- Personnel Selection and

Training- Bureaucratic Organization

Structure- Span of Control and Top

Down Management

Social Systems Approach- Focused on the interaction of

the organization and its larger environment

- Leaders are high-task oriented (work structure) and high-relationships oriented (concern for others)

- Organizations are a set of interrelated elements functioning as a whole

Scientific Method of Management Contrasted

Scientific Management- The most efficient way to

perform a task is established and everyone does it that way

- Task Analysis- Personnel Selection and

Training- Bureaucratic Organization

Structure- Span of Control and Top

Down Management

Situational Leadership- No one style is appropriate for

all situations- Increased involvement in

decision making- Collaborative Planning- Flexible Change Strategies- Unique Organizational

Personality must be accounted for in structure, leadership, and decision-making

Scientific Method of Management Contrasted

Scientific Management- The most efficient manner to

complete a task is determined and everyone does it that way

- Task Analysis- Personnel Selection and

Training- Bureaucratic Organization

Structure- Span of Control and Top

Down Management

Futuristic Approach- Focus on an improved,

decentralized system of management

- “Learning organizations” able to predict for and respond to a changing environment

- Organizational Change Models that help organizations prepare for future challenges