Taylor and scientific management

Résumé du document

Even if Taylor's main researches date from the end of the XIXth century, these still exert an important influence on nowadays' industries, such as the car industry. Indeed, Taylor's works remain an important basis in the organizational structure of many fields of activities. Obviously, many points have been reviewed and bettered in order to adapt to the technological changes which marked the XXth and XXIth centuries. However these researches remain crucial to understand how the various organisational models evolved. Moreover, Taylor's theories inspired many ideas, namely Ford's. These are the reasons why we have chosen to deal with Taylor in this report, and to deepen our knowledge on this researcher. We shall first discuss his career and background to introduce him as a great engineer. Then we will throw light on the economical context in which he evolved and what inspired his ideas, and explain his organisational theory. After that, we will study the results related to the application of his researches. Finally, we will underline the main drawbacks of his theory, and give our personal point of view.

Extraits

[...] “This paper has been written: First. To point out, through a series of simple illustrations, the great loss which the whole country is suffering through inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts. Second. To try to convince the reader that the remedy for this inefficiency lies in systematic management, rather than in searching for some unusual or extraordinary man. Third. To prove that the best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined laws, rules, and principles, as a foundation. [...]

[...] These come from the scission between the “Managers” and the “executants”. Progressively, the first entrusted the responsibility to gain always more productivity. The managers have to achieve objectives and do not have to worry about the social factor. To the seconds, they do not have freedom in their work. And since the methods of standardization, the workmen without qualification, simple more flexible and less expensive executants are preferred with skilled workers, in order to perennialize the system. Gradually, the initial conditions of the end of 19th century having pushed Taylor to develop its method of Scientific Management are erased: The lack of education is not any more a sufficient reason to separate execution and the preparation of the work. [...]

[...] To seek the maximum of productivity. To promote the development of each employee for his greater effectiveness and prosperity. The four advantages of scientific management can be resumed by: The cost price of manufacture decreasing thanks to an improved production, the industrialist can carry out better benefit. The consumers benefit from it, since they can less expensive buy products whose selling price must decrease in a significant way. The workman receives wages higher than that which it received before, and this without its schedules of work increasing. [...]

[...] Indeed, he timed and broke up the successive phases of work, sought the most effective gestures, and adapted the tools to the different tasks. Thanks to his researches, the workers managed to reduce their gestures to the minimum. For example, the workers could handle more iron without additional effort (48 tons per day against 12,7 tons previously). Furthermore, the profits of productivity were so high that the wages were increased by As a consequence of higher productivity, the number of workmen passed from 600 to 140 (these experiments will be developed in B2). Then Taylor was employed by Bethlehem Iron in 1890. [...]

[...] Taylor then advised to lay them out in line. By this way, the masons were able to take each brick faster. Furthermore, he made the mortar better prepared, in order to reduce the time the workers spent hitting on the bricks. Finally, he taught the masons how to do movements simultaneously with their two hands, to gain time. As a result of this experiment, Gilbreth's masons were henceforth able to lay 350 bricks an hour instead of 120, and with less tiredness. [...]