(a) Frederick W. Taylor and Scientific Management

Taylor was an Industrial Engineer who worked in the United States at a time when industries were facing shortage of skilled labour. For factories to expand productivity, ways had to be looked for to increase the efficiency of employees. Management faced questions such as, whether some elements of work could be combined or eliminated, whether sequence of jobs could be improved or whether there was "one best way" of doing a job. In trying to answer these questions Taylor slowly developed a body of principles that constitute the essence of scientific management.Taylor's first job was at Midvale Steel Company in Philadelphia:While here Taylor analysed and timed steel workers movements on a series of jobs. With time he was able to establish the best way to do a particular job.

But he noticed the workers did not appreciate the speed factor because they feared that work would finish and they would be laid off. So Taylor encouraged employers to pay the more productive workers at a higher rate based on the profits that would result. This system is called the differential rate system. Taylor was encouraged by the results of his work and decided to become a private consultant. His most significant work was while he was consulting for two companies: Simonds Rolling Machine Factory and Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

At Simonds he studied and redesigned jobs, introduced rest breaks and adopted a piece rate pay system. In one operation he studied 120 women employed in tedious work with long working hours. The work involved inspecting bicycle ball bearings. Taylor started by studying the movements of the best workers and timed them. Then he trained the others in the methods of their more effective co-workers and either transferred or laid off the inefficient ones. He introduced rest periods and the differential rate system and the results were that accuracy of the work improved by two-thirds, wages rose by eighty to hundred percent, worker morale increased and thirty five inspectors were now able to do work previously done by 120.

At Bethlehem Steel Taylor and a co-worker studied and timed the operations involved in unloading and loading railcars. At the time each worker earned $1.15 per day unloaded an average of 12 1/2 tons. Taylor introduced rest periods in the day and realised that each man could handle about 48 tons a day. He set a standard of 47 1/2 tons and a rate of $1.85 for those who met the standard. The results were increased efficiency.

However despite his achievements trade unionists and workers started to resist the ideas of Taylor and in defending his philosophy Taylor outlined that it rested on four major principles.

•    The development of a true science of management so that for example the methods for performing each task could be determined.
•    The scientific selection of the worker so that each worker would be given responsibility for the task for which he/she was best suited.
•    The scientific education and development of the worker, and
•    Intimate, friendly cooperation between management and labour.

In conclusion Taylor said that the principles could only succeed if there was a complete mental revolution on the part of both management and labour to the effect that they must take their eyes off the profits and together concentrate on increasing production, so that the profits were so large that they did not have quarrels about sharing them. He strongly believed that the benefits from increased productivity would accrue to both management and labour.