The Principles of Scientific Management

by Frederick Winslow Taylor

Number of pages: 80

Publisher: Dover Publications

BBB Library: Business Classics, Operations Management

ISBN: 978-0486299884



About the Author

Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency.[2] He was one of the first management consultants.[3] Taylor was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas, broadly conceived, were highly influential in the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s).

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Editorial Review

This landmark book not only influenced positively many major manufacturing companies across the globe, but it also set grounds for the first business degree offered by Harvard University back then around 1910. In the book, Taylor simply laid out the fundamentals of scientific management, followed by the principles. He confronted the problems, outlined their underlying reasons, and proposed simple solutions that proved profoundly effective. His well-written words speak to everyone interested in becoming a real manager, a better manager, and truly a scientific manager.   

Book Reviews

“This paper will show that the underlying philosophy of all of the old systems of management in common use makes it imperative that each workman shall be left with the final responsibility for doing his job practically as he thinks best, with comparatively little help and advice from the management. “ Fordham

“Under Taylor's management system, factories are managed through scientific methods rather than by use of the empirical "rule of thumb" so widely prevalent in the days of the late nineteenth century when F. W. Taylor devised his system and published "Scientific Management" in 1911.” Sky Mark

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Wisdom to Share

Workers should be treated fairly, as well as the company.

Problems do exist and they must be faced.

If productivity is to be enhanced, wages have to be improved too.

Productivity and wages both go together when it comes to the win-win philosophy of management.

Focus should be extended also to work tools provided, as well as the work atmosphere.

Anything that is known to influence productivity should be examined.

Managers should be responsible for evaluating work methods and improving them.

Personal friction results in low morale in the workplace, which gravely affects productivity.

Good and jovial professional lines of communication should be established both ways between upper and lower levels.

Friendly cooperation should be the leading style when it comes to management.