Scientific Management Theory: Revolutionizing Efficiency and Productivity

This analysis report will cover the following about what exactly Bureaucratic and Administrative management means, and the specific management style of Scientific Management. We will beging this essay with definitions of the main terms and its goals below.

Bureaucracy as a Possible Approach for Management

Bureaucratic is a legal approach to management where the rules set within a business are straighter forward with no emotion/feelings. Organisation and structure are the two main elements creating a hierarchy that clearly defines these rules. This ensures management to achieve organisational goals to create the ‘ideal’ organisation/business. The aim of Bureaucratic management is to achieve qualification-based hiring, merit-based promotion, chain of command, division of labour, impartial application of rules and procedures, recorded in writing and lastly managers being separated from owners.

Max Weber is the man of Bureaucracy who was a German political economist and sociologist, who is a modern example to organisational theory. Rational legal decision-making rules and organizational hierarchy have both shaped into public and private sectors and how they view the term of Bureaucratic management. An example of the public sector would be the ‘Environmental Protection Agency’ and an example of the private sector would be ‘IBM’. The second term of this analysis question is administrative management. This style of management concentrates on the principles of management: planning, organising, coordinating, commanding and controlling. Overall there are 14 principles of management. The five stated earlier being the most important when it comes to administrative management. It helps manage information through people. It is a more formalized approach to management by forming a clear division of labour upon employees, the delegation of authority and power to those higher up in the hierarchy of areas of responsibilities.

In this analysis I will be examining scientific management formed by Frederick W. Taylor, Lillion and Frank Gilbreth and Henry Gantt. The main ideas of this theory are to identify the best, most efficient way to complete a job/task by studying and testing out different work methods. To improve economic efficiency and especially labour productivity.

Main Points, Pros and Cons of Scientific Management Theory

Briefly explaining the main ideas of scientific management goes step by step. First is to find the best way to complete each element of work by studying it and figuring out a solution. Second is to scientifically select, train, develop employees to help them reach their full potential in their assigned task. Third is to cooperate with employees to make sure they are following the guidelines you both agreed on. Fourth is to ensure equality within the employees and make sure there is an equal division of work between the managers and employees within the business. Lastly is to compensate pay with fair analysis of an employees work day. These steps help shape the management style of scientific management.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to scientific management. The main points of the theory that I admire is how it can train the minds of the employees to achieve higher results in work production. This is done through the specialization of division of labour so that employees are placed in areas of work that they already have good knowledge of and specialise in. It can improve the connection between employees and managers and revolutionise the mentally of both internal stakeholders. The reduction costs of production could be an advantage IF employees succeed to adapt well to the changes and perform well in their positions. Two aspects that I suspect could go wrong with scientific management is that for small firms, this is very unsuitable as it would be too costly for the business to carry out these rules and regulations. Another disadvantage would be if the employees are unable to adapt to the new rules. If so, this creates a poor response from the workers.

‘The Mcdonaldization of society” written by George Ritzer in 2000. Clearly specifies how scientific management is used in the contemporary world. For example, ‘McDonald’s’ is a huge franchise company that has thousands of stores across the globe. Some management techniques that were stated in the book were that McDonalds ensures that there are ‘precise cooking times for all the products’ and ‘temperature settings for all equipment’. This was achieved by the subdivision of labour; McDonalds broke the employees into smaller groups so they would only concentrate on their section of the job. For example, the cooks were expected to grill the meat moving from left to right, with six rows of patties and six patties each. (Ritzer (2000) page 38). McDonalds is a perfect example of a successful company that has benefited scientific management. Every McDonalds employs the same techniques and rules, making it the largest restaurant chain in the world. McDonald’s has changed the world of ‘fast food’ and has ensured consumers that they will receive their order within a very small frame of time and continuously achieves this with highly trained staff.

Frederick W. Taylor, Frank Gilbreth and Lillian have all successfully changed the way businesses operate and function together with managers and employees. By setting tasks and goals to be achieved to ensure maximum quality production. Frederick W. Taylor achieved developing scientific methods to doing work, providing awards for meeting goals, establishing goals for productivity and training employees on how to use methods to achieve overall productivity and goals. The only factor that would set back Frederick W. Taylor from fully achieving his scientific management theory would be that setting an exact time, place and structure would leave no scope for the employee to think clearly about what they are assigned to do. In other words, the employee may feel overwhelmed or pressured to achieve these goals/tasks set by the managers.

Scientific management has benefited many aspects of a business. Scientific management can improve a workplace cost of reduction, better quality products, division of labour, better working conditions and utilization of resources. It will also benefit internal stakeholders such as owners and shareholders as increased production and productivity, will lead to more turnovers which results in increased profits for investors. For the employees, their job may become more easier as tasks are set out for individuals who are more fit for the role of the position with the help of professional training, they can feel more at ease at work because of the fact that they are succeeding in their job position. Consumers can also benefit from scientific management as they can attain a higher standard living of life as they are spending less money on products. With the utilization of resources, companies are able to reduce their waste, which will initially benefit the environment in the long run.

Conclusion

Scientific management is still being used till this day in 2019. The reason being in my opinion is that allocating an employee to a certain position ensures they are capable of achieving tasks whilst learning new skills and techniques is a huge advantage for a business’s productivity and production outcomes. The number one mission that businesses want to achieve is higher profits and lower costs. I believe that scientific management can succeed in both these areas by extending and enforcing rules, regulations and training that employees need to develop and learn in order to achieve high goals and to also set room for improvements. The McDonald’s scenario is a perfect example of how scientific management is still used in the contemporary world. McDonald’s being the largest restaurant chain around the world ensures the quality of work performance and productivity by allocating positions for each employee and training them in a specific way to achieve this. An example would be if a girl/boy was hired to be at the front counter, then they would be trained by management on how to use the cash register and serving customers. To improve scientific management for the future would be to interact with the employee’s feelings and emotions more as in some cases, employees are not comfortable in the position/role that they are currently in. that is because employees do not have a say in what position their manager places them in. So for future reference, an advantage for a business would be to connect with their employees more to see and hear their visions and opinions. This way, employees may be more reliant to try harder and succeed more in these positions as they feel their opinion has been valued in regards to their healthy mind set at work.

References

1. Taylor, F. W. (1911). Principles of Scientific Management. Harper & Brothers.

2. Drucker, P. (1954). The Practice of Management. Harper & Row.

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4. Kanigel, R. (1997). The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency. Viking Press.

5. Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management Laureates: A Collection of Autobiographical Essays. JAI Press.

6. Pierce, B. (2004). The Making of the Modern Law of Defamation. Oxford University Press.

7. Gonzalez, M., Gasco, J. L., & Llopis, J. (2007). Taylorism and Human Resource Management. Management Decision, 45(6), 976-992.

8. Simons, R. (2011). Theories of Organizations. Sage Publications.

9. Reh, F. J. (2020). Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management. The Balance Small Business.

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10. Bowersox, D. J., & Closs, D. J. (1996). Logistical Management: The Integrated Supply Chain Process. McGraw-Hill.