Classical Viewpoint and Scientific Management
Classical Viewpoint: Scientific Management
- pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor and the Gilbreths in the early 1900s, scientific management:
- emphasized the scientific study of work methods to improve the productivity of individual workers
- assumes people are rational
- is concerned with the jobs of individuals
Scientific Management
Frederick Taylor’s four principles of scientific management:
- scientifically study each part of the task
- carefully select workers with the right abilities
- give workers the training and incentives to do the task properly
- use scientific principles to plan the work methods and ease the way for workers to do their jobs
The Gilbreths and Motion Studies
Lillian and Frank Gilbreth…
- applied some ideas for improving efficiency to raising their 12 children
- identified 17 basic motions and applied them to work processes to determine whether the tasks could be done more efficiently
- demonstrated they could eliminate motions while reducing fatigue for some workers
Why the Classical Viewpoint is Important
- work activity was amenable to a rational approach
- through the application of scientific methods, time and motion studies, and job specialization, it was possible to boost productivity
- it led to later innovations such as management by objectives, and goal setting
- it deals mainly with the morphology of formal organizations and also treats one as a machine and the workers as components of the machine
- strength: provides a clear structure of management, its functions and operations
Problems with Classical Viewpoint
- too mechanistic
- tends to view humans as cogs within a machine, not taking into account the importance of human needs
- a major criticism is that it gives little control to the employee on their working lives, makes them too dependent, passive and makes employees working conditions conducive to psychological failure
- this viewpoint is not typically used in today’s workplace