PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

Management Theories:
A) Classical Approach Theories
B) Modern Approach Theories
A. Classical Approach Theories
1. Scientific Management Theory/ Taylorism
Scientific Management, also called Taylorism, is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes
workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one
of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management.
Background: Its development began in the United States with Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s
and '90s within the manufacturing industries. Its peak of influence came in the 1910s by the 1920s, it was
still influential but had entered into competition and syncretism with opposing or complementary ideas.
Concept: The thought was led by Fredrick W. Taylor, and he enunciated the principles of scientific
management in 1911 after experimenting on the shop floor of a steel company as a supervisor. He was
influenced by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their Time and Motion study (a study that identifies the
least time required for a motion in workplace and make it scientific) of 1900 and that of Henry L. Gantt
who propounded the idea of scientific selection of workers and harmonious cooperation in 1901.
Taylor rejected the notion, which was universal in his day and still held today, that the trades, including
manufacturing, were resistant to analysis and could only be performed by craft production methods. In the
course of his empirical studies, Taylor examined various kinds of manual labor. For example, most bulk
materials handling was manual at the time; material handling equipment as we know it today was mostly
not developed yet. He looked at shoveling in the unloading of railroad cars full of ore; lifting and carrying
in the moving of iron pigs at steel mills; the manual inspection of bearing balls; and others. He discovered
many concepts that were not widely accepted at the time. For example, by observing workers, he decided
that labor should include rest breaks so that the worker has time to recover from fatigue, either physical
(as in shoveling or lifting) or mental (as in the ball inspection case). Workers were allowed to take more
rests during work, and productivity increased as a result.
Scientific management in Taylors term means:
Develop a science for each element of a mans work which replaces the old rule of thumb
method
Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the past, he
chose his own work and trained himself as best as he could
The workers heartily cooperate with the men so as to ensure that all of the work are done in
accordance with the principles of science which has been developed
There is an almost equal division of work and responsibility between the management and the
workmen. The management takes over all work for which they are better fitted than the
workmen, while in the past, almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were
thrown upon the men.

Relevance: Although scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the
1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These
include analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality; empiricism; work ethic; efficiency and elimination of
waste; standardization of best practices; disdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or to
protect the social status of particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft
production into mass production; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools,
processes, and documentation.
In management literature today, the term "scientific management" mostly refers to the work of Taylor and
his disciples ("classical", implying "no longer current, but still respected for its influential value") in
contrast to newer, improved iterations of efficiency-seeking methods. Taylorism is often mentioned along
with Fordism, because it was closely associated with mass production methods in factories, which was its
earliest application. Today, task-oriented optimization of work tasks is nearly omnipresent in industry.