Frederick Taylors Management Theory - Essay Example

This research is being carried out to look at the various criticism against the theory and concludes by a reflection on this theory and how it has impacted the field of management.This was among the first management theories that started the era of modern management. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Taylor was decrying the awkward, inefficient or ill-directed movements of men at the place of work as a national loss. Taylor sought consistently to overthrow the “rule of the thumb” and replace this with actual timed observations leading what he termed as the one best practice.

He advocated for the application of the scientific method in the management of workers because it improved productivity to a large extent. The scientific method he proposed called for the optimization of the way tasks were performed and the simplification of these tasks so that all workers could be trained to perform their specialized sequence of motions in the one “best” way. Taylor while working in the steel industry made some observations purposely operating below their capacity.

This he termed as soldiering. Taylor saw this aspect as a result of the following three causes: (1) The workers had a near universal belief that if they became more productive in their work, fewer of them would be required to perform jobs and therefore jobs would be eliminated; (2) The non-incentive wage systems encourage low productivity among the employees, if the employee will receive the same pay regardless of how much is produced. He observed that employees take great care not to work at a faster pace because of the fear that the pace will set a new standard; (3) workers are seen to waste much of their effort through the reliance on rule of the thumb methods instead of optimal work methods that could be determined by scientific study of the involved task.