The Scientific Management in Working Place - Essay Example

?Section Introduction In optimizing worker’s productivity, managing worker’s output was revolutionized when Frederick Winslow Taylor introduced the Scientific Management approach in the workplace wherein functions and output is clearly defined and quantified to maximize productivity. Where before managing the workplace is dependent upon the “initiative” of the workers and procedures are based on the rule of thumb, tasks and function are broken down into specifics to clearly delineate duties for possible quantification and optimization of workers output. Process are now clearly defined as well as how to do it that does not leave any room for intuitive job functioning. This is also to achieve uniformity and consistency in production and to make quality and output predictable. Scientific Management is an engineering approach to achieve efficiency in the workplace. Where the workplace or organization can be likened to a machine which is composed of several parts that should work together to achieve optimum efficiency. Principles of Scientific Management The first systematic attempt to address this conflict and labor recalcitrance in organization was directed by Frederick Winslow Taylor with his Scientific Management. For Taylor, the key to establishing an efficient and productive workplace required the possession and control of knowledge about the methods of production (Jaffe, 2008). Taylor's (1911) preface to the Principles of Scientific Management makes this quite clear when he stresses for national efficiency... first, it is teleological in its orientation to means: what is important is securing the desired consequences. Second, in Taylor's philosophy, actions can be judged only by their consequences: a dogged empiricism is allied to an unquestioned grasp of the ends to be served. Third, ends are defined in terms of efficiency (primarily for factory owners) but are represented as the common good (Taylor, 1911). In pursuit of optimum efficiency, this Scientific Management engendered the idea of defining and breaking down of functions in narrowly defined tasks. Organization is viewed like a well-oiled machine where its parts, including labor would conform to the predetermined methods already in place. It proposed an engineering solution to a human issue with the objective of minimizing friction brought by human factor that the results of production may be predictable. According to Frederick Taylor, "Scientific Management is a distinctively scientific, since it aims to correlate in factory administration, and to push development further in accordance with the principles discovered (Taylor, 1911). According to Taylor (1911), the key features of scientific management are as follows: time study, functional or divided foremanship, the standardization of all tools and implements used in trades, the standardization of the acts and movements of workmen in each class of work, a unique planning function, management by the exception method, the use of slide-rules and other similar timesaving methods, instruction cards for workers, careful task Performance Improvement allocation, bonuses for successful performance, the use of a “differential rate,” a routing system, and mnemonic systems for classifying products and modern cost systems. The underlying principles of the philosophy are as follows: (a) the development of a true science for each element of a job, (b) the scientific selection and training of the worker, (c) cooperation with the worker to ensure that the job is being done in accordance with principles of scientific education, and (e) an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management (Wagner, 2007). Section 2. Case: Harvey Fast Food Restaurant I. Shift the decision making responsibility from the workers to managers  Decision making responsibility can be shifted to the managers from the workers when functions are broken down into specific tasks where it can be quantified for the managers to determine objective productivity output. In this way, the determination of optimizing output is shifted to the management as productivity is no longer at the mercy of the worker’s “initiative”. Now it can be determined and measured who does what and how productive the worker assigned to a specific task. II. Use scientific methods to determine the most efficient ways of performing a job and then redesign it accordingly (Time and Motion Studies)  In determining on how to optimize a task, the following methods should be employed, consistent to the principles of Scientific Management, to be able to find an efficient ways of doing a job at Harvey’s Fast Food Restaurant. First, a Job Analysis must be made to gather information about the job that will be redesigned. The scope must be determined of which jobs to include and the methods to be employed in the Job Analysis (in this case, Time and Motion). Data must be collected and analyzed and evaluated against the criteria of benefit. In the case of Harvey Fast Food Restaurant, the scope would be kitchen operation. To determine which method is more productive, time and motion should be conducted comparing the output between the two methods. The first method would be to measure the time consumed for a worker to finish the burger from preparing it to cooking and packaging it. The second would be to measure the same when tasks are divided and assigned to specific worker. The criteria of benefit would be how many burgers are done in a specified time and how long it takes for a burger to be done with a single worker utilizing the two methods. The job process which yields the optimum output should be elected to be used in the production in accordance to the principles of Scientific Management. III. Provide a detailed description of how to perform each step of the job a. Manager – in-charge of the over-all operation of the restaurant. Ensures that all personnel are doing their job, coaches personnel on areas in which they are excelling and areas in which needs improvement. Responsible for the hire and fire of staff when necessary. Also monitors customer satisfaction. Responsible for the staff morale and overall restaurant productivity. b. Hostess- Take customer reservations. Also organizes seating in the dining room and greets customers. Act as a liaison between the kitchen and dining room. c. Chef or head cook - He/she should be responsible for hiring and training other cooks, prep persons and dishwashers. Ensures that all foods are cooked properly and in accordance to the restaurant’s specifications. d. Kitchen workers/dishwashers –Prepare and ensures that all utensils and materials for cooking are available and clean. e. Cashier - In charge of the cash register. Ensure that all sales are accurately accounted and balances the register at the end of the shift. f. Dishwashers – ensure that every piece of cutlery, flatware and cooking equipment is cleaned with the right amount of cleanser at the right temperature for the right length of time to maintain sanitation and prevent the transmission of disease. g. Janitorial staff – is responsible for the overall cleanliness of the restaurant. V. Train workers to do the job efficiently  It is imperative that workers should be trained not only to imbue them with the necessary competencies to do their jobs, but also for them to do it efficiently. Training is necessary in implementing Scientific Management to achieve uniformity in a predictable output. In Harvey’s Fast Food restaurant, now worker should be immersed in the production nor in the dining area without first undergoing the requisite of training. Training should include imbuing company culture to reinforce the necessary behavior that optimizes performance. VI. Closely monitor the worker’s performance  Metrices should be used in measuring performance. Benchmarks should be established in doing a specific task. Take for example for the preparation of a burger. If time and motion study yields that an optimum output should be done in 10 minutes that particular worker’s performance should be measured if he/she was able to perform the desired output accordance to the set parameter. Quality can equally be monitored by the same method as the temperature for cooking is predetermined and how long should the cooking be done. The same can be done in packaging and preparing the burger when it is already cooked. Preparing the same should be in accordance with the same time and specification of delivery to the customer’s table. VII. Provide good incentives to get workers to comply with their new tasks  Motivation plays a very big part to keep the worker doing the specified task efficiently. Such, good performance should be reinforced by providing incentives whenever workers met the standards of specified task. Doing repetitive work can sometimes burn the worker that it should be guarded against to prevent turn over which would entail additional time to train a new worker and other concomitant costs. Say for example that the standard time for the preparation of burger is 10 minutes and the worker during a certain time frame has been meeting and/or exceeding that standard, incentives such as productivity bonus should be given to that worker to keep him/her motivated. REFERENCES Jaffe, David & DeDreu, Carsten K. W., Aug 27, 2007, The Psychology of Conflict and Conflict Management Organizations, Erlbaum Pysch Press, Hoboken, ISBN: 9781410618795 Taylor, F.W., 1911. Principles of scientific manamgent. New York: Harper. Wagner-Tsukamoto, Sigmund. Academy of Management Review, Jan2007, Vol. 32 Issue 1 Read More