Management Theories - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... This led him to believe that in order to increase productivity; employees who reached their targets ought to receive more salary than those who did not. However, he had overlooked the fact that different people tend to have different behaviors and money cannot be the sole motivator of all employees (Flores & Utley, 2000). In addition, Taylor viewed employees as machines th can follow a certain standardized means of production. However, it has to be noted that employees, even the unskilled cannot follow the same processes at all times because they become demoralized by doing repetitive tasks. This implies that forcing employees to do what their managers say do not increase productivity because an employee will slow down his or her work rate if she or he feels that micromanagement is being used on him or her (Flores & Utley, 2000). Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management Taylorism or Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management is the analysis and synthesis of workflow in management. The most important point of the theory was to increase labor productivity and as a result, achieve better economic efficiency. Development of the idea was started in the 1880s and 1890s by Taylor when he realized the importance of applying science in the production industry. While working as a supervisor and a lathe operator in Midvale Steel, he realized that several employees had different capacities of production. This arose from the fact that different employees had different levels of intelligence, talents and motivations. He was among the first people to apply science into the field of production because he wanted to analyze and synthesize the best practices that could lead to a standardized process (Taylor 1911). The best practices would be propagated to all employees in any organization in order to ensure that they were all committed to their work. This would lead to increased productivity and reduced efforts because of using precise procedures, which would be developed after studying each individual carefully while working. The application of scientific management in industries resulted in increased ratio between managers and the laborers. It is of paramount importance to note that many laborers could not differentiate between micromanagement and this type of management. This, in turn resulted in frictions between workers and their seniors in the office. Strikes started to occur in industries because laborers felt that they were mistreated by the managers (Taylor 1911). Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer who was born on 20 March 1856 and died on 21 March 1915. While at Midvale, Taylor realized that workers were not utilizing their potentials as well as the machines they were working with to their full potential. Due to the less productivity of the workers, Midvale Steel was accruing high production costs, which could have been reduced by increasing productivity. When he was promoted to the level of a foreman, his focus was ensuring that workers utilized their potentials. He later left Midvale and opened his own consulting firm, which earned him enormous experience in management (Papesh, 1998). Frederick Winslow Taylor Main Theory As Taylor was developing his ideas, he made three assumptions about people at the workplace. He believed that employees are economic animals whose main aim at the workplace is to maximize their earnings. In addition, he thought that employees should ...Download file to see next pagesRead More