Appropriateness of Applying Scientific Management - Coursework Example

Name : xxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxx @2009 Appropriateness of Applying Scientific Management Management can be defined as all those things which are done in the pursuit of attaining the organizations goals; it is also about the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations. It involves the coordination and Organization of strategies and activities in a particular company or enterprise to be in accordance to the certain laid organizations policies all this done with a main aim of achievement of well defined goals and objectives. Often management usually involves such factors as production which goes along with resources utilization such as money, machinery and materials. This paper is going to justify why scientific management principles are much appropriate in a knowledge-based economy and also the likely effects of it to the establishment of a learning organization. The analysis will start by giving a brief overview of the background of scientific management. This section will also look at the brief history of scientific management considering the necessary effects which is the focus of this article. The second section is going to look at the changes and the process of business along the past years. Thirdly the paper will address the challenges that faces managers as they put into use the scientific management today, and lastly the paper will focus on how these managers can be able inculcate and adapt to the scientific management principles of the modern business management. At the very end it will be a conclusion which will look at the main points that will have been discusses in this paper. In the dawn of the twentieth century people started to become involved in ‘project management’; earlier than that any endeavor in this field was regarded as roles which are played by engineers, nation building agencies and so on, and those personalities who got involved in it were highly regarded (Weaver, 2007). One thing to note when we talk about project management is that it is a discipline which revolves around the theme of integration of processes and balancing of the ‘iron triangle’ of time, output and cost. As this core aspect of project management steadily become extended to take up aspects such as quality, risk, communication and other elements the main objective of project management still remains the successful completion of a given project to the best of the project’s stakeholders satisfaction. The evolution of cost control and scope which are facets of management into the precise processes happened before the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century (Weaver, 2007). However, while the achievement of meeting of deadlines has always remained an important factor, the management of time always lacked effective measuring criteria and control processes until the recent years. The most outstanding project, which blended science to the aspect of time control process in management, was realized by Walker and Kelley who developed the (CPM) Critical Path Method for a company, known as E.I. du Pont de Numours. The initiation of approval for funding of this project took place in Newark Delaware on the seventh of May in the year 1957 and as most historians say the rest that took place is history (Weaver, 2007). After few years later in the year 1969, Barnes first made a good description of the management ‘iron triangle’ of cost, time, and output in a training course he come up with dubbed ‘money and Time in Contract Control’(Weaver, 2007). After the marvelous work done by Barnes to come up with that management concept in the year 1969, there was a rapid spread of discussions on project management and also formation of numerous associations aimed at supporting the new idea and trying to put them into use. It is quit evident therefore that the propping up of modern project management was a consequence of the need to make use of the generated data by the schedulers as they took calculations of their plans and tried to reform the discipline of management into greater heights. The needs identified then led to the coming up of various project management associations (Weaver, 2007). Certainly over fifty percent of the people that found the major associations trained using this paper as a reference. The attendances and trainings in early management workshops from these associations also depicts that their focus was almost exclusively to the discipline of project controls and time scheduling in the early decades (Weaver, 2007). Having got refinement and reformation, it can be strongly asserted that, application of scientific management principles in a knowledge-based economy and its likely effect in establishing a learning organization is appropriate. The scientific management has made a big impact on the management service procedures and also to the management ideas. Scientific management process has changed the old modes of management (Winslow, 1997). When we take a critical look at the changes in the global business practices, the many twists and changes in business is shaped by reputation and image which do occur through the ability of individuals and corporate being able to make a series of changes in the industry. This section will take a look at 3 particular industrial era and post industrial era turnouts of scientific management. There are three most remarkable past trends which occurred in the business cycles which include the following, total quality management, organizations as open systems, and contingency approach.    One of the major distinctions of scientific management is that, firms and businesses during the industrial era started to embrace the less discretion of individual worker, especially in large firms where timing of productions started to take center stage in trying to schedule their production and processing rates. According to (Loveridge, 2008), the actual impact of scientific to the post industrial era is the fact that the practical application knowledge is much appreciated on how it be contributed to the growth of the economy (Winslow, 1997) The other difference of the industrial and post industrial eras is that, in the era of up rise of industrial revolution, employees are the ones who had skills to operate machinery. The use of machines has necessitated the upcoming of different scenario to the utility of skills. Therefore through scientific management which is applied in the postindustrial era, employees try more possible ways of lightening their burden of machine use. The post industrial era has also made people to lay more focus in only gathering the necessary skills which they need for their own specific role in a firm. The third difference that exists between the industrial and post industrial era is the fact that, during the industrial era, utilization of knowledge into management is not quit appreciated. What mattered was the matching of individuals to particular work which best suited their skills and experience. According to Katherine Van and Wezel Stone (2004), the Industrial revolution caused changes to occur in the social spheres of management. Employment opportunities were created depending on the technical aspects such as transportation engineering, chemical industry and so on. On the other hand during the post industrial era, scientific management is practiced on the fact that there is dire need to enhance the personal quality of the workers skills. In this era the use of computer has taken center stage of every aspect of management. The internet provides answers and information to any given aspect of our life. The application of communication and information technologies, enterprises has made it possible to eradicate the effects of distance, space, and time. The modern enterprises can now realize the full function ability of their management ventures which was in the past a big hurdle. There seem to be only two distinct challenges which face the use of scientific management by the modern managers. One of the challenges is the difficult of being able to complement the realization of efficiency and effectiveness (Morgan, 2003). This challenge is very difficult to resolve because through scientific management, the managers could find it hard to means to find effective means of creating an enabling environment in realizing the needs of the workers while also meeting the set goals of the organization. The other challenge is that the application of the given skills in sustaining a given system is some how hard. Since learning in an organization is an ongoing process, in an open system, the management must have the provision of ongoing training. The mangers therefore must always find means of gathering more proficiency, they should also factor that workers should also be part of the learning process which creates a big chunk of responsibility to the manger. In conclusion, it can be noted that applying the scientific management definitely makes it possible for an efficient and effective outcome to be realized in a given system. This creates a systematic approach to management which enhances the organizations performance and growth, and culture (Morgan, 2003). This makes the organization to realize its goals. Although it is also tantamount to note that, the modern day knowledge-based economic trends, is not just aimed at increasing the outputs of the organization but also enhancing all matters which are vital in the success of the organization. Hence the usefulness of the scientific management is folded in the concept of sustaining the business but also including the welfare of the workers and how they conduct themselves in making an overall organizational progress. Bibliography Katherine, V. and Wezel, S. 2004. From widgets to digits employment regulation for the changing workplace, Cambridge University Press, UK. Loveridge, D. 2008. The art and science of anticipating the future. Taylor and Francis group, USA. Miner, J.B. 2006.Organizational behavior: historical origins, theoretical foundations, and the future. S.l.: M.E. Sharpe. Morgan, G. 2003. Images of organization, Berrett-Koehler publication, San Francisco. Warham, J. 2007. An introduction to administration for social workers, Routledge, USA. Waring, S.P. 1945.Taylorism transformed: scientific management theory since 1945, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. Weaver, P. 2007. The origins of modern project management, Practical PM Pty, USA. Winslow, F.T. 1997. The principles of scientific management, Dover publications, New York City. Read More