Scientific Techniques of Taylor | Free Management Blogs

by Admin · May 16, 2022

Scientific Techniques of Taylor

Taylor (1856-1915) was an American who started his career as a machinist in Midvale Steelworks, Philadelphia and gradually through his hard work and progress, rose to the position of the Chief Engineer. He introduced his observations and experiments based on scientific data. Taylor’s approach towards management is termed as scientific management. For this contribution in development of management thoughts, he is known as the “Father of Scientific Management”.

Taylor’s management theory is based on scientific experiments. This theory involves the application of scientific approach to decision making and solving them at the same time. According to Taylor, problems should be solved by scientific techniques rather than the rule of thumb and a trial and error approach.

Definition of Scientific Management by Fredrick Taylor: “Scientific Management consists of knowing what you (i.e. management) want men to do exactly; and seeing it that they do it in the best and the cheapest manner.”

Techniques of Scientific Management

1) Work Study

Before assigning the work to the available workforce, proper work study should be done by management. Work study consists of an organized, systematic and critical assessment of the various activities or functions. Work study is based on the techniques such as time study, motion study, method study and fatigue study.

A) Time Study: It is the technique of observing and recording the time taken by an employee to complete a given task. With the help of time study, the precise time required for each element of work is determined. It is the technique used for fixing the standard time required to do a particular task under given condition. It is useful to measure the efficiency of an employee and to control the cost of work.

B) Method Study: There are always various methods of completing the task. For best quality and cost effectiveness, identifying the best method of doing a particular job is very important but challenging task for a manager. It helps in reducing the wastage of time, raw material and in improving the utility of all resources as per predefined objetives. It is helpful in determining the methods for handling the raw materials, transportation, inspection, storage etc.

C) Motion Study: The study of required motion means movement of an employee as well as of machine while completing a particular task is very important. It is helpful in eliminating unnecessary motions and finding the best method of doing a particular job. It also helps in improving the efficiency of the employees. Motion technique is used to know whether some elements of a job can be eliminated or their sequence can be changed for smooth flow of task.

D) Fatigue Study: Generally long working hours without sufficient breaks, target pressure, heavy working tools, and poor working conditions result into physical and mental stress i.e. fatigue. It has an adverse effect on the health and efficiency of the employees. The study of fatigue and steps to reduce the level of fatigue is very important to maintain the operational efficiency of the employees.

2) Standardization of Tools and Equipments

With the result of experiments conducted at work place, Taylor advocated standardization of tools and equipments. Standardized working environment and methods of production help to reduce spoilage and wastage of material, cost of production, fatigue among the workers and it improves quality of work.

3) Scientific Task Setting

Taylor emphasized the need for fixing a fair day’s work. Scientific work setting is important to prevent the employees from doing work much below their capacity. By using this technique, employees will complete the task according to standards given and management can keep proper control on optimum utilization of workforce.

4) Scientific Selection and Training

Management can select right persons for the right jobs by using scientific selection procedures. It needs to fix job specifications as per requirement. Employees are selected according to predetermined standards in an impartial way. After selection, management should provide the proper training programmes to increase their efficiency.

5) Functional Organization

In this concept of Taylor, planning is separated from implemetation. That means, planning is done by different people and actual work is supervised by different people. Thus, every worker will be supervised by two different sets of supervisors. He recommended total eight foremen to control the various aspects of production. They are categorized as follows:

A) At Planning Level:
1. Route Clerk- tells how work moves from one machine to other.
2. Instruction Clerk- records instructions to complete the work.
3. Time and Cost Clerk- determines time in which work should be completed and workout the cost
4. Discipline- ensures that the workers are working as per factory rules.

B) At Implementation Level:
1. Gang Boss-actually gets the work done.
2. Speed Boss- ensures that the work is completed in specified time.
3. Repair Boss- handles security and maintenance of mechanism
4. Inspector- ensures that the work is done as per the specified standards.According to Taylor, with the help of proper division of all activities into planning and implementation; management can definitely achieve the required performance from the employees.

6) Differential Piece-Rate Wage Plan

Remuneration should be fixed in such a way that average worker is motivated to attain a standard output. Taylor suggested the differential piece-wage system. Higher rates are offered to employees who complete the work more than the standard quantity under this system. On the other hand, if an employee is performing below the standard; he shall be given lower rate of wages. This technique motivate the employees to attain higher standard performance and earn wages i.e. remuneration at higher rate.

Scientific Techniques of Taylor | Free Management Blogs