The Principles of Scientific Management

A little about the book

Frederick Winslow Taylor argues that industrial work should be studied in detail and organized around methods that managers can teach. His examples examine what happens when a task is broken into smaller actions, timed, and assigned along with clear responsibilities. The book’s account of handling pig iron is especially revealing about what Taylor hoped to measure.

The text is a historical introduction to a form of management that has influenced factory work well beyond Taylor’s own period. Its confidence in observation and method makes it clear why his proposals appealed to managers. Its treatment of labor and authority also helps explain why readers have disagreed with his assumptions about how much freedom workers should have on the job.

Things You May Not Know About The Principles of Scientific Management

• Specific jobs are central to the case. Pig-iron handling, shoveling, and other industrial tasks let Taylor bring abstract management arguments down to the factory floor.
• Managers acquire responsibilities. Taylor asks managers to study tasks, select and train workers, and cooperate in getting the methods used.
• Work is broken into steps. The method examines components of a job as well as wages, rest, and the organization of the workplace.
• Rules of thumb are a target. Taylor thinks informal customs can conceal better ways of organizing and teaching a task.
• Industrial examples have a place and time. The Bethlehem Steel cases reflect the conditions of large American industrial workplaces at the turn of the twentieth century.