Taylors scientific management what is it and how it helps?

Taylors scientific management

Background of F.W. Taylor

F.w. Taylor know as father of scientific management was born in 1856 in USA. He graduated in engineering and began his career as an apprentice in small machine making shop in 1870 and later become the chief engineer of Midval company .

 In Midval company he worked in various position’s and closely observed the work. He didn’t just like the existing method of working within the company because there was tons of waste of fabric and production. He did tons of experiment to seek out out the simplest possible of labor .

Meaning of Scientific Management:

Scientific management means Application of science for every and each work of management. It means applying scientific methods to finish the work with maximum output and replacing the normal methods.

 In scientific management decisions aren't taken by managers because they think its correct but instead decisions are taken after using the scientific methods of study.

Definitions

Scientific management is an organized study of labor , the analysis of labor into its simplest elements and therefore the systematic improvement of the workers, performance of every element – Peter Drucker

Scientific management means knowing exactly what you would like men to try to to and seeing that they are doing it within the best and therefore the cheapest way. – F.W. Taylor

Principles of scientific management:

• Science not rule of thumb:

Rule of thumb means when managers take decisions as per their judgment in personam and knowledge . F.w. Taylor insisted on removing the rule of thumb method by methodology .

 He believed before performing any job it should be analyze scientifically this manner the simplest way of doing the work are often identified.

For example: - A manager of auto mobile industry was using the normal way of producing the cars. But he wasn't ready to meet the availability with the demand. So a replacement manager was appointed, he analyzed the work scientifically. The manufacturing of cars went up and he was ready to meet the demand within the market.

• Harmony and not Discord:

F.W. Taylor suggested that workers and management both should work together without conflicts and work on maximizing the profits of the organization. Management should lookout of worker and reciprocally workers shouldn't save demands to the organization.

For example: - If a corporation earns good profits it should increase the wages of its employees also . Otherwise workers will go a strike and production are going to be stopped which is harmful for both the corporate and therefore the workers. this manner there'll be a conflict between workers and management, company won't be ready to earn profits and wages of workers also will not increase. So, both should work together.

• Co-operation not individualism 

Co-operation should be between workers and therefore the management Workers should be considered as a neighborhood of the management. Management should also let workers to offer suggestions and take decisions, this manner he moral and therefore the trust of worker’s increase. Management should also provide rewards to the workers whose opinion and suggestion is useful for the organization

For e.g. If a worker suggested the ways to scale back cost, then management should hear suggestion and also reward an equivalent .

keeps tools ready for work and more should be undertaken by specialists only.

For e.g. If a worker suggested the ways to reduce cost, then management should listen to suggestion and also reward the same.

 

Workers should also give their best towards the organization because if their organization performs better it is beneficial for them as well, they can demand an increase in their wages.

·         Development of each and every person to his or her greatest efficiency and prosperity:

A success of an organization depends upon the skills and the capabilities of its employees. Taylor suggested that employees should be selected scientifically and training should be provided to them right from the beginning of their selection. Work should be assigned to the employees according to their skills and capabilities.

One effective employee is much better than 10 ineffective employees – No sweat study

Techniques of scientific management

These are the techniques developed by F.W. Taylor to put the scientific management to practice:

Functional Foremanship:

Taylor suggested that different activities like planning the work, repair the machines, timely completion of job, keeps tools ready for work and more should be undertaken by specialists only.

 As one person cannot perform all these activates alone so there should be different experts for different jobs.

Under this technique Taylor suggested the separation of planning and execution of work or we can say separation of planning and production. Taylor suggested that under these two departments there should be experts to guide, supervise, give instructions to the workers but all these activities cannot be found in one man.

So, Taylor suggested eight specialists, 4 working under planning department and 4 under production department.

Under Planning department

·         Instruction clerk

·         Route clerk

·         Time and cost clerk

·         Disciplinarian

Instruction clerk:

The main aim or function of this foreman is to provide instructions to the workers according to which workers are bound to work.

Route clerk:

This foreman specifies Sequence of operation like what is the first activity to be performed and what the 2nd activity like so.

Time and cost clerk:

Fixing the time for starting the job and completing the job and keeping an eye on the cost is the main aim of this foreman.

Disciplinarian:

The job of this foreman is to ensure discipline in the workplace and make sure work is done according to the plans laid down.

Under production Department:

The work of the production department is to get the work done according to the plans laid down.

·         Speed Boss

·         Gang Boss

·         Repair Boss

·         Inspector

Speed Boss:

The responsibility is to make sure that work is completed in time and to make sure work is going according to plans.

Gang Boss:

In order have no delay in the working machines must be kept in order and ready to use. This is the job of this boss

Repair Boss:

This boss makes sure machines and tools are working properly and takes care of repair if necessary.

Inspector:

This inspector ensures that the work done by the employees is according to the desired quality set by the planning department earlier.

Standardization and simplification of work

Standardization means setting standards for each and every work so the actual performance can be compare later with the Standards already set.

Scientific management emphasis on maintaining standard in each and every step of business.

Standards should not only be made for the output but also for the inputs if we want better results like standards for raw material, machines, tools, equipment’s and more.

Standards are not only made for quality but also for size, time, weights and measures.

According to F.W. Taylor standards should be set by using scientific methods of production not by past experiences or personal judgments

In order to setup standards managers must use of work study technique which includes time study, motion study and fatigue study

Simplification

Simplification means to simplify the work by eliminating the unnecessary and verities, sizes, products and types.

For example, a coffee company used to produce different verities of coffee soon manager realize there was not demand for certain coffee verity. So manager eliminated those verities.

Simplification helps in eliminating waste, machine expenses and reduce labor cost resulting in reduce of cost.

Simplification has been used by various big companies like Microsoft and Nokia

Work study

Work study means analyze the performance of workers in work place to come up with better working methods. It includes:

v  Method study

v  Time study

v  Motion study

v  Fatigue study

Method study

There are various methods to complete a job and best method should be found for maximum production and reduction in costs.

For example, in order to manufacture carpet there are two ways, one with hands(manual) and another with machines. Both ways have their pros and cons but the company has to decide on the one which increases productivity and reduces cost.

 If company decides to go for manual or labor intensive, then the cost will be high and productivity will be less but if company decides for capital intensive then production will be more and costs will be less

Motion study

It is the study of various motions by workers will working like picking, turning, sitting, standing, walking which are necessary to perform a job. Now there are some motion which are unnecessary and must be removed to reduce the time and save workers energy to complete the job.

For example: - A worker in a factory should have necessary tools with him while working, he should not go back to tool store for some tools and then come back again to work place and so on. He should carry all the necessary tools with him.

Time study

It is to determine the necessary time required by the worker to complete a particular job. This can be done with the help of stop watches, measuring devices etc. By identifying the time taken by the worker to complete a job it can help the manager to how many workers are required per day and understand the difficulty to perform the job.

Fatigue study

The rest intervals required to perform a job. A worker feels tired after working for long worker and if proper rest is not taken by the worker then he will be not able to work again with his full capacity and may get sick or other health issues. So management has to understand the rest intervals to be provided to workers during their work.