Frederick Winslow Taylor

The Advent of Scientific

Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor

(1856-1915)

Taylors Early Years

Taylor on far right, pictured with

mother, father, grandfather, younger
sister Mary and older brother Edward.

Frederick Taylor was

born in Germantown,
PA in 1856
Father Prosperous
Lawyer
Mother Puritan roots
to Colonial times

Taylors Early Years

Frederick Taylor

Taylor, on the left, with brother

Edward & sister Mary.

Taylors Early Years

Advantage of fine prep

school Philips Exeter
Academy, NH
Travels to Europe
Membership in an
exclusive social club
Did not go to Harvard
due to failing eyesight
Began as a factory
apprentice pattern
maker
His early experiences
as a worker shaped his
views of management.

Taylor at Midvale Steel

Started as a laborer
in 1878 and worked
his way into
management.
As a worker, then a
first line supervisor,
he observed
numerous industrial
practices that led him
to his lifes work.

Frederick W. Taylor from his Midvale days, circa

1886
Courtesy Frederick Winslow Taylor Collection,

Taylor at Midvale Steel

Taylors report card from Phillips Exeter Academy

Taylor took a home

study course to get
his college degree
in mechanical
engineering in
1883 from Stevens
Institute of
Technology at
Hoboken, New
Jersey.

Natural Soldiering

Natural soldiering the natural instinct

and tendency of men to take it easy.
Taylor blamed management for not
designing jobs properly and not offering
proper incentives.
Taylor initially thought that a supervisor
may be able to inspire or force workers
to stop natural soldiering.

Systematic Soldiering

Systematic soldiering resulted from group

pressure on individuals to conform to
output norms set by the work group.
Taylor attributed this to a lump of labor
theory.
Taylor felt he could overcome soldiering
and improve the situation if workers knew
that the production standards were
established by a study of the job, rather
than by historical data, and if incentives
could be provided.

Time Study

Time study was a prescriptive in that

Taylor sought to identify the time a job
should take.
Time study was analytical, breaking the
job into its components and eliminating
useless movements; and constructive,
building a file of movements that were
common to other jobs.

Search for Science in Management

Taylor intended to use a scientific fact-finding method to determine a
better way to work. These are Taylors notes for shoveling.

The Optimum Shovel for Loading

A Better Way

In modern terms, Taylors

concept of job design was
to analyze the job,
discard wasted
movements, and
reconstruct the job as it
should be done.
He also sought to find the
right tools, the right way
to operate the machinery,
and the right way to
operate the machinery to
make the job more
efficient.

A Better Way

At the time, Scientific

Management was the
latest management
fadit was bigger than
reengineering and lean
manufacturing is today.
The ad on the left
demonstrates the
popularity.
However, the ad is
misleading. There is not
one, all purpose
scientific shovel the
ideal shovel is based on
the weight of material it
moves.

Front Page News

Taylor made front page

news the Sunday after
he spoke at the ASME
conference in 1903.
He basically read Shop
Management word for
word to the group.
Even though many
thought his speech
was boringthe story
made it to the front
page.

Frederick Taylor and

Incentives
Taylor criticized systems of payment
based on quantity and quality of
work.
Taylors system consisted of:

(1) observation and analysis through time

study to set the standard
(2) a differential rate system of piecework
(3) paying men and not positions.

Frederick Taylor and

Incentives

Taylor discouraged profit sharing because it

did not reward the individual and because
it occurred long after the performance.
Taylors differential piece-rate paid those
who did not reach the performance
standard an ordinary rate of pay (like
minimum wage); a higher rate of pay was
given for attaining the standard.
Taylor also recognized non-economic
incentives, like promotion and shorter
hours.

First-Class Worker

Taylor believed that everyone was best

or first class at some type of work.
Taylor believed there should be a match
between a persons abilities and the
persons job placement.

Task Management

Task Management consisted of time

study and developing performance
standards.
Selection of workers and the differential
piece rate system was included.
Management was responsible for
designing the job properly.
Task Management depended on
planning, organizing, and guiding the
work to completion

Figure 7-1 Functional Foreman

Functional Foreman and Task

Management

Taylor had the idea that knowledge was

authority.
Supervisors could not know everything about
the planning and performance of the work.
Functional specialists would provide
assistance to workers.
In retrospect, Taylor had recognized the need
for staff advice and assistance from people
who had special abilities or knowledge.

Taylor after Midvale

He developed an accounting system based

on the Hayes-Basley system used by RRs.
He became a consultant for various firms,
such as Simonds Rolling Company and
Bethlehem Steel. He implemented his
ideas in these and other firms with varying
degrees of success.
He also traveled and lectured to various
groups to promote his ideas.

Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel

Story of Henry Knolle and

Bethlehem Steel

Taylor conducted his

famous pig-iron
experiments at
Bethlehem Steel.
James Gillespie and
Hartley Wolle, Taylors
assistants, established an
incentive for loading pig
iron at Bethlehem Steel.
Workers refused to work
by the piece and were
discharged.
Taylors story of the
experiments centered on
Henry Knolle although
three men participated.

Henry Knolle (also Noll)

Stood 5 feet 7 inches tall

and weighed 135
pounds.
He came down through
history as Schmidt in
the embellished
recollections of the pig
iron experiments at
Bethlehem Steel.
He averaged between
$1.35 and $1.70 per day
(average rate was $1.15
per day).
In the story, he was the
only worker to persevere
throughout the pig-iron
loading he was a First
Class Man.

Taylors Patents
Two-Handled Golf Club

Tennis Racket with Curved

Handle

Personal Information on
Taylor

Taylor as a crossdresser: during a

theatrical performance
by an all-male club of
which he was a
member, he took the
role of Miss Lillian.
Taylor said that there
were only two places
so sacred that no one
should swearthe
home and the golf
course.

Taylors love of golf led to soil and grass studies

Boxly - Taylors Home

Recreated room with actual furnishings

from Taylors home located at Stevens
Institute

Taylors Wife Louise

Taylors Family

The Taylors did

not have any
children of their
own.
They adopted
their friends
three younger
children after the
parents sudden
death.

Taylors Death

Taylors grave site at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in

Philadelphia

Taylor died the day after

his 59th birthday from
pneumonia in 1915.
His wife died in 1949.
By that time the Taylor
family plot was full but
Louise wanted to be
buried by Fred.
Her remains were
cremated and the urn
was placed in Freds
grave.
This was not a last effort
at efficiency but
necessitated by the
space available.

Taylors Books

Taylors Books

Shop Management was published in 1903.

It was based on a speech delivered earlier
to the ASME.
The Principles of Scientific Management was
published in 1911 by Harper and Row.
Speculation exists over the true authorship
of the book; although published under
Taylor's name, Harper and Row paid all
royalties to Morris L. Cooke.

Summary

Frederick W. Taylor was a central figure in

the development of management thought.
Taylor is considered the most influential
contributor by management and business
historians.
His work was more reform than scientific.
He willingly used others ideas that worked,
like Gantts task and bonus incentive plan
and the Hayes-Basley accounting system.

Summary

Frederick W. Taylor came into the industrial

scene at a time when better management was
needed;
He gave credibility to the idea of managing
more efficiently while paying workers higher
wages;
He foresaw the need for planning through
setting standards;
Others would extend his idea of first-class
workers into better personnel management;
He made advances in improving jobs, tools, and
methods.

What contributions did Taylor make that would be considered

important to management theory and practice today?