The Principles of Scientific Management is a monograph published by Frederick Winslow
Taylor in 1911. This influential monograph, which laid out the principles of scientific
management, is a seminal text of modern organization and decision theory and has motivated administrators
and students of managerial technique. Taylor was an American manufacturing manager, mechanical
engineer, and then a management consultant in his later years. He is often called "The
Father of Scientific Management." His approach is also often referred to, as Taylor's Principles,
or Taylorism.
Summary of the monograph The monograph consisted of three sections:
Introduction, Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Scientific Management, and Chapter 2: The Principles
of Scientific Management. Introduction
Taylor started this paper by quoting then President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.
stating that "The conservation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger
question of national efficiency." Taylor pointed out that while a large movement had started
to conserve material resources, the less visible and less tangible effects of the wasted human
effort was only vaguely appreciated. He argues the necessity of focusing on training rather
than finding the "right man", stating "In the past the man has been first; in the future
the system must be first", and the first goal of all good systems should be developing first-class
men. He listed three goals for the work:
First. To point out, through a series of simple illustrations, the great loss which the whole
country is suffering through inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.Second. To
try to convince the reader that the remedy for this inefficiency lies in systematic management,
rather than in searching for some unusual or extraordinary man.Third. To prove that
the best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined laws, rules, and principles,
as a foundation. And further to show that the fundamental principles of scientific management
are applicable to all kinds of human activities, from our simplest individual acts to the work
of our great corporations, which call for the most elaborate cooperation. And, briefly,
through a series of illustrations, to convince the reader that whenever these principles
are correctly applied, results must follow which are truly astounding.
Lastly, Taylor noted that while the examples were chosen to appeal to engineers and managers,
his principles could be applied to the management of any social enterprise, such as homes, farms,
small businesses, churches, philanthropic institutions, universities, and government.
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Scientific Management Taylor argued that the principal object of
management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with
the maximum prosperity for each employee. He argued that the most important object of
both the employee and the management should be the training and development of each individual
in the establishment, so that he can do the highest class of work for which his natural
abilities fit him. Taylor demonstrated that maximum prosperity can exist only as the result
of maximum productivity, both for the shop and individual, and rebuked the idea that
the fundamental interests of employees and employers are necessarily antagonistic.
Taylor described how most all workers deliberately work slowly, or “soldier,” to protect
their interests. According to Taylor, there were three reasons for the inefficiency:
First. The fallacy, which has from time immemorial been almost universal among workmen, that
a material increase in the output of each man or each machine in the trade would result
in the end in throwing a large number of men out of work.Second. The defective systems
of management which are in common use, and which make it necessary for each workman to
soldier, or work slowly, in order that he may protect his own best interests.Third.
The inefficient rule-of-thumb methods, which are still almost universal in all trades,
and in practicing which our workmen waste a large part of their effort.
Taylor argued that the cheapening of any article in common use almost immediately results in
a largely increased demand for that article, creating additional work and contradicting
the first belief. As to the second cause, Taylor pointed to
quotes from 'Shop Management' to help explain how current management styles caused workers
to soldier. He explained the natural tendency of men to take it easy as distinct from systematic
soldering due to thought and reasoning, and how bringing men together at a standard rate
of pay exacerbated this problem. He described how under standard day, piece, or contract
work it was in the workers' interest to work slowly and hide how fast work can actually
be done, and the antagonism between workers and management must change.
For the third cause, Taylor noted the enormous saving of time and increase in output that
could be obtained by eliminating unnecessary movements and substituting faster movements,
which can only be realized after a motion and time study by a competent man. While there
are perhaps "forty, fifty, or a hundred ways of doing each act in each trade", "there is
always one method and one implement which is quicker and better than any of the rest".
Chapter 2: The Principles of Scientific Management In this section, Taylor explained his principles
of scientific management. He starts by describing what he considered
the best system of management in then current use, the system of "initiative and incentive."
In this system, management gives incentives for better work, and workers give their best
effort. The form of payment is practically the whole system, in contrast to scientific
management. Taylor's scientific management consisted of
four principles:
First. They develop a science for each element of a man's work, which replaces the old rule-of-thumb
method.Second. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman,
whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.Third.
They heartily cooperate with the men so as to ensure all of the work being done in accordance
with the principles of the science which has been developed.Fourth. There is an almost
equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen. The
management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the workmen, while
in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown
upon the men.
Under the management of "initiative and incentive", the first three elements often exist in some
form, but their importance is minor. However, under scientific management, they "form the
very essence of the whole system". Taylor's summary of the fourth point is Under
the management of "initiative and incentive" practically the whole problem is "up to the
workman," while under scientific management fully one-half of the problem is "up to the
management." It is up to the management to determine the best method to complete each
task through a time and motion study, to train the worker in this method, and keep individual
records for incentive based pay. Taylor devotes most of the remainder of the
work to providing case studies to support his case, including:
Moving pig iron at the Bethlehem Steel Company, with the famous story of the "ox"-like worker
Schmidt Taylor's work at the Midvale Steel Company
Shoveling at Bethlehem Steel Bricklaying, as studied by Frank B. Gilbreth
The inspection of small polished steel balls for bicycle bearing machine shop.
Taylor warned about attempting to implement parts of scientific management without accepting
the whole philosophy, stating that too fast of a change was often met with trouble, strikes,
and failure. See also
Frederick Winslow Taylor Scientific management
References Taylor, Frederick Winslow, Shop Management,
New York, NY, USA: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, OCLC 2365572. "Shop Management"
began as an address by Taylor to a meeting of the ASME, which published it in pamphlet
form. The link here takes the reader to a 1912 republication by Harper & Brothers. Also
available from Project Gutenberg. Taylor, Frederick Winslow, The Principles
of Scientific Management, New York, NY, USA and London, UK: Harper & Brothers, LCCN 11010339,
OCLC 233134. Also available from Project Gutenberg.
External links Principles