Taylor's scientific management

In one paragraph

F. W. Taylor argued that work should be studied scientifically to find the single most efficient method, and that workers should be paid by output.

Taylor's method: break a job into its elements, time each one, find the most efficient sequence, train everyone to do it that way, and pay by results — piece rate, so more output means more money.

The underlying assumption is that people are motivated primarily by money and will work harder if paid per unit.

Why it still matters

It is easy to dismiss as dehumanising, and much of it was. But it is the ancestor of a great deal of modern practice: standard operating procedures, process mapping, lean manufacturing and productivity measurement all descend from the idea that work can be studied and improved rather than simply worked at harder.

It is also visibly alive in warehouse picking rates, delivery drop targets and call-centre handle times — which is where the modern criticisms land.

How to actually use it

• The defensible half is standardisation: when several people do the same task different ways with different results, writing down the best-known method genuinely helps.
• The dangerous half is the incentive. Pay by volume and you get volume — including the corners cut to reach it. Only use output pay where quality is easy to measure.

Where it breaks down

• Treats people as an input rather than a source of ideas, and ignores the social and esteem needs Maslow and Mayo identified.
• Piece rate drives quantity at the expense of quality, safety and cooperation, and breaks down entirely in knowledge work where the output is not countable.

If you are being examined on it

Contrast it with Mayo or Herzberg. Examiners want to see you place it as one view of motivation among several, not the answer.

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