SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE
The Objective End of the Management-Theory Pendulum
The history of management theory, like that of fashion, has shown a pendulum effect. As hemlines have tended to move up and down over the years, management theory has swung between objective and formalized approaches, in which work or business processes are analysed and broken down into their structural and sequential components, and more subjective and psychological approaches that have concentrated on workplace relationships (Waas Consulting Group, n.d., p. 1). The following discussion will concentrate on two successive phases of the more objective approach, associated with Frederick Taylor's theory of Scientific Management and Peter Drucker's Management by Objective.
Until the late 19th century, management theories as such did not exist. Most workplaces were small, and organized and managed informally, with "top management" in direct contact with line workers. Only armies and a few other specialized organizations operated on a large scale requiring delegation of management. As large business operations emerged, a more systematic approach was required. The pioneer in this regard was Frederick Taylor, who published his idea in a book, Principles of Scientific Management (McGoveran, 2004, p. 4).
Scientific Management was largely concerned with what we would now call ergonomics, and the organization of physical work processes to minimize wasted effort and bottlenecks, such as might result from two workers having to share a necessary tool, or situations in which one member of a work group has a particularly demanding task, so that he or she is overworked, while others stand around waiting. Taylor thus emphasized "time and motion studies" (McGoveran, 2004, p. 4), to break down work processes into their basic components and determine how to streamline them.
This approach to work tasks might appear to be simple...