The History of Scientific Management

In the early twentieth century, Frederick W. Taylor published The Principles of Scientific Management, a work in which the young engineer "converted what had been an art into a systematic, teachable approach to the study of work" (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006, p. 375). The focus of Taylor's management principles was on workflow processes and improvements in worker productivity. Before this time, management was considered an art more than a science, with decisions often made based on convention or rules-of-thumb rather than on precise principles and procedures based on empirical evidence. Montana and Charnov (2000) note that Taylor's ideas were influenced by those of Charles Babbage, who preceded him, but Taylor is considered the "Father of Scientific Management" (p. 13).

Taylor's work opened a whole new approach toward management principles, as others continued to develop theories of scientific management like the Hawthorne study and research done by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth on time-motion. This analysis will provide a discussion of the evolution of management principles from Taylor's time to modern management principles. A conclusion will address the likely future evolution of management principles in the global age.

The scientific management principles identified by Frederick W. Taylor were based on command-and-control theories, as the engineer believed workers had to be closely supervised to maintai

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anagement theories like Total Quality Management or Continuous Quality Improvement was the idea "all aspects of the workplace should be constantly questioned, and improvements constantly adopted" (Frank, 2008, p. 1). The work of Taylor and the Gilbreths was furthered during what was known as the Hawthorne experiment that took place at the Hawthorne Works outside Chicago. Varying lighting and other work conditions, the experiment led to the "Hawthorne effect," which is any condition that leads to short-term improvement in productivity (Hawthorne, 2008, p. 1). The Hawthorne studies also led to numerous theories in management that were related to job redesign, feedback, and continuous improvement. Either improving worker conditions or increasing supervision was felt to increase worker productivity. Henry Gantt furthered studies on how to increase worker motivation, in contrast to focusing only on the task performance. His focus on motivation led to numerous management theories based on motivating employees, including transactional and transformational leadership, which are popular contemporary theories on leadership aimed at creating high levels of motivation in followers. Others, who followed, like Mary Follett, focu
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Approximate Word count = 1620
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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