BRILLIANT MINDS
Abstract
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were two of the great pioneers of in the study of Scientific Management. Two of there major writings were on Fatigue Study and Motion Study. Business scholars use many of their writings, today. Many of their results affect the work conditions in many companies.
Brilliant Minds of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
Frank Gilbreth was born on July 7, 1868 in Fairfield, Maine. Lillian Gilbreth was born on June 24, 1924 in Montclair, New Jersey. The Gilbreths' are considered two of the greatest American scholars in the field of scientific management. Many professional business managers use many of their writings. Many of their writings include The Psychology of Management, Fatigue Study, Motion Study for the Handicapped, Applied Motion Study, Motion Study, Primer of Scientific Management, Bricklaying System, and Concrete System.
One of the great literary writings by the Gilbreths was the study of motion. Motion study is a means to permanent and practical waste elimination (Gilbreth, 1917). This work is aim to describe the work areas that motion study can be or is being applied and different methods to apply to the study. Finally, the result of the study.
Motion study was mainly used in American Industry. The goal of this study was to eliminate unnecessary effort used in the industry to as low as possible. The improvement of a job task while increasing productivity was the result. The American industrial sector was used because it was expanding during this time and America needed to improve industrial techniques to remain competitive against other countries. Motion study analyzed every detailed in the operation to perform a particular task and determined the method which used the least amount of energy. An example of this research is the assembly of piece used in the production of the braider manufactured by the New England Butt Company (Gilberth 1917). After analysis using motion study there was a three hundred and fifty percent increase in production with no increase in worker fatigue (Gilbreth 1917). The analysis consisted of what is the unit of measure, the difference methods used, and devices needed. All three are needed to be incorporated to obtain a result.
The use of chronocyclegraph motion devices was another method used in motion study. Chronocyclegraph devices were used in the study to formulate a precise scientific conclusion to an investigation. Clocks, temperature, and location devices was used during the study.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers”, Malcolm attempts to explain the “Matthew effect” by way of allegory about the Canadian Hockey league. The Matthew effect as stated is derived from the religious writings of the gospel of Matthew. In the gospel, Jesus speaks about the parables of the talents, saying “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath”.
Rossiter, Margaret W. (1982). Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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The major change came through the work of Fredrick Winslow Taylor and his theory of scientific management system. It was not that Taylor was unique or completely new; only time and motion study could be put in that category. The trend was already moving towards systematic management such as formal management methods or by cost ...
Although Mayor’s originally hypothesis was not supported, he did however find that observing employees at work increased productivity. His finding was significant because it brought attention to workers’ motivation, which has untimely helped improve many organizations today. Industrial psychology emerged during WW1 when Robert Yerkes created an intelligence test to classify post-war soldiers in the right workforce. As the demand for workers increased the demand for I/O Psychologist also increased.
Taylor’s scientific approach is based on the planning of work to achieve efficiency, standardization, specialization and simplification. Factories are managed through scientific methods and productivity is increase through a mutual trust between management and workers. Weber's bureaucratic approach embellishes the scientific management theory and focuses on dividing organizations into hierarchies, establishing strong lines of authority and control. Weber believed that organizations are accountable to and part of a broader the social order.
Taylor, Frederick Winslow (1911). The Principles of Scientific Management. New York, NY, US and London, UK: Harper & Brothers. Print. 8 Feb. 2014.
The period between the 1920 and 1930 saw the introduction of the Hawthorne Studies and brought about radical changes in organisational behaviour. The once popular belief that increasing output of an organisation was directly related to increasing workers' wages was disproved. Experiments conducted by Elton Mayo proved that there were more than economic factors that improved efficiency. During the tests, behavioural science which is also known as human relations was a key component to improve organisational output.
According to (Leonard et al, 2004) explored on how great ideologies turn to become great works. They explained how Frederick Taylor preached the gospel of scientific management. Even though it has been criticised it sites example and explain how the theory of scientific management came to being and the impact is still having on both private and public organisation.
The evolution of management though the decades can be divided into two major sections. One of the sections is the classical approach. Under the classical approach efficiency and productivity became a critical concern of the managers at the turn of the 20th century. One of the approaches from the classical time period were systematic management which placed more emphasis on internal operations because managers were concerned with meeting the growth in demand brought on by the Industrial revolution. As a result managers became more concerned with physical things than towards the people therefore systematic management failed to lead to production efficiency. This became apparent to an engineer named Frederick Taylor who was the father of Scientific Management. Scientific Management was identified by four principles for which management should develop the best way to do a job, determine the optimum work pace, train people to do the job properly, and reward successful performance by using an incentive pay system. Scientifi...
This essay will discuss the relevance of Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management to organisations today. Taylor’s theory of Scientific Management is based around how efficiently a member of staff works in order to improve their productivity, the theory was introduced in 1911 and has four principles which were tested to determine optimal work methods, and are still seen in organisations today such as fast-food restaurants. Taylor believed that workers left to their own devices would restrict their output and not progress with the task, this was called ‘soldiering’ and it was described in two forms; natural