Characteristics of Scientific Management

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Recommended: Frederick Taylor's contributions to scientific management as an approach to management were significant because Taylor

Introduction

Scientific management can be defined from a broad sense as the endeavors made in order to come up with suitable systems in the sector of industrial production and organization. In a narrower sense, it refers to the specific principles that were championed by Fredrick Taylor who was an engineer before the First World War. Taylor focused on ways of increasing productivity and reducing waste that resulted from management controlling the labor process. It is important to realize maximum output from every individual or machine and it is only through embracing scientific management that these problems could be solved. The central way that Taylor proposed of achieving these goals was task idea which was regarded as the single most important concept in scientific management. Task idea held that the tasks of every worker were to be planned out and the workers given clear instructions with details of the work they were supposed to do and ways of doing it.

Scientific management is governed by laws, rules and principles which are clearly defined hence they can be used in all social activities. It can be used to manage non-profit institutions, homes, churches, businesses, farms, universities and government agencies. It is therefore important in organizations for increasing efficiency and ensuring that there is no waste which is a major problem in organizations. This paper will discuss the main features of scientific management and how it relates with modern management models. It will also focus on the relevance of scientific management in modern business organizations (Hollway, 2002).

Characteristics of Scientific Management

Maximum Prosperity

Maximum prosperity in scientific management implies that there is development in a...

... middle of paper ...

...iency in the work place, scientific management attempts to offer great service to the public in the shortest time possible using the limited resources. This report has highlighted the basic characteristics of scientific management and its assumptions. For instance, it advocates maximum prosperity in an organization that can be achieved if employers and employees have a common interest. Scientific management is also based on assumptions of predictable market, mass market and soldering as natural. Its principles are also applicable in modern organizations where they are applied to achieve efficiency and reduce wastage. Many organizations adopt the concept of division of labor because assigning individual workers specific tasks increases productivity. Workers are also trained to be specialists in certain areas and these are all concepts based on scientific management.

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