PGDM (2014-16)MARKETING (MAJOR), IT(MINOR)I.T.S GHAZIABAD

Discussion over The good reasons why Taylorism is not dead, but is very much alive and kicking in the UK.

INTRODUCTION

Taylorism: What is it actually !!! Taylorism is basically the principles or practice of scientific management and work efficiency as practised in a system known as the Taylor System.

Production efficiency methodology that breaks every action, job, or task into small and simple segments which can be easily analyzed and taught. Introduced in the early 20th century, Taylorism , Named after the US industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915).

1. Aims to achieve maximum job fragmentation to minimize skill requirements and job learning time

2. Separates execution of work from work-planning,3. Separates direct labor from indirect labor4. Replaces rule of thumb productivity estimates with precise measurements, 5. Rntroduces time and motion study for optimum job performance, cost

accounting, tool and work station design, and

6. Makes possible payment-by-result method of wage determination.

Taylorism refers to the process of attaining efficiency in production by breaking every action or task into smaller and simpler parts that can easily be taught and analyzed (Taylor, 2014,p. 1). The main objective of the taylorism is to attain job fragmentation that helps in reducing the requirements for particular skills as well as the time required to learn how the job is performed. In addition, it also helps in the separation of the execution of the work from the

planning process as well as distinguishing direct labor from indirect labor. Further, taylorism replaces the rule of thumb productivity estimates with one that gives the exact measurements, and establishes time and motion study in order to attain optimum performance of the job, account for the costs as well as the designing of tools and the work station. It is also an important practice amongst British organizations as it helps in the determination of wages using the payment-by-result method. From the foregoing, it can be seen that taylorism underscores the assumption that people seekwork for higher pay, and scientific management is the surest way of attaining cooperation, prosperity and benefit to an organization.

HISTORY OF TAYLORISM

Historically, for personnel management there have been two main traditions, or schools of thought in personnel management, around job design:

1. Taylorism (scientific management)

2. Humanism (‘human relations approach’)

Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consultants. Taylor was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas, broadly conceived, were highly influential in the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s).

Taylorism is also called Scientific Management, which is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management.

A manufacturing philosophy that aims to achieve higher productivity by standardizing the output, using conveyor assembly lines, and breaking the work into small deskilled tasks.

Whereas Taylorism (on which Fordism is based) seeks machine and worker efficiency, Fordism seeks to combine them as one unit, and emphasizes minimization of costs instead of maximization of profit. Named after its famous proponent, the US automobile pioneer Henry Ford (1863-1947).

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT & FORDISM

F.W.Taylor & Henri Ford How did they change working conditions? How did they initiate (particularly Fordism) mass consumption? Where Fordism and Taylorism really related?

Scientific management : “A theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflow”- Charles

E.Sorensen Taylor wanted to improve economic efficiency, especially labor productivity Fought against what he called Soldiering (i.e Scientific management requires a high

level of managerial control over employee work practices and entails a higher ratio of managerial workers to laborers than previous management methods. Such detail-oriented management may cause friction between workers and managers.): at this time workers had this philosophy: “if I can receive the same amount of pay, regardless of how much is produced why should I work faster?” – Anonymous worker

So, to eliminate soldiering Taylor studied TIME AND MOTION

\Time and motion :They have done the experiment of the pig iron workers to show that the technique of time & motion increases productivity a lot faster than earlier methods like soldiering and workers’ satisfaction was also increased.

4x increase in productivity Workers received higher salaries according to the time they spend at work and the

amount of tons they moved Workers were selected according to their skills

Pig Iron Workers

All thanks to reduced motion & motivating wages.

Scientific management simplified :

FORDISM : An economic and social system based on industrial mass production Created by Henri Ford who established the world’s greatest automobile venture: The

Ford Motor industry

Main principles of Fordism :

Standardization of the production (all products have the same features) Rationalization of industry space (the work is brought to the employee to be more

productive) Division of labor (workers make the same gesture repeatedly) Higher “living wages” for worker so they can but what they produce (consumption

society)

Replace old methods by new ones based on a

scientific study of the task

Cooperate with the workers to make sure that the

scientifically developed methods are being followed

Divide work equally between directors (planning) and

workers (performing)

Select & train each worker rather than letting them do

it themselves

Scientific management

can be divided into four

principles :

Firstly, as a distinctive type of labour process, Fordism is an industrial paradigm that involves mass production based on moving assembly-line techniques operated with semi-skilled labour, that is, a mass worker. Not all branches of business nor workers will be directly involved in mass production in a Fordist economy. Nevertheless, mass production is the main source of its dynamism.

Secondly, Fordism is a regime of accumulation. As a stable mode of macroeconomic growth it involves a virtuous circle of growth based on mass production, rising incomes linked to productivity, rising productivity based on economies of scale, increased mass demand due to rising wages, increased profits based on full utilisation of productive capacity and increased investment in improved mass production equipment and techniques.

Thirdly, as a mode of regulation, Fordism appears linked to the Taylorist concepts and involves the separation of ownership from control in large corporations with a distinctive multi-divisional, decentralised organization subject to central controls. Thus, it is a mode of social and economic regulation that can also involve monopoly pricing, union recognition and collective bargaining, wages connected to productivity growth and retail price inflation with monetary emission and credit policies orientated to securing effective aggregate demand.

Fourthly, Fordism can be seen as a general pattern of social organization. In this context it involves the consumption of standardised, mass commodities in nuclear family households and provision of collective, standardised goods and services by the bureaucratic state. It also manages the conflicts between capital and labour over both the individual and social wage.

So, the Fordist model was based on the mass production concept, replacing the artesanal producer and aiming to supply current human needs.

RESULTS OF FORDISM METHODS ON PRODUCTIVITY:

Diminution of work hours and price, increase in production volume UNIVERSAL PRODUCT

Was Fordism influenced by Taylorism ?

It is a widely accepted myth that Ford’s mass production success was achieved thanks to Taylorism.

But it is also said that Taylor and Ford had no influence over each other.

All in all : Fordism and Taylorism changed the way industrialization was pictured. The urban landscape was modified with the massive appearance of FORD T, while

the assembly line was globalized (especially in Europe) Higher wages and different work conditions helped create a society where workers

could consume the goods they produced Finally, the influence of these two concepts is still strong today (especially with the

arrival of robotics in the automobile industry)

CONCLUSION

Taylorism has been practiced amongst United Kingdom organizations in the past and the practice continues to be adopted even by new organizations. Initially, the main purpose of the taylorism was to use scientific management in order to help industries to spur their mass production . This was achievable through the deployment of workers in an efficient manner to achieve the company aims and missions. Currently, United Kingdom organizations apply taylorism in their production processes based on the recognition that the employees play a major role in the running of the organization and jointly determine how productive it will be.

This has underscores the fact that taylorism is still appreciated as it acts a performance indicator of an organization. Presently, in the United Kingdom, it is difficult to find an organization that does not use scientific principles in the management of its affairs. The fact of the matter is that these entities do not only find taylorism relevant at the moment, but also find it logical and efficient in the management of businesses. Therefore, most British organizations such as the manufacturing plants, restaurants and hospitals amongst others find taylorism as an efficient method of administering their businesses. This is because of the realization that unknowingly, taylorism continues to affect every aspect of the business and its processes. Organizations in the United Kingdom apply taylorism in the scientific training and selection that occurs within their entities. This is based on the recognition that the processes within a firm, selection, performance, appraisal and the development of the employees is carried out in a formal manner. Therefore, in a knowledge-based economy such as the United Kingdom, talent is deemed as an important asset for making an organization achieve a competitive advantage over the others. British organizations therefore select the most qualified individuals for particular job openings, which can only be achieved through the application of the scientific management principles espoused in taylorism. Organizations in the UK therefore continuously apply taylorism that advocates for scientific training so that they may get the most competent human resources to increase their efficiencies. A major characteristic of scientific management that the UK organizations have implemented is the separation of the planning, designing and the making of decisions in the production segment of a firm. Within the above context, British organizations continue to develop the skills and knowledge of their employees in order to increase their level of production capability as well as increased customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction & employee engagement.

REFERENCE1)  Mitcham 2005, p. 1153 Mitcham, Carl and Adam, Briggle Management in Mitcham (2005) p. 1153,

quote:

Nevertheless, regardless of outcomes and the fact that the term has fallen out of use, "'scientific management,' as well as its near synonym, 'Taylorism,' have been absorbed into the living tissue of American life" (Kanigel 1997, p. 6)

2) Kanigel, Robert (1997), The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of

Efficiency, New York, NY, USA: Penguin-Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-86402-7. A detailed

biography of Taylor and a historian's look at his ideas.

3) Woodham, Jonathan (1997), Twentieth-Century Design, New York, NY, USA and

London, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192842048, OCLC 357774274)  Fordism & Postfordism, www.willamette.edu, retrieved2008-12-265)  Maier, Charles S. (1970), "Between Taylorism and Technocracy: European Ideologies and the

Vision of Industrial Productivity in the 1920s", Journal of Contemporary History (Sage Publications) 5 (2): 27–61, doi:10.1177/002200947000500202, JSTOR 259743

6)  Edited by; Burrows, Rober; Gilbert, Nigel; Pollert, Anna.Fordism and Flexibility: Divisions and Change St. Martin's Press (New York: 1992)pp.13-17.

7) Taylor, Frederick Winslow  (1911), The Principles of Scientific Management, New York, NY, USA and London, UK: Harper & Brothers, LCCN 11010339, OCLC 233134. Also available from Project Gutenberg.

8) Rae, John B. (1969). Henry Ford. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, p. 36.