Scientific Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Scientific Management - Essay Example In the fields of sociology and politics, scientific management can be viewed as the division of labour shoved to its rational limit, with the resulting oppression of the workplace and devaluation of the labourer (Taksa 1992). Although the usefulness of scientific management in the 21st century has been largely criticised, some of its premises survive today in several major companies, such as McDonalds, Ford, and Toyota. This paper discusses the extent of the application of scientific management in the 21st century and how its limitations are turned into something productive. First, a presentation of an overview of Taylor’s scientific management is imperative. Frederick Taylor argued that actions rooted in traditional practice and established methods should be replaced by accurate processes formulated after thorough analysis of a person at work. Its use is dependent on a strengthened degree of managerial control over the labour practices and work routines of employees (Freeman 1996). According to Drucker (2007), Taylor’s scientific management, also referred to as ‘Taylorism’, is a deviation on the issue of efficiency. Basically, it means that Taylor’s scientific management is concerned with waste reduction, productivity or efficiency enhancement, and application of scientific methods in choosing what is really important. ... asise the application of economic theories of utility maximisation and efficiency and scientific study to make sure that industry and government functioned to their best ability—which was the larger cultural version of the influence of scientific management on managers in particular. Indeed, Scientific Management is all but a systematic philosophy of worker and work. Altogether it may well be the most powerful as well as the most lasting contribution that America has made to Western thought since the Federalist Papers (Maciariello & Linkletter 2011, 384). The words of Maciariello and Linkletter (2011,384) reflect the significant efforts of scientific management scholars’ contribution to the development of management theory leading to its adaptation in the 21st century. The scientific management scholars created the managerial expertise of job design or planning through specialisation and division of labour, and developed the original methods of mass production. They als o raised the value of selection and training of employees. They pioneered the use of incentive and compensation packages to enhance work efficiency. They opened up the application of systematic and rational techniques to work out managerial issues (Mullins 2010). Ultimately, they placed emphasis to management as a legitimate area of scientific research. Nevertheless, there are several limitations to be taken into consideration. Primarily, as argued by Nankervis and colleagues (2005), the organised techniques of scientific management have been discovered to have their uses mostly in secure work settings and have less relevance in multifaceted and risk-inclined organisations. Also, they gave a great deal of importance on the alleged economic and rational essence of humans, exaggerating humans’ need