The Principles of Scientific Management (1915)

The Principles of Scientific Management (1915)
By Frederick Winslow Taylor

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Book Description: New York. Harper & Brothers, 1911. Frederick Winslow
Taylor Hardcover. Book Condition: VG + No Jacket. Burgundy cloth,
gilt lettering. Firm binding, clean and fully intact interior. An
exceptional copy of a scarce work, solid VG+

From the Introduction: "This paper has been written: First. To point
out, through a series of simple illustrations, the great loss which
the whole country is suffering through inefficiency in almost all of
our daily acts. Second. To try to convince the reader that the remedy
for this inefficiency lies in systematic management, rather than in
searching for some unusual or extraordinary man. Third. To prove that
the best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined
laws, rules, and principles, as a foundation." A wonderful copy of a
true landmark in industrial literature, in which the author argues
that absolute efficiency can be attained by scientifically
scrutinizing each element of an operation and then adapting the
operation to standardized materials, timelines, incentives, etc.

This book is a significant study of efficiency in the American
workplace, of later application to such pioneers as Henry Ford, based
in part on the author's analysis of worker production at Bethlehem
Steel, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Taylor's theories and
applications were once sufficiently popular to suggest the coining of
the term "Taylorism" that appears in publications relating to
efficiency of production from this era.

The achievement for which Taylor is most remembered was his
development of 'scientific management.' He wanted to reduce all
aspects of management to 'exact science'; and his approach, sometimes
termed 'task management,' was to determine exactly how much each
worker should accomplish in a given time. This entailed the discovery
of a new measure of human work. At first Taylor attempted to find a
correlation between fatigue and foot-pounds of work, but such a direct
solution eluded him. Instead, he found what he considered to be the
atomistic units of work: 'elementary motions.' Taylor first broke down
a set of operations into these motions and timed them with a
stopwatch. He then analyzed the sequence of motions, eliminated the
unnecessary ones, and combined the remainder into an optimum series.
After adding percentages to cover necessary rest and unavoidable
delays, Taylor thought he could calculate the time required for any
task . Taylor thought that his system of management provided the basis
of a scientific ethics. Through it he hoped to end class conflict and
establish social justice. Although these larger goals were not
achieved, Taylor's system had a profound influence on modern
management thought.