Taylor’s Scientific Approach (Theory of Scientific Management) Lucy, Alice & Emily

Taylor’s Theory (1910-1920) Taylor made three key assumptions about human behaviour at work: Man is a economic animal concerned with maximising his economic gain and responding directly to financial incentives. People respond as individuals, not as groups People can be treated in a standardised fashion, like machines

Taylor’s Theory Taylor had a simple view about what motivated people at work - money. He felt that workers should get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and that pay should be linked to the amount produced (e.g. piece-rates). Workers who did not deliver a fair day's work would be paid less (or nothing). Workers who did more than a fair day's work (e.g. exceeded the target) would be paid more.

Implications The implications of Taylor's theory were: The main form of motivation is high wages, linked to output A manager's job is to tell employees what to do A worker's job is to do what they are told and get paid accordingly

Methods to Improve Productivity and Efficiency Extreme division of labour: Job is broken down into small repetitive tasks allowing individuals to become expert at their job and increase productivity. Payment by Piece Work: Payment by item produced –providing an incentive to work hard. Tight Management Control: Ensuring that workers concentrate on their jobs and follow the correct processes.

Ford Motor Company Taylor’s Method had a big impact on the mass production processes at Ford. It was unsuccessful because the jobs became boring and repetitive due to the extreme division of labour. Individual workers lost their power because less skills were required for their job role, leading to low morale and poor industrial relations.

Weaknesses of Taylor’s Theory Workers often repeated the same task and became bored with their jobs and only specialised in one area. It ignores the many differences between people. Money is not the most important factor for motivating all workers. Taylor overlooked this. Financial rewards do not create job satisfaction and improve productivity alone.