Characteristics of Taylorism

Modern Managerial Taylorism

-Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota (Jan 2009)

-Akio incorporates a similar style to that of taylorism in the form of

monitoring worker performance.

*TQM (Total Quality Management) was adopted in a new form by Akio through;

1)Successive checks. Successive checks require each person involved in a process to inspect the quality of:

a) work performed previously by others, and

b) materials, tools, or equipment utilized in the process.

2)Self checks. Self checks require each person involved in a process to inspect the quality of the their own work.

Historical context

1909 '' The principles of scientific management''

-started the scientific management movement

- Using Taylor's principle of co-operation, Toyoda himself received

an annual salary of only $1.9million in 2013 (sharply in contrast

with the $27.8million salary of Ford's CEO) as to not create

jealousy among lower ranks.

Characteristics of Taylorism

-Recently Akio has created a 'bonus' system

similar to that of Taylor's piece rate system.

Employees are pitted into competing sectors.

Sectors with the highest performance receive the highest bonus.

-At the time, managers had very little contact with workers , leaving them to their own to produce necessary goods.

-This led to worker's incentives largely being to maintain employment , so there was no incentive to work harder.

-However, Taylor believed in increasing motivation through monetary rewards,ie:

''a fair day's pay for a fair day's work''

- Taylor's background in mechanical engineering led to a greater attention on efficiency of work

ie: his experimentation with shovel designs.

The 4 Principles of scientific management

1) Scientific Performance Standards

2)Harmony, not discord

1.Scientific Performance standards

3)Scientifically assign jobs to workers based

on motivation and expertise

4)Monitor worker performance

-Taylor aimed to replace work done by 'rule of thumb'

( the rough number of hours a worker 'should' complete) with scientific standards.

ie: Time and Motion studies- through timing how long it took to do work, it is possible to create a daily quota and fixed performance standards.

-This led to uniformity of work and allowed the efficiency of workers to be compared.

- The implementation of a 'differential piece rate system ' created a standard wage output and an incentive to meet daily quotas through high and low wage rates.

-Economically, this ties in with the idea of

'Efficiency wages,ie: a higher than market norm wage to promote greater worker loyalty and output

2.Co-operation

-Taylor's 'Mental Revolution'- envisioned labour and management working in harmony with a positive attitiude.

-This mutualistic relationship would raise productivity and increase profits; benefiting both manager and worker alike.

Critiques continued

-The idea of task allocation- breaking work into smaller and smaller pieces,managed by specialized segments, goes against the current hollistic view of Teamwork.

-As a vital part of this teamwork, division of labour would allow manager's to focus on planning as worker's preform tasks efficiently.

-This approach also rules out intrapreneurship.

By giving workers more autonomy through a laissez-faire approach to management, quicker adaption to change would also occur.

3.Scientifically Assign workers jobs suited to their abilities

-Taylor's approach to worker's was often autocratic:

''When he tells you to pick up something and walk, you pick it up and walk, and when he tells you to sit down and rest, you sit down''

-Rather than simply assigning employees

to any job, match workers to jobs based on

capability and skill-sets; allowing them to

engage at maximum efficiency.

-The link seems to be broken between his theories and corporations in the 21st century in the western world. Take for instance car Trawler- a car hire company currently recruiting in Dublin. Their hard- hitting slogan, is “We’re people, Not robots”. This certainly allows us to

consider how Taylor's theories, especially towards workers,

simply cannot be applied in some firms.

-This would create a sense of enthusiasm and sense of belonging, previously missing from their work.

-Motivated workers would subsequently

have no need to soldier, ie: working at a

deliberately slow rate.

Therefore increasing productivity.

Critiques of Taylorism

-Promotes the idea that there is ''only one right way'' to do something.

4.Monitor worker Performance

-Leaves out current management styles:

*MBO (Management by Objectives)-Peter Drucker

ie:aligning employee objectives with current goals

*Continuous Improvement

ie: Originates from Japanese Business management- Kaizen (kai; 'change', zen 'for the good')

Idea that no system is perfect.

Small incremental changes over the short-term can create substantial changes over the long-term.

*BPR ( Business Process Reengineering)

-Taylorism incorporated manager instruction and supervision of workers to ensure optimum efficiency.

-eg: Fatigue and Motion studies( Frank and Lillian Gilbreth) involved an understanding of biomechanics to eliminate unnecessary movements during the job.

Critiques continued..

-Assumes that people are motivated by monetary incentives alone.

Employees desire recognition and appreciation for their work- not just a wage.

-Gantt charts showed completed work at

each stage.

-Whilst a high salary is often enticing, workers are satisfied and motivated by a range of other aspects;

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs

-Alongside 'Program Evaluation Review

Technique'( PERT); which ensured

a more conisistant high standard