The Advent of Scientific Management (Management History), Frederick Taylor

1. The History of Management
Thought
MGT336
Michael L. Bejtlich
Week 4

2. Chapter Seven
The Advent of Scientific
Management

3. Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)

4. Taylor’s Early Years
 Born in
Germantown, PA
in 1856
 Father –
Prosperous
Lawyer
 Mother – Puritan
roots to Colonial Taylor on far right, pictured with
times mother, father, grandfather, younger sister
Mary and older brother Edward.

5. Taylor’s Early Years
Frederick Taylor Taylor, on the left, with brother
Edward & sister Mary.

6. Taylor’s Early Years
 Advantage of fine prep
school – Philips Exeter
Academy, NH
 Travels to Europe
 Membership in an
exclusive social club
 Did not go to Harvard
due to failing eyesight
 Began as a factory
apprentice pattern
maker
 His early experiences
as a worker shaped his
views of management.

7. Taylor at Midvale Steel
 Started as a laborer
in 1878 and worked
his way into
management.
 As a worker, then a
first line supervisor,
he observed
numerous industrial
practices that led
him to his life’s
work.
Taylor at Midvale Steel 1886

8. Taylor at Midvale Steel
 Taylor took a
home study course
to get his college
degree in
mechanical
engineering in
1883 from Stevens
Institute of
Technology at
Hoboken, New
Jersey.

9. Natural Soldiering
 Natural soldiering – “the natural
instinct and tendency of men to take
it easy.”
 Taylor blamed management for not
designing jobs properly and offering
proper incentives.
 Taylor thought that a supervisor may
be able to inspire or force workers to
stop natural soldiering.

10. Systematic Soldiering
 Systematic soldiering resulted from group
pressures for individuals to conform to
output norms set by the work group.
 Taylor attributed this to a “lump of labor”
theory.
 Taylor felt he could overcome soldiering
and improve the situation if workers knew
that the production standards were
established by a study of the job, rather
than by historical data, and if incentives
could be provided.

11. Time Study
 Time study was a prescriptive in that
Taylor sought to identify the time a
job should take.
 Time study was analytical, breaking
the job into its components and
eliminating useless movements; and
constructive, building a file of
movements that were common to
other jobs.

12. Search for Science in
Management
Taylor intended to use a scientific fact-finding method to determine a
better way to work. These are Taylor’s notes for shoveling.

14. A Better Way
 In modern terms, Taylor’s
concept of job design was
to analyze the
job, discard wasted
movements, and
reconstruct the job as it
should be done.
 He also sought to find the
right tools, the right way
to operate the
machinery, and the right
way to operate the
machinery to make the
job more efficient.

15. A Better Way
 At the time, Scientific
Management was the latest
management fad…it was
bigger than reengineering
and lean manufacturing is
today.
 The ad on the left
demonstrates the
popularity.
 However, the ad is
misleading. There is not
one, all purpose “scientific
shovel” – the ideal shovel is
based on the weight of
material it moves.

16. Front Page News
 Taylor made front
page news the
Sunday after he
spoke at the ASME
conference in 1903.
 He basically read
Shop Management
word for word to the
group.
 Even though everyone
thought his speech
was boring…the story
made it to the front
page.

17. Frederick Taylor and Incentives
 Taylor criticized systems of payment based on
quantity and quality of work.
 Taylor’s system consisted of:
 (1) observation and analysis through time
study to set the standard
 (2) a differential rate system of piecework
 (3) “paying men and not positions.”

18. Frederick Taylor and Incentives
 Taylor discouraged profit sharing because it did
not reward the individual and because it
occurred long after the performance.
 Taylor’s differential piece-rate paid those who
did not reach the performance standard on
ordinary rate of pay (like minimum wage); a
higher rate of pay was given for attaining the
standard.
 Taylor also recognized non-economic
incentives, like promotion and shorter hours.

19. “First-Class” Worker
 Taylor believed that everyone was
best or “first class” at some type of
work.
 There should be a match between a
person’s abilities and the person’s
job placement.

20. “Functional Foreman” and Task
Management
 Task Management consisted of time study
and developing performance standards.
 Selection of workers and the differential
piece rate system was included.
 Management was responsible for designing
the job properly.
 Task Management depended on
planning, organizing, and guiding the work
to completion

21. Figure 7-1 Functional Foremen

22. “Functional Foreman” and Task
Management
 Taylor had the idea that knowledge was
authority.
 Supervisors could not know everything
about the planning and performance of the
work.
 Functional specialists would provide
assistance to workers.
 In retrospect, Taylor had recognized the
need for staff advice and assistance from
people who had special abilities or
knowledge.

23. Taylor after Midvale
 He developed an accounting system based
on the Hayes-Basley system used by RRs.
 He became a consultant for various
firms, such as Simonds Rolling Company
and Bethlehem Steel. He implemented his
ideas in these and other firms with varying
degrees of success.
 He also traveled and lectured to various
groups to promote his ideas.

24. Bethlehem Steel

25. Bethlehem Steel

26. Story of Henry Knolle &
Bethlehem Steel
 Taylor conducted his
famous pig-iron
experiments at Bethlehem
Steel.
 James Gillespie and
Hartley Wolle established
an incentive for loading
pig iron at Bethlehem
Steel.
 Workers refused to work
by the piece and were
discharged.
 Taylor’s story of the
experiments centered on
Henry Knolle although
three men participated.

27. Henry Knolle (also Noll)
 Stood 5 feet 7 inches tall
and weighed 135 pounds.
 He came down through
history as “Schmidt” in the
embellished recollections
of the pig iron experiments
at Bethlehem Steel.
 He averaged between
$1.35 and $1.70 per day
(average rate was $1.15
per day).
 In the story, he was the
only worker to persevere
throughout the pig-iron
loading – “First Class
Man.”

28. Henry Knolle’s Motivation
 Knolle needed the
money to build a
house so he could
get married.
 He would work on
the house before
work.
 He would load 47
½ tons of pig-iron.
 He would return to
work on the house
Knolle’s House until dark.

29. Henry Knolle and his Wife

30. Pig Iron Experiments
 Results of experiments
were less than ideal
even though Taylor
labeled them as
successful.
 James Gillespie and
Hartley Wolle were not
careful in their time
study.
 Taylor did not use his
differential piece rate.
Men who helped Taylor with time study
 Taylor set the rate of
payment arbitrarily.

31. Pig Iron Experiments
 Results:
 Yard labor costs fell from $.072 per ton
under day wages to $.033 per ton
under piece rates
 Workers averaged 60 percent more in
wages than they had before

32. Who prepared the “pig-tale?”
 In “Taylor’s Pig-Tale: A
Historical Analysis of
Frederick W. Taylor’s Pig-Iron
Experiment,” authors Charles
D. Wrege and Amadeo G.
Perroni, state that Taylor
embellished the report.
 Later, Wrege and R.
Greenwood wrote that the
“Pig-Tale” was “prepared by
Taylor’s assistant, Morris L.
Cooke.”
 The mystery remains: the
penmanship was Cooke’s, but
were the words Cooke’s or Morris L. Cooke
Taylor’s?

33. Eastern Rate Case - 1910
 In this case before the U.S. Interstate
Commerce Commission, Louis
Brandeis, attorney for the shippers, used
individuals to testify that the railroads did
not need to increase rates if they would
adopt known management improvements.
 Brandeis coined the phrase “Scientific
Management” to describe Taylor’s ideas.
 This brought a great deal of
attention, some unwanted, to Taylor and
his colleagues

34. Watertown - 1911
 Taylor’s ideas were to be
implemented at the federal arsenals
at Watertown (Massachusetts) and
Rock Island (Illinois).
 Representatives of the machinists’
union told the workers to resist and
a strike occurred at Watertown.
 Strike lasted one week.

35. Congressional Investigation
Oct. 1911 - Feb. 1912
 However, congressional representatives
from the two districts asked for an
investigation of the Taylor and “other
efficiency systems.”
 No evidence was found that there were
abuses under scientific management and
no need for remedial legislation.
 Despite findings, time-measuring devices
and incentive pay were prohibited in any
military agency and in army and navy
appropriation bills.

36. Mental Revolution
 Taylor described his
philosophy that labor
and management had a
“mutuality of interests”
and needed to work
together in his
Congressional
testimony.
 Management, Workers,
and Owners must work
together to share to
make the pie bigger –
not get a bigger piece
to the detriment of
each other.

37. Mental Revolution
 This “revolution”
emphasized the
need of both labor
and management to
change their
attitudes and work
together, otherwise
scientific
management could
not exist.
 Notice that unions
were not a part of
his theory.

38. Other Ideas of Taylor
 Human factor – “systems” were not
enough…there must be a good relationship
between workers and managers.
 Resistance to change – this is to be
expected, but with time and
explanations, people would see the
benefits.
 “Scientific management at every step of
the way has been an evolution, not a
theory.” (Taylor 1915)

39. Taylor’s Patents
 Taylor’s wealth was increased from
his various patents

40. Taylor’s Patents
 Actual Press…notice the
 Drawing of “Steam
man standing next to
Hammer”
the machine depicting
the size of the press

41. Taylor’s Patents
 Two-Handled Golf Club  Tennis Racket with curved
handle

42. Personal Information on Taylor
 Taylor as a cross-
dresser: during a
theatrical performance
by an all-male club of
which he was a
member, he took the
role of “Miss Lillian.”
 Taylor said that there
were only two places
sacred enough where
you could not
“swear”…the home and
the golf course.

43. Taylor’s Love of Golf led to soil
and grass studies

44. Taylor’s Home
Recreated room with actual furnishings
from Taylor’s home located at Steven’s
Institute

45. Taylor’s Wife - Louise

46. Taylor’s Family
 The Taylor’s
did not have
any children
of their own.
 They adopted
their friend’s
three younger
children after
their parents’
sudden
death.

47. Taylor’s Death
 Taylor died the day after
his 59th birthday from
pneumonia in 1915.
 His wife died in 1949.
 By that time the Taylor
family plot was full but
Louise wanted to be
buried by Fred.
 Her remains were
cremated and the urn
was placed in Fred’s
Taylor’s grave site at the West Laurel Hill grave.
Cemetery in Philadelphia  This was not a last effort
at efficiency but
necessitated by the
space available.

48. Taylor’s Books

49. Taylor’s Books
 Shop Management was published in 1903.
It was based on a speech delivered earlier
to the ASME.
 The Principles of Scientific Management
was published in 1911 by Harper and Row.
 Speculation exists over the true authorship
of the book; although published under
Taylor's name, Harper and Row paid all
royalties to Morris L. Cooke.

50. Summary
 Frederick W. Taylor was a central figure in
the development of management thought.
 Taylor is considered the most influential
contributor by managements and business
historians.
 His work was more reform than scientific.
 He willingly used others ideas that worked,
like Gantt’s task and bonus incentive plan
and the Hayes-Basley accounting system.

51. Chapter Eight
Spreading the Gospel of
Efficiency

52. Others Involved in the Scientific
Management Movement
 Carl George Lange Barth
 Henry L. Gantt
 Frank Gilbreth
 Lillian Gilbreth
 Harrington Emerson
 Morris Cooke

53. Carl Barth (1860-1939): The
Most Orthodox
 Mathematician who
helped Taylor with
some metal-cutting
experiments.
 He was probably a
major influence in
the writing of the
“official” biography
of Taylor.
 Assisted in installing
scientific
management in
various companies.

54. Carl Barth
 One company was the Franklin Motor Car Company
which was noteworthy because it preceded Henry
Ford’s moving assembly line.
 Note: Scientific Management lost its importance
to the auto industry once the assembly line was
implemented.
 Work was placed on a belt and individuals were
no longer able to influence their output and
therefore their reward.
 Barth created a “slide rule” for every machine for
scientific measurements.
 Personal note: Barth would not let his son date
because it would detract from his scientific work. His
son married after Barth’s death.

55. Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919)
The Most Unorthodox
 Gantt’s early work
paralleled Taylor’s in
his belief about
worker
selection, incentives
to reward
performance, mutual
ity of interests, etc.
 Taylor and Gantt
admired each other’s
work.
 Gantt was a prolific
writer – over 150
titles. Henry L. Gantt

56. Henry L. Gantt:
Task and Bonus System
 Implemented task work with a bonus to
stimulate performance.
 When he discovered that this provided little
incentive beyond meeting the standard, he
modified the payment plan. He influenced
Taylor because Taylor believed Gantt’s plan
was better.
 Rewards to supervisors when their
employees came up to standard
(rewarded development of employees).
 Emphasized importance of
morale, training, and development of
employees.

57. Figure 8-1 Gantt Chart

58. The Gantt Chart

59. The Gantt Chart
 Steadily evolved into a valuable tool
for planning and controlling work.
 Widely used during World War I.
 Became an international
management technique.
 A forerunner of subsequent planning
and controlling techniques such as
major milestones, PERT & CPM.

60. Other Gantt Ideas
 The New Machine – a group headed
by Gantt to promote the idea that
engineers should be industrial
leaders.
 Social responsibility – Gantt’s
concern that business should not
lose sight of its service role in the
economy.

61. Frank & Lillian Gilbreth
Partners for Life
 Frank – Worked in the
construction trades and
called his job design
“motion study.”
Independent of, but
influenced by, Taylor.
 Lillian – our “First Lady
of Management” and
“First Lady of
Engineering for her
accomplishments with
her husband as well as
after Frank’s death.
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

62. Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924)
 Refused a place in MIT
to work as a laborer.
 His first job was
apprentice brick layer.
 He was able to lay
2700 bricks per day
compared to others
who were laying an
average of 1000 per
day.
 Motions to lay a brick
reduced to 4 from 18.
 Today, union rules only
Frank Gilbreth allow workers to lay
between 900 and 1100
bricks per day.

63. Bricklaying
With Gilbreth’s new methods, bricks are arranged Typical building site in Boston before Gilbreth’s
to be grabbed easily, right side up. new methods are applied

64. Gilbreth Patent Scaffold
 This invention
eliminated a lot of
stooping by keeping
the bricklayer at the
same distance from
the top of the
growing wall.
 The scaffolding was
the first in Gilbreth’s
attempts in reducing
motion and fatigue
in workers.

65. Gilbreth Patent Scaffold

66. Frank’s Construction Business
 Boston was in a period of
rapid growth…during the
building age of the
country.
 He used advertising to
promote contracts and
the need for workers
which was uncommon at
this time.
 Within six years from the
start of his business, he
was one of the most
important men in
contracting in Boston.

67. Frank’s Construction Business
Building constructed by Frank at MIT in record time

68. Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)
 Earned undergraduate
and graduate degrees
from the University of
California-Berkley.
 Enrolled in a Ph.D.
program at the
University of California.
 Study was interrupted
by her family who
decided that Lillian
should travel abroad –
chaperoned by Frank
Gilbreth’s cousin.
Lillian Gilbreth

69. The Partnership
 Soon after their
marriage, Lillian
realized that she
would not fill the
traditional role of
“wife.”
 Lillian followed
Frank to work and
began to learn the
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
business.

70. The Gilbreth Children
 Frank decided that twelve
children is the right
number for a family.
 According to Frank, with
proper planning, the
children would not
interfere with their work.
 Frank and Lillian achieved
both goals.
 However, their daughter
(Mary Elizabeth) died at
the age of six from
diptheria.
Part of the family vacation home on Nantucket

71. The Gilbreth Family

72. The Gilbreth Children at their
summer home in Nantucket

73. The Gilbreth Family

74. The Gilbreth children tell the story of growing
up in this family in three books.

75. Lillian’s Dissertation
 Lillian finished her thesis
in 1912.
 However, the University
of California would not lift
the residency requirement
so she could not
graduate.
 Her thesis was eventually
published in book form by
Sturgis and Walton in
1914 under the name
L.M. Gilbreth (so one
could not distinguish that The book stands in management literature as
one of the earliest contributions to the study
is was written by a of the human element at work.
woman)

76. Lillian’s Ph.D.
 Frank found Brown University
where Lillian could complete
her degree and still care for
the children
 Frank arranged it so that
Lillian could attend course in
one specific room where she
could look out the window
and watch their children
 She completed a 2nd
dissertation “Some Aspects of
Eliminating Waste in
Teaching”
 She graduated in 1915
Lillian Gilbreth

77. Gilbreth’s Motion Study
 “Our duty is to
study the motions
and to reduce
them as rapidly as
possible to
standard sets of
least in
number, least in
fatigue, yet most
effective motions”
(Gilbreth, 1911, p.
3) Frank Gilbreth

78. Therbligs
 Frank developed a list of seventeen basic
movements to aid him in analyzing
motion.
 Each movement was called a “therblig.”
 These fundamental movements, which
could not be broken down into other
motions, gave Frank a way to accurately
analyze elements of any movement a
worker may make.
 Can you determine the origin of the term
“therblig?”

80. Motion-Picture Camera
 Using a motion-
picture
camera, Frank was
able to capture
each movement of
a job on film so he
could easily
analyze each
motion.
 To save film, he
changed the
camera aperture
to record 4 movies

82. Applied Motion Study
 The Gilbreths also used lights and time-
lapsed photography in their motion study.
 This use of light and photography was
called the “chronocyclegraph method of
recording.”
 This device recorded a path of motion a
worker used to complete a job.
 The device consisted of a small electric
light which was attached to a finger or
another moving part of the body.
 The film was exposed during this time
period and recorded each line of light.

87. Applied Motion Study
 The Gilbreths
conducted
motion studies
with
typists, surgeons
, nurses, and
sports.
 The photographs
to the left were
from an exhibit
of the Gilbreths’
work at the
Smithsonian.

88. Applied Motion Study – Typing
for Remington Typewriter Co.

89. Applied Motion Study - Surgery

90. Applied Motion Study –
Surgical Sewing

91. Fatigue Studies
 Through proper rest breaks, fatigue
could be reduced.
 Suggestions:
 Reduced working hours so that
employees had sufficient time to
recover and be prepared for the next
working day.
 Longer lunch periods, coffee or tea
breaks.

92. Fatigue Studies
 To make rest breaks more attractive
to employees, the Gilbreths
suggested that organizations could
provide proper reclining chairs, lunch
rooms, rest rooms, or other
entertainment.

93. Home Reading Box Movement
 The Gilbreths also
worked to
establish libraries
at each job site to
check out
material to read
at home or during
breaks.

94. Ergonomics
 Frank Gilbreth is
often called the
“Father of
Ergonomics.”
 The Gilbreths
pioneered the use of
devices, such as
adjustable chairs
and improved
workstations, to
ease strain on the Adjustable chair designed by F. and L. Gilbreth
body and reduce
injuries.

95. The End of the Partnership
 Frank died in 1924.
 Lillian continued to
work even though it
was difficult for a
woman and to make
a name for herself
without Frank.
 She spent the rest of
her life (into her
nineties) consulting
and speaking all
over the world.
Lillian Gilbreth

96. Some Lillian Gilbreth Honors
 Only woman awarded
the Gilbreth Medal
(named for Frank and
Lillian).
 Only woman awarded
the Gantt Gold Medal.
 Only woman Awarded
the CIOS Gold Medal.
 Earned over 13
graduate degrees
between 1928-1952 in
addition to her first 3
degrees.
 US Postage stamp
issued in her honor in
1984

97. Harrington Emerson (1853-1931):
Efficiency through Organization
 He worked for the most
part independently of
Taylor but they
corresponded and he was
aware of Taylor’s ideas.
 His experience as a
consultant on railroads
provided his qualifications
at the Eastern Rate Case
regarding the savings
possible if scientific
management methods
were installed.
 He founded Emerson
Consultants which exists
today.
Harrington Emerson

98. Harrington Emerson’s Ideas
 Lack of organization was a major problem.
 He proposed the line-staff organization as
a way of bringing staff knowledge to assist
the line managers.
 His line-staff idea was similar to Taylor’s
desire to use the knowledge of functional
foreman, but an improvement since it did
not split the chain of command.

99. Harrington Emerson’s Ideas
 He took Taylor’s idea of setting performance
standards and applied this to cost accounting.
Standards should be established for what the costs
should be, rather than estimating costs from
previous records.
 Emerson provided 120% wages for 100%
performance (the standard) and that increased if the
worker produced more.
 He wrote Twelve Principles of Efficiency in 1913.
 Of Emerson’s numerous “principles,” clearly defined
ideals (objectives), participative decision
making, and the proper use of staff stand out as the
more unique of his ideas.

100. Morris L. Cooke (1872-1960)
The Gospel in Nonindustrial
Organizations
 Worked closely with
Taylor and became
one of the four
individuals Taylor
considered his
disciples.
 Gantt, Barth, and
Hathaway were the
others
 Extended gospel of
efficiency to education
and government.
Morris L. Cooke

101. Morris L. Cooke
 Taylor sent Cooke on various
consulting assignments:
 In education – he felt that college
administration was inefficient.
 In government – Cooke became
Director of Public Works for the City of
Philadelphia and successfully
implemented scientific management.

102. Morris L. Cooke
 Used a stenographic transcript of Taylor’s
talks at Boxly as the basis for his proposed
book, Industrial Management.
 His book became Taylor’s Principles of
Scientific Management.
 Taylor assigned all royalties to Cooke.
 Cooke would write other books,
particularly in the field of public
administration.

103. Morris L. Cooke – Later Work
 Interested in getting the leaders of
organized labor to work within
scientific management ideas.
 Suggested that management needed to
“tap labor’s brains.”
 Worked with labor leaders in gaining
better feeling about union-management
cooperation.
 Served Presidents F.D. Roosevelt and
Harry Truman in government positions.

104. Three Other Scientific
Management Contributors
 Henri Le Chatelier
 M. Clarence Bertrand Thompson
 Horace K. Hathaway

105. Henri Le Chatelier
 French Engineer
 Help to bring
Scientific
Management to
France
 Stated that Shop
Management was
a more important
work than the
Origin of Species.
Henri Le Chatelier

106. M. Clarence Bertrand
Thompson (1882-1969)
 Worked in France until 1948.
 Received the Legion of Honor
for keeping French factories
alive during the War.
 Unlike Taylor, he believed
Unions were important in
instituting Scientific
Management Principles.
 After he left France, he
received a Ph.D. (around the
age of 80) in biochemistry
and worked in cancer
research until he died
(around the age of 90).
M. Clarence Bertrand Thompson

107. Horace K. Hathaway
 Instituted Scientific
Management
principles into a
whole system
including
accounting, planning
, organization, and
production
scheduling
 His plan was
essentially an ERP
system
Horace K Hathaway

108. Summary
 Scientific Management reached
maturity in the 1920s.
 The movement was assisted by
Taylor’s disciples Carl Barth, Henry
Gantt, and Morris Cooke.
 Other notable contributors to the
evolution of Scientific Management
were Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and
Harrington Emerson.