Management of the XX century and Frederick w. Taylor
In XX century management pays special attention to converting management into science. We see that the tasks of a manager can be analyzed and classified scientifically and we can speak here about scientific approach to management. But the study of management is relatively new. Many of first individuals to study and write about management were practicing managers. They described their own experience and tried to generalize the principles of management. Even today, great deal of what we know about management comes from the autobiographies and memories of men and women who were or are practicing managers. But there are much more people who were and are interested in management. For example a lot of social and behavioral scientists. Also between the two extremes of management practice and management science there are individuals who have contributed to the study of management. They are engineers, lawyers, economists, accountants, mathematicians, philosophers etc.
But no one has had more influence on managers in the XX century than Frederick W. Taylor, an American engineer. He set a pattern for industrial work which many others have followed, and although his approach to management has been criticized, his ideas are still of practical importance.
Taylor founded the school of Scientific Management just before the 1914-18 war. He argued that work should be studied and analyzed systematically. The operations required to perform a particular job could be identified, then arranged in a logical sequence. After this was done, a worker’s productivity would increase, and so would his/her wages. The new method was scientific. The way of doing job would no longer be determined by guesswork and rule-of-thumb practices. Instead management would work out scientifically the method for producing the best results. If the worker followed the prescribed approach, his/her output would increase. Taylor made a lasting contribution to management thinking. His main insight that work can be systematically studied in order to improve working methods and productivity was revolutionary. Also he correctly emphasized that detailed planning of jobs was necessary. The disadvantage of his approach was that it focused on the system of work rather than on the worker. With this system the worker becomes a tool in the hands of management. and another criticism is that it leads to de-skilling – reducing the skills of workers. Because the tasks are simplified workers become frustrated. So many people think that it’s wrong to separate doing from planning. The two tasks can and should be done by the same person. A worker will be more productive if he/she is engaged in such activities as planning, decision-making, controlling and organizing. For all these reasons a reaction has set against the ideas of Frederick Taylor.
Conclusion
I’ve already said a lot about management as a science. But a lot of specialists think that management is more art rather than science, because you can learn management based only on your personal experience and only talented people can achieve a lot in this sphere. But personally I think that management is a kind of mixture of art and science. Because even if you have great talent in management and intuition you should have at least some basic knowledge in this sphere, you should know some specific question about country you are working in (like taxes, low etc). Without it, it would be just impossible to be a good manager. So to have a talent and intuition is good but it’s not enough. and from the over hand, you can have a lot of theoretical knowledge, but have no intuition and talent of a manager, and again you wouldn’t succeed, because the theory of management and the result of scientific researches are not the absolute truth but only an instruments that help us to understand management. Using our theoretical knowledge in practice in the proper way we can predict and prevent difficulties and take right decisions. So for best results a real manager should combine theoretical knowledge and intuition and has an ability to use his/her theoretical knowledge in practice.