Scientific Management was developed as a way to closely mana

Scientific Management was developed as a way to closely manage the human factor in organizations and make it more machine-like. Are there applications in today’s economy for the concepts of scientific management? Scientific management has sometimes been described as “dehumanizing.” Do you agree with this characterization?

Solution

Scientific Management, the term gained importance from the late 19th century and Frederick Taylor who was the first to propound such a theory that has been accepted worldwide and applied to the field of work in order to achieve successful results. The theory was criticized a lot and it became obsolete by 1930 but the fundamental and basic logic is still used in the industries in order to increase the efficiency. The theory aims at enhancing the efficiency rather it can be stated as economic efficiency which generally related to labor productivity in the industries and organizations.

It is believed that the concept of Scientific Management no more exist today but there are various industries where we can notice the concept still in use. The basic principles of scientific management was very much simple and clear and they are:

if we look at the principles closely we will see that today these are used may be in a different way but the definition is identical. Therefore it can be stated that yes, even in today\'s economy the concepts of scientific management can be applied.

Yes it is true that Scientific Management has been described as dehumanizing in various instances and if we look at such instances that the application of Scientific Management depends solely on the organization who is using it therefore the organization should be able to draw the line which will separate efficiency and dehumanization because the objective was to increase efficiency through continuous learning and application not through inhuman work and stress. Many a times the concept has been misinterpreted and the organizations have also mislead the concepts to the workers because they wanted result at any cost but scientific management believed and proposed smart work through smart methods. Therefor I won\'t agree with this characterization at all.