The success story of the Taylor system, the advantages and disadvantages of the Taylor system

The advantages and disadvantages of the Taylor system are as follows:

1. Advantages: Taylor's greatest contribution to scientific management lies in the use of scientific methods in management advocated by Taylor and his own scientific practice spirit. The essence of Taylor's scientific management is to replace personal judgment, opinion and experience with accurate investigation and scientific knowledge, and to emphasize the optimization of efficiency and the scientific method of investigation and research.

These techniques and methods are not only the basis of the past, but also the rational organization of production in modern times.

2. Disadvantages: The Taylor system believes that the main motivation of workers is economic, and the most concerned of workers is to increase their monetary income, that is, to adhere to the assumption of homo economicus. It is also believed that workers can only do well if they work alone, and that collective encouragement is often ineffective.

It can only solve the problem of operational efficiency of individual specific work, but does not solve the problem of how to operate and manage the enterprise as a whole.

The origin of the Taylor system:

The Taylor system is a set of working methods for measuring time and studying movements created by American engineer Frederick Taylor, and its basic content and principle is to scientifically analyze the mechanical actions of people in labor, study the most economical and most efficient so-called standard operating methods, and strictly select and train workers. <>

Main content: 1) Develop scientific operating methods. Here's how:

First of all, the strongest and most skilled person is selected from among the workers who perform the same kind of work, his work process is broken down into many actions, the time consumed to complete each action is measured and recorded with a stopwatch, and then, the superfluous and unreasonable parts of the action are removed, and finally, the most economical and efficient actions are concentrated to determine the standard operating method. Secondly, the implementation of the standardization of the various tools and working environment required for the operation Thirdly, according to the standard operation method and the standard time of each action, determine the standard workload that the worker must complete in a day.

2) Scientifically select and train workers. Taylor has trained scientifically selected workers with the above-mentioned scientific work methods to make them work according to the work standards, so as to change the past method of working based on personal experience, and has achieved remarkable results.

3) Implement a differentiated piecework wage system. Different wage rates are set according to the work standard and time quota. For individuals who complete or exceed the work quota, they are paid on a piece-rate basis at a higher wage rate, generally 125 of the normal wage rate; For individuals who fail to meet the fixed wage rate, they are paid at a lower wage rate, which is generally only 80 percent of the normal wage rate.

4) Separate the planning function from the executive function. In order to increase labor productivity, Taylor advocated the separation of the planning function from the executive function. Taylor's planning function is in fact the managerial function, and the executive function is the labor function of the workers.

5) Implement the functional foreman system. That is, the whole management work is divided into many smaller management functions, so that all managers (such as foremen) try to share as few old management functions as possible; If possible, a foreman assumes only one managerial function. This kind of thinking provides the basis for the establishment and management specialization of functional departments in the future.

6) Implement the principle of exception in management. Taylor pointed out that large-scale enterprises cannot only organize and manage according to the principle of functions, but also need to apply the principle of exception, that is, the senior managers of the enterprise delegate the authority to deal with ordinary affairs to the lower-level managers, and they only retain the decision-making power and supervision power over exceptional matters, such as the formulation of basic policies of the enterprise and the appointment and dismissal of important personnel.

The evaluation is as follows:

From the perspective of economics and business management, the Taylor system is nothing more than a collection of new management techniques and management methods for production operations. Whether it is the study of working hours, division of labor and specialization, standardization, employee training, functional organizational design, or various efficiency wages, they are just means to improve labor productivity.

Taylor Introduction:

The Taylor system is a set of working methods for measuring time and studying movements created by the American engineer Frederick Taylor. Popular in the United States and Western European countries at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century Its basic content and principles are: Li Xue analyzes the mechanical movements of people in labor, studies the so-called "standard operating methods" that are the most economical and productive and efficient, and strictly selects and trains workers.

According to the characteristics of labor, the requirements for workers are put forward, and the production procedures and labor quotas are determined; Implement the differential wage system, different standards make different wage rates, those who meet the standards are rewarded, and those who fail to meet the standards are punished, and functional management is implemented, a functional foreman system is established, production is commanded according to the principle of scientific management, and the "principle of inversion is implemented" to disperse power to the lower management personnel as much as possible, and the management personnel and workers cooperate in the division of labor.

Specific examples:

In the United States, for example, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the Taylor system was widely promoted, the economy and society of the United States underwent tremendous changes. In addition to the rapid development of the economy, professional managers began to emerge, forming the new backbone of the American middle class. From Hu Nafeng's point of view, the so-called "white-collar workers" in the United States have gradually shifted from lawyers, journalists, and doctors as the main body to managers.

The separation of planning and execution has led to the formation of different social groups for blue-collar and white-collar workers; The withdrawal of the owner from operation and management has brought about major changes in the corporate governance structure. All this is precisely because the Taylor system emphasizes the application of scientific knowledge in the process of production and operation, and uses scientific knowledge and the corresponding organizational system to regulate and guide the social behavior of individuals or groups, thus providing a new integration mode for capitalist production and social operation.

From then on, the micro change carried out by the Taylor system in the business management system quietly evolved into a macro change in the social structure. In the interaction between technological innovation and social change, management innovation plays an important intermediary role and becomes an important force to promote social transformation. In fact, perhaps through the change of the management system at the micro level, the cost of social progress will be smaller, and the effect of the transformation of the social structure will be better.

More than 100 years ago, under the management mode of employing foreman supervision to prevent workers from being lazy, Taylor put forward the theory of scientific management, which is worthy of being called the "father of scientific management" by later generations.

Taylor's four principles of scientific management are still advanced management concepts and methods in modern times.

Taylor's Four Principles of Scientific Management.

1. To develop a scientific method for every element of the worker's work, to replace the old empirical methods. 2. Scientifically select workers, and train, educate and grow them. 3. Work heartily with the workers to ensure that all work is done in accordance with the scientific principles that have been formed.

4. The division of work and responsibilities between the management and the workers is almost equal, and the management authorities undertake all kinds of work that they are more qualified for than the workers.

The scope of application of the Taylor system is repetitive work, and the standard time is defined with the help of the benchmarking method. However, it does not have much reference significance for other jobs with low repetition frequency and high complexity. Therefore, it is mainly applicable to the assessment of operators in labor-intensive enterprises.

Due to the implementation of the Taylor system, the factory management at that time began to transition from empirical management to scientific management. Taylor believes that the fundamental purpose of enterprise management is to improve labor productivity, and he said in his book "Scientific Management": "Scientific management, like a labor-saving machine, aims to increase the output of each unit of labor."

The purpose of improving labor productivity is to increase the profits of enterprises or achieve the goal of maximizing profits.

The characteristics of Taylor's scientific management are to start from every worker, from every tool, from every process, on the basis of scientific experiments, to design the best station settings, the most reasonable labor quota, standardized operation methods, and the most suitable labor tools.

For example, in the test of moving pig iron and shoveling iron conducted by a steel company, he specified that the size of the shovel used should be different for the different weights of the materials shoveled by the workers. To this end, he has set up a tool room with 10 different shovels for workers to use when completing different tasks.

Taylor's scientific management system unleashes the potential of the workers to an unparalleled degree, and some people describe that in the factories where the Taylor system is practiced, there is not a single superfluous worker, and each worker works like a machine all the time.