The “Taylor” System of “Scientific Management.”

Abstract

DURING the last year or two much attention has been given to the results of analyses of industrial operations obtained by Dr. F. W. Taylor in the United States, and a system of scientific management has been based upon them. Advocates of the “Taylor” system claim that, by the thorough analysis and investigation of the actual practice of manufacture, it has been possible to deduce certain principles applicable to all industry. These principles are not so coordinated and developed as the laws of physical science, because, although the result of industry —the production of concrete material things—is physical, the actual process of production by human brains and hands is not a physical, but a social, process. Only those who maintain that social laws cannot be discovered which will explain and govern the actions of society can consistently argue that the “Taylor r” principles applied to industry are not scientific.