Scientific Management as an Effective Management Approach
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Scientific Management: The Effective Classical Management Theory
Operations processes are the different steps that turn inputs into outputs and they are the main system of production in mass produced items (Process Operations – Definition, n.d.)Scientific management is the most effective for operations processes and here is why. According to Taylor, inefficiency in production techniques was preventing companies from reaching their highest production activities due to the lack of a job science, supervision and proper division of roles between managers and workers (Taylor, 1967). Mass production of cars and steel, for example, relied upon the “rule of thumb” or intuition of the workers while the managers or owners of the companies had little knowledge about what steps or operations made production possible. This “rule of thumb” approach resulted in several ways to attain one production goal without any consistency.
Today, with increased pressures to meet consumer demands and company profit targets, and in order to maintain same excellent standards, companies’ operations processes are not left to chance or intuition. As evidenced in fast food restaurants, call centres, bank and shop till operators, and other mass production companies, there is proper definition of job roles, training and development of properly selected workers, clear instructions, and division tasks for workers and their supervisors just as Taylor advocated.
In defining a “job science”, scientific management also encourages the reduction of the movements or sets of processes need to be taken in order to have a final product. This approach is also evident in other fields such as human surgery. The time it takes to operate on a patient influences the recovery times as well as the cost of hospital stay (Birch, Franciose, Moore, Biffl, & Offler, 2000). Consequently, hospitals are constantly conducting researches to cost effectively reduce the steps involved in operative procedures while maintaining the same quality of care.
Even though Taylor’s scientific management is still evident in many operational processes, companies now made it truly “scientific” by incorporating other novel