This entry provides a historical overview of Scientific Management. We begin by explaining what Scientific Management refers to and how it emerged at the turn of the Twentieth Century as a set of clearly defined management principles which were also central to a more general movement of Progressive Era America seeking to mobilize the promise of scientific methods to the ‘problem of work’. We then outline Scientific Management’s ‘Principles and Aims’ which we break down into eight categories: 1) The accurate and scientific determination of the quickest time required to accomplish a particular task, 2) The standardisation of methods and tools 3) Task setting and instruction cards, 4) Routing and scheduling, 5) Selection and Training 6) Incentives (remuneration and promotion) 7) Functional Management, and 8) Mental Revolution. In the final section, we consider the legacy of Scientific Management, bringing attention to ongoing debates and sources of critique, as well as instances where Scientific Management can still be seen at work and in development today.
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Braverman, Harry. 1974. Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.
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Drury, Horace Bookwalter. 1918. Scientific Management: A History and Criticism. New York, NY: Columbia University. http://archive.org/details/scientificmanag00druruoft
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Foster, John Bellamy. 1974. “Introduction.” In Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century, by Harry Braverman, ix–xxiv. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.
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Goldstein, Kurt. 1940. Human Nature in the Light of Psychopathology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Hollway, Wendy. 1991. Work Psychology and Organizational Behaviour: Managing the Individual at Work. London: SAGE.
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Kendall, H. P. (1913). Systematized and Scientific Management. Journal of Political Economy 21(7): 593–617. https://doi.org/10.1086/252278
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Pacey, Arnold. 1975. The Maze of Ingenuity: Ideas and Idealism in the Development of Technology. New York, NY: Holmes & Meier. http://archive.org/details/mazeofingenuityi00pace
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Taylor, Frederick Winslow. 1895. “A Piece-Rate System: Being a Step Toward Partial Solution of the Labor Problem.” Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 16: 856–83.
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Taylor, Frederick Winslow. 1926. Testimony of Frederick W. Taylor at Hearings Before Special Committee of the House of Representatives, January, 1912: A Classic of Management Literature Reprinted in Full from a Rare Public Document. New York, NY: Taylor Society.
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Taylor, Frederick Winslow. [1911] 2003. The Principles of Scientific Management. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
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Towne, Henry R. 1986. “The Engineer as an Economist.” Academy of Management Proceedings 1986(1): 3–4. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.1986.4976735.
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Towne, Henry R., F. A. Halsey, and F. W. Taylor. 1896. The Adjustment of Wages to Efficiency: Three Papers on Gain-Sharing, The Premium Plan, A Piece Rate System. New York, NY: American Economic Association/Macmillan Company.
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Wrege, Charles D., and Ronald G. Greenwood. 1991. Frederick W. Taylor, the Father of Scientific Management: Myth and Reality. Homewood, IL: Irwin Professional Pub.
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