Scientific Management Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Scientific Management Theory - Essay Example While Taylor’s method is referred to as scientific management theory, it’s other names attest to a variety of divisions in this approach. In addition to scientific management theory, this approach has been referred to as Taylorism. While in practice the two terms of oftentimes used synonymously, in much of the prominent literature a distinction is made between the two concepts (Archibald 1999). The main distinction the literature makes between these two categories is that Taylorism is supposed to refer to the early incarnations of Taylor’s theory or the ‘first form’ classical perspective. Conversely, scientific management theory is the more developed of the managerial processes. One considers that while Taylorism had been articulated as early as 1895 with Taylor’s text ‘A Piece Rate System’, and in 1903 with his text ‘Shop Management,’ it wasn’t until 1910 that Louis Brandeis first coined the term ‘scient ific management’ (Kulliver 2001). Scientific management has emerged and evolved throughout the 20th century. While scientific management is a specific approach, it fits within the context of late 19th century and 20th-century economic efficiency movements. Broadly speaking the efficiency movements sought to increase human efficiency, decrease waste, and implement an empirical methodology in doing so. Termed the Efficiency Movement among the prominent organizational elements that emerged during this period were lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Fordism, and operations management.