5 Assignment 05

In his article, “The Principles of Scientific Management, (1911:4)”, Frederick Taylor he discusses how one could simplify jobs and make days work more productive. Taylor started this paper by quoting then President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt: “The conservation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger question of national efficiency (Taylor;p1)”. Taylor explains the concept to which he referred as to “soldiering” in which was his term for “slow working.” Taylor believes that money motivated all workers.Therefore an employee should pay day by day based on the quality of work he produces the day. He believes an employee will not work as hard, and if he saw his fellow co-worker “slacking” he will begin to question himself, why do I get the same amount when his not working as hard as I do?. It will create conflict between workers and decreased the quality of work produced by the company. Taylor believes that there has to be a healthy job environment for employees to keep motivated. He believes that a good relationship between employees and employee is a key factor, for efficient work. When a worker is not being watched so closely and carefully by his employer, will produce a better quality of work. He believes that if employers and employees work together to maximize the product quality and efficiency, it will benefit all, it was a matter of both realizing they are working for the same goal.Taylor believes if there was a solution to end the soldiering, that if the workers will not behave this way it will create higher wages and shorter working hours along with home condition possible.

The three causes for “soldiering” Taylor believed were, “ The Fallacy,”“The defective,””The inefficient rule-of-thumb.” Taylor states “ This paper will attempt to show the enormous gains which result from the substitution by workmen of the scientific rule of thumb methods.” (Taylor,p4) He believes that both the employee and employer will benefit from the substitution of soldering. In my opinion, Taylor’s theory sounds great on paper, however, in today’s world, the fact we live in a capitalist society seems to make a nonexisting collaboration. A capitalist or business owner has the pressure of material and competition, once he feels the pressure, he will begin to put the pressure on his employees and the principles of scientific management Taylor’s theory will be affected.

In Frederick Taylors “The principles of scientific Management” he begins by talking about increasing national efficiency. He discusses the need for more competent men due to the fact that there is a waste in human effort. However, we cannot see this waste the way we do with materialistic things because human inefficiencies are not visible. He feels that men’s appreciation for work comes from memory and is an effort of the imagination. Because this is not seen it does not moves us as much as seeing the loss of material things such as forest and coal.  Taylor continues by stating the demand for more competent men however there is no one willing to create men in which are competent. Businessmen want to hire those who are already trained rather than having to train them themselves. so you are basically fishing in a pool for fish were there are none because no one has bothered to put any fish in there in the first place. Taylor brings up the point that the idea that “captains are born not made” is misleading and false, he believes that our future is depending of the leaders who have been trained correctly so that we are not living in a world where there is a battle between ordinary men and those who are seen as born leaders. It seems that the system has begun to over throw the man rather than putting the men first so they can rise to the top of the systems in which they work. This is known as Systematic management, rather than focus on the outcome the systematic management approach focuses on the process. In addition to fixing the issue to national inefficiency Taylor speaks of maximum prosperity in which business would not only focuses on bringing up their business to its highest excellence but also its employees. Providing Maximum prosperity within wages and work positions may ensure that each employ is working in their best efforts and at their highest abilities. In doing so the prosperity of the business would stay permanent, however if not done then the prosperity of the business who not exist long term. I felt what Taylor was trying to say was that to increasing Nation efficiency you must providing maximum through systematic management. In addition to removing soldering and slow working in the work place.    furthermore, I Believe what Taylor was saying is that men must work along machines, Workers must not feel as if their wage is affected by machines rather than both men and machine creating the “largest possible output” (pg4).  Personally I agree with most of Taylor’s points. I also believe that when these methods are applied along with the allowing your staff to work without keeping an eye on them the entire time you build a trust and confidence within the workers, making them happier and work more efficiently.

Frederick Taylor theorizes that in order to obtain the maximum output of men and machines we have to do away with the causes of slow working and “Soldering.” In order to do away with the inefficiency that is crippling our country, we first have to understand the three main causes of “soldering”. The understanding of the three main causes is needed in order to be able to implement the scientific management that is required to help reach the maximums needed for true mutual success from both workmen and employers. Frederick Taylor discusses the following three main causes of “soldering”(Taylor p.5).

1. Fallacy is the illusion that exist among workmen which basically highlights the fact that if they work at their best speed to have the best production possible, they will do an injustice to the rest of the workers who don’t work as fast nor produce as much as they do.  Which in return will cause men to be out of work (Taylor p.5).

2. Defective systems of management, refers to the notion that there is a very poor relationship between employers and workmen. As a result of their poor rapport, employers don’t know how much time is needed to complete different projects. Which in return causes the employees to idle one’s time away.

3. The inefficient rule of thumb has been generated using previous results from earlier samples that were arrived by trial and error methods. Therefore creating various approaches to handle particular jobs. The fact that there is no set rule to handle certain jobs creates wasteful techniques that aid the “soldering.” (Taylor p.5)

According to Frederick Taylor scientific management would be the best option for eliminating the “soldering” of workmen that are not benefiting nor helping the employer prosper. That in turn results in the need to get rid of slow working in order to achieve prosperity for both the workers and employers. By implementing the scientific methods it would in turn result in higher labor production that consequently lower labor costs.  In using the scientific methods, the manager would be able to get involved in the labor processes and in response be better informed about the time it takes to complete the task assigned. By improving the involvement of management of the workers they will therefore be able to influence the results of productivity to be a positive one. Even though Taylor doesn’t claim that in using the scientific management slow working and soldering will end, he can definitely help the troubles that exist for the workmen and employers.

In Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management, he explains the fundamentals of Scientific Management. In an obvious view of an example of a successful business, you would believe that the employer and employee work together to produce whatever the object is to make the business successful. This would make both the employer and employee happy. The worker would work quickly and to the best of their ability in order to increase productivity and in return the employer can sell more units of the commodity. The employer would get the best profit and also pay the worker a decent wage. The employer and employee should both be happy with this outcome and therefore should be working together.

Instead of working together to prosper the business, employees are working slower in order to stretch out the work over time. Taylor believes that the only way to reach maximum prosperity is for the employee and employer to recognize that they have the same goal and must work quickly to keep high wages for they worker and better profit for the employee.

Taylor mentions that even if an employee is a quick worker, he will decrease his speed when he realizes that other workers are not working as quickly and still earning the same pay. This is called “soldiering”. Other employees may become upset if one worker is showing more enthusiasm and working much quicker and are able to produce double or triple the amount of work than the rest of the workers. If they work too quickly, this can also show the employer that they may possibly not need as many workmen. This happens when the relationship between employees and employers is poor and both are just doing what they have been told or taught by elders. Soldiering has been hindering the success of many industries

But the employees are not the only ones creating a challenge for reaching prosperity. The methods of the employers have also been to work people as much as they can for the least bit of money in order for them to gain a bigger profit.

By properly managing these workers by getting rid of employee “soldiering” and the employers “sweat-shop” like ideals of management. Taylor believes that it would be possible to be competitive, and lower production cost. There are many more people who are spreading the soldiering way to work. The employers also must be educated properly on management to create proper leaders in many industries.

Taylor’s “The Principles of Scientific Management” begins to explore the methods used in creating an industry of workers that are used to build efficiency in the workforce. Taylor’s argument states that the nation’s industry has been inefficient due to the lack of management and growth of the worker. He expresses that a worker’s daily acts when not properly managed wastes the materials (and production) that create a strong industry. He believes that “systemic management” alleviates the lack of efficient industries and builds a strong workforce. In other words, this style of management should result in employer’s maximizing profitability and employee’s increasing their prosperity in all aspects, not just in monies.

Taylor mentions that the difficulties in achieving these goals for both employer and employee is the perception that each side does not believe that they can mutually attain their perspective goals. “Scientific Management” addresses this conflict and argues that both sides are actually one in the same. The main idea of scientific management is that the employer cannot see true success unless the employee prospers through the rewards of his labor, and vice versa. Both employer and employee through scientific management can prosper if they choose to mutually agree to benefit from each other. It is only then when both agree that you will see the highest grade of efficiency in labor and product.

Taylor mentions that one of the problems with achieving maximum efficiency in the workplace is defined in the term “Underworking” or “soldering”. He defines “soldiering” as minimum work effort produced or the smallest amount of effort in work by employee or employer which causes the lack of production. He attributes this to be common in the workforce due to three causes. One, if a man is able to be highly productive in his work, that he would eliminate others from obtaining work. Two, Bad management. And three, using the “rule of thumb” to maximize work effort. The combination of both “soldiering” and its’ three causes are what Taylor argues why maximum efficiency cannot be achieved. The elimination of “soldiering” and its’ causes according to Taylor should double production from both employer and employee. It is only until when it is eliminated that the theory of scientific management can be successful and both worker and employer can achieve mutual gains in the workforce.

I believe that the mutual agreement of both worker and employer sounds great and beneficial. In theory, it does sound perfect but I do not think that it would be able to co-exist in a capitalistic society. As long as the threat of competition exists and the gain of capital is the primary function of either the worker or the employer, the two forces cannot coexist. In the case of the market in this country, the top 1% would have to be willing to sacrifice its’ profits in order to balance the equation in Taylor’s theory. I hate to be the pessimist, but it sounds like a wonderful dream that cannot be turned into a reality during our life time.

In this article “The Principles of Scientific Management,1911” Frederick w. Taylor describes the how “soldiering” directly affects workers lives, their wages and how they prosper. The causes and conditions, which he divided into three areas in (p.5) The first one he called the “fallacy” stage which consisted in trading man with machines and that would result in many men out jobs. The second stage The “defective” in which the manager would have to “soldier” it’s workers in order to protect their interest. And the third the “inefficient” stage and the most universal were the workers performs slow work and waste a lot of effort and time in.

In the fallacy stage Taylor mentions that no matter if we increased productive capacity or invent a new machine to increase production this would make the product less expensive because work that was formally done by hands was more costly to make. As a result of machines instead of people doing the labor, the product would be more accessible to the people and would become cheaper to make.

In (p.7) Taylor believed that the caused of soldering was because many workers have the natural instinct to not work as hard as they have to. This tendency increases when men of similar background start working in similar conditions and with the same pay day. All because men start believing that they shouldn’t work had if other workers doing the same work are not working hard and are getting the same pay as they are. In (p.8) Taylor explains a little more on how systematic soldering works he mentions is done by men with an intentional goal to keep their employers ignorant of how much faster the work can be done.

Taylor’s response was that implementing the rule of thumb instead of science as a rule was the way to do things more efficiently. In (p.10) Taylor describes how the worker and management should more have equal responsibilities and the management should also help in guiding the worker with the scientific laws. He believed that the method of rule of thumb eliminates the need of soldering and it increases the need for men in the work force instead of throwing men out of work and eliminating the fallacy stage. Taylor also believed that workers that are not under the watchful eye of management are more productive and happier at their jobs. Because they are under less stressful conditions.

In Frederick Taylor’s work on “The Principles of Scientific Management,” he argues that workers could work harder and produce more for their company but because of the payment they receive they make less.  He discussed a term called “soldering” in the U.S, in England it is called “hanging it out” and in Scotland it’s called “ca canae” which is under working or deliberately working slow and safe, putting out less and avoiding doing a day’s work of work.  This proves that it exists in work places around the world and is a problem that he believes is universal and can be found in large establishments.

He stated three reasons for why workers do not produce at maximum capacity. His first reason states that a misconception workers are tossed together in the same environment could lead to a lot of men out of jobs.  Second The system and machines make workers work slower because they are trying to protect themselves and third the rule of thumb method to teach the new workers to perform the task.

Taylor believe that the scientific method would fix the problem of underworking and lower cost of production both home and overseas markets and would even the playing field with the competitors. The rule of thumb method workers is being trained by other workers so there’s a lot of other way of getting the task done. He believes that management should be more hands on and train their employees’ one definite way of doing the job efficiently thus producing more, less time being wasted which will result in more profit and higher wages, elimination of poverty and lower the cost of production. It would also have a better effect on their workers that would allow them to work at the best of their abilities, doubling speed that will eventually double production.

In his article, “The Principles of Scientific Management, 1911”, Frederick Taylor discusses a concept he calls “soldiering” or “underworking”, referring to the ways in which some workers will purposefully work more slowly and less efficiently than they are truly able, in order to lessen their output of work (Taylor, p.4).  Taylor argues that if workers would end this behavior, they could double their production, thus benefitting themselves as well as the companies that they work for (Taylor, p.5).

Since this seems to be an obvious change to make, Taylor hypothesizes three causes as to why workers would still chose to soldier, instead of choosing to increase their output to increase their wages. First, Taylor points out the common theory that increasing output will lead to more people being out of work (Taylor, p.5).  Many people feel that if jobs are able to be done so efficiently, less people will be needed to perform the jobs, leading to higher unemployment rates.  Second, ignorance of management as to how long it should take to perform certain tasks, allows workers to soldier (Taylor, p.7).  Finally, most companies use rule-of-thumb methods to teach new employees how to perform their tasks, not considering new and possibly more efficient methods of working.

Taylor seems to believe that substituting rule-of-thumb methods with scientific methods is the only way to fix this problem of soldiering. He realizes that workers are trained by the other employees that they work with, so there are many different methods of working, with one usually being superior to the others (Taylor, p.9).  This superior method can only be discovered by a strict scientific analysis of each method (Taylor, p.9).

Previously, workers commonly had the burden of figuring out the best way to do their jobs without much help from management, which means they were most likely not using scientific methods (Taylor, p.10). Taylor believes that this could be remedied by sharing more of this burden with management.  Management should be doing more work, especially preparing things in order to make the workers’ jobs easier (Taylor, p.10).  Also, since it is the duty of management to develop a scientific method of working for their employees, they should help their staff use the method as well as take more responsibility for the outcomes of their staff’s work (Taylor, p.10).

Taylor further asserts that under this new type of management, output of products will increase (Taylor, p.10). In addition, higher wages and closer supervision of management will result in less soldiering, as will the eventual realization that increasing output will pave the way for more jobs (Taylor, p.10).

In The Principles of Scientific Management Taylor investigates the process of creating an industry of workers that are essentially used to build efficiency in the workforce. He argues that it is the fault of the nation’s inability to efficiently unitize and manage the growth of the worker. This will result in waste, the waste of materials, production and labor power all of which are needed to create a solid industry. Taylor believes in the possibilities of the “Systemic Management” and how it will get rid of the lack of efficiency within industries while building a solid structure for a better off work place. This style of management will maximize profits and productivity among workers.

Taylor is faced with this realization of differences. He for sees this conflict among employee and their employer while trying to wrap their mind around this new method “Systemic Management”. The point of views of these individuals’ offers troubles— that no one believes they can mutually achieve their perspective goals. This addresses the conflict Taylor argues that both sides are the same. In theory, this defeats the sole purpose of the scientist management, which is represented by teamwork to increase a mutual efficiency in work labor and production. Through this method both the employer and employee can prosper if they work together.

A portion of Taylor’s reasoning for this underlining conflict stems from refocusing on training the employee oppose to this idealized “right man” and the relevance of developing first class men. Three goals were originally directed towards engineers and managers.

1. The whole country in suffering loss through daily acts of inefficiency.
2. The cure of inefficiency is systematic management oppose to this long lasting search for the “right man”.
3. Most effective management is one that is able to balance properly defined laws and principles as a base of workmanship.

He argues that the fundamental principles of the scientific management rules are universal and can be applied throughout all kinds of work. If done properly, both employee and employer can achieve mutual rewards in their work.

Ideally, I feel the possibilities of this method present a win-win scenario for everyone. On paper, it sounds great! However, I find difficult to apply this method in our present society. Capital threatens business and forces the business owner into strong competitive mind set, in order to survive and prosper. The competitive aspect alone would interfere with Taylor’s “Systemic Management”; Realistically this is unobtainable.

I think that work under capitalism, the worker is alienated this is what Karl Marx says. What my understanding is from all three articles is that human beings are separated from their own nature. We are denied from our own nature, we are separated from what makes us human and that is work.  In the Charlie Chaplin video clip, technology forces humans around machines. In order for us to keep going we must engage in this type of work to exceed our own needs. In the video, Chaplin went on a “lunch break” and was immediately sent back to work. I see the worker in a way like a commodity. The worker is paid to give his or herself their energy, The more production that happens the less value the worker has. In capitalism the product of labor is not in the worker, because the worker has no control over the labor. Which It leads us to the Frederick Taylor’s article on “The Principles of Scientific Management,  He wants us to know that in order for a worker to work efficiently he has, the worker has to be involved with his owners to make good business and wages for the workers. In the quote he presents as “himself a quitter in sport”, he believes that workers should be able to perform any task with the right support. The worker should not feel a sense of failure because its about the work. People should feel a sense of manager to worker relationship to improve their contribution to work. The worker shouldn’t feel like he is “soldiering” himself if it is for the satisfaction of work. In a way I reminds me of Marx, where he says, the worker, “only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself”, so you know you are working but its not for you. Finally, In the” Tracking sensors, invade the workplace” article, This was a hard article to grasp. I felt like this experiment was strange because these people were being tracked on everything they were doing. I understand that the concept of this was to see how workers interact with each other and work in offices but; Sometimes for me, it is hard to interact with people because I am a shy person. So I feel like in a way this could be forcing people to shut down, because their movements are being recorded. If you think of it in a different matter, it is probably a good thing to see how people process information and show leadership skills, which are beneficial to high corporate companies, But in my opinion It was a tad bit strange.