THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF CONTINUING AND DISTANCE LEARNING; COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND EXTERNAL STUDIES; DEPARTMENT OF EXTRA MURAL STUDIES

DEGREE: MASTER OF ARTS IN PROJECT PLANNING AND

MANAGEMENT

LDP 601: FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT

ESSAY: With reference to the scientific management school of thought advanced by Fredrick Taylor, discuss the following statement “Employees are only motivated by financial rewards”

LECTURER: DR. HARRIET J. KIDOMBO

PRESENTED BY:

MALENYA CRISPUS NATALAL50/61623/2013

THIS IS A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, DEPARTMENT OF EXTRA MURAL STUDIES, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A DEGREE IN MASTER OF ARTS IN PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, YEAR 2013-2014

1.0Introduction.

Management has been defined by different scholars as follows;

  1. Management has been defined as the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups (Haimann, T.)
  2. Management has also been defined as simply the process of decision-making and control over the actions of human beings for the express purpose of attaining predetermined goals (Vance S.)
  3. Management is also a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulations of the operations of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose or task (Brech E. F., 1957).
  4. Management is the coordination of all resources through the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling in order to attain a given stated objective (Fayol H. 1916; & Koontz and O'Donnel, 1976)

Managementin allbusinessand organizational activities is therefore the act of coordinating the efforts of people to accomplish desired goals andobjectivesusing available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprisesplanning,organizing,staffing,leadingor directing, andcontrolling anorganization(a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

Management isboth a social and technical process that comprises a series of actions that lead to the accomplishment of specific set objectives.It is a process by which the resources of production are transformed from just "resources" to "production" and it requires a combination of technical, human and conceptual skills.

Management can be said to be both a science and an art. It is a science because it is based on a set of organized knowledge founded on proper scientific findings and exact principles. It is part of the branch of science known associal sciencejust like sociology, economics or history.

As Koontz and O'Donnell point out ‘physicians without a knowledge of science become witchdoctors, but with science, they become skillful, artful surgeons.' Therefore, managers who operate without scientific knowledge (in the form of theory) can only trust in luck, intuition, common sense and experience (which may be wrong experience). However, in utilizing theory and science, managers must learn to blend knowledge (principles) and practice to achieve desired results.

The science of management is universally accepted as a distinct discipline. It has assumed professional character, hence requiring the use of specific knowledge, skill and practice. It utilizes certain fundamental concepts, theories, tools and techniques that constitute the subject matter of management. It therefore satisfies all the conditions of a profession.

The Classical Approach to management was the first significant effort to develop a body of management thought. The approach is broken down into two categories, Scientific Management and Classical Organization Theory. Scientific Management was concerned with the management of work and with the workers. It also was looking for the one best way to perform a task. The leading proponent was Frederick Winslow Taylor, and he would observe and time each element of a worker’s job trying to find more efficient ways of doing the task.

2.0Scientific Management School of Thought.

Scientific management has been defined as the application of scientific method of study, analysis and problem solving in organizations.

The scientific management approach was initially described and theorized by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In his book “Principles of Scientific Management”, first published in 1911 he formulated a view on management that was highly inspired by engineering principles. Taylor developed scientific management out of the belief that tasks could be optimized scientifically which would lead to enhanced productivity and profitability. Enhanced productivity would not only lead to greater profits for the employers but also for the workers who would be given the tools and training to perform at optimum performance.

Taylor pointed out that while a large movement had started to conserve material resources, the less visible and less tangible effects of the wasted human effort was only vaguely appreciated. He argues the necessity of focusing on training rather than finding the “right man,” stating “In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first,” and the first goal of all good systems should be developing first-class men.

Taylor argued that the principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee. He argued that the most important object of both the employee and the management should be the training and development of each individual in the establishment, so that he can do the highest class of work for which his natural abilities fit him. Taylor demonstrated that maximum prosperity can exist only as the result of maximum productivity, both for the shop and individual, and rebuked the idea that the fundamental interests of employees and employers are necessarily antagonistic.

Taylor explained his principles of scientific management by describing what he considered the best system of management in the current use, the system of "initiative and incentive." In this system, management gives incentives for better work, and workers give their best effort. The form of payment is practically the whole system, in contrast to scientific management.Taylor also warned about attempting to implement parts of scientific management without accepting the whole philosophy, stating that too fast of a change was often met with trouble,strikes, and failure.

Taylor described how most workers deliberately work slowly, or “soldier,” to protect their interests. According to Taylor, the following were the reasons for the inefficiency:

  • The fallacy, which has from time immemorial been almost universal among workmen that a material increase in the output of each man or each machine in the trade would result in the end in throwing a large number of men out of work. Therefore, workers deliberately restricted production in their daily work due to fear of unemployment and lack of piece rate system.
  • The defective systems of management which are in common use, and which make it necessary for each workman to soldier, or work slowly, in order that he may protect his own best interests.
  • Management left the initiative of working methods to the ingenuity of workers (rule of thumb). These inefficient rule-of-thumb methods, which are still almost universal in all trades and in practicing with our workmen, waste a large part of their effort.
  • Lack of work rationalization, hence overlapping of jobs. The method of working was also too complicated.
  • Due to poor remuneration, workers formed themselves into groups and labor unions to press for better wages.

Taylor suggested the following solutions to the problems above;

  • He argued that the cheapening of any article in common use almost immediately results in a largely increased demand for that article, creating additional work and contradicting the first belief.
  • As to the second, Taylor pointed to quotes from 'Shop Management' to help explain how current management styles caused workers to soldier. He explained the natural tendency of men to take it easy as distinct from systematic soldering due to thought and reasoning, and how bringing men together at a standard rate of pay exacerbated this problem. He described how under standard day, piece, or contract work it was in the workers' interest to work slowly and hide how fast work can actually be done, and the antagonism between workers and management must change.
  • For the third, Taylor noted the enormous saving of time and increase in output that could be obtained by eliminating unnecessary movements and substituting faster movements, which can only be realized after a motion and time study by a competent man. While there are perhaps "forty, fifty, or a hundred ways of doing each act in each trade", "there is always one method and one implement which is quicker and better than any of the rest".
  • Establish standard conditions to ensure the task is more easily accomplished e.g. work-study and motion studies.
  • High payment for successful completion of tasks and none or lower payment when standards are down. He believed money was a major motivator.
  • The scientific selection, education and development of workers.
  • Friendly, close cooperation between management and workers.
  • Managers should take more supervisory responsibility, arguing that workers preferred to be given a definite task with clear-cut standards.

From the above reasons for inefficiency as proposed by Taylor, the notion that “employees are only motivated by financial rewards” arises.

The focus of Taylor’s scientific method is therefore on the work itself and not the particular person doing the work. This brings about the assumption that each worker is a classical economic man hence interested only in maximization of his monetary income.

Taylor’s scientific method also assumed that improved results in organizations will come from the application of scientific methods of analysis to organizational problems which imply that scientific approach to problems is superior to other methods e.g. informal sector.

As much as the scientific approach has benefits for management, it also has limitations and disadvantages as discussed in the conclusion below.

3.0Conclusion.

As much as the revolutionary ideas advocated by Taylor in his scientific school of thought increased productivity, they also led to layoffs.

By assuming that people were rational and therefore motivated only by material gains Taylor and his followers overlooked the social needs of workers. The assumption that one had only to tell workers what to do to increase their earnings and they would do it is ignorant to the reality that people have more needs other than money e.g. recognition and acceptance.

By overlooking the human desire for job satisfaction workers became more willing to go out on strike over job conditions rather than salary yet Taylor’s thoughts emphasized on financial rewards as being the only reason why one worked. It would make much sense if Taylor’s argument that employees look forward to and appreciate financial motivation did not rule out other forms of motivation that have the same effects, sometimes even more effects, to the same employees in question thus leading to higher returns and production. Taylor’s proposition simply does not apply to all human beings.

Taylor’s propositions also generated a carrot and stick approach to the motivation of employees enabling pay to be geared tightly to output which ruled out any realistic bargaining about wage rates since every job was measured, timed and rated scientifically.

Regardless of the above limitations the scientific method’s rational approach to organization of work enables tasks to be measured with accuracy which provides useful information on which to base improvement on working methods which in turn brings enormous increases in productivity. It also enables employees to be paid by results and to take advantage of incentive schemes.

It would therefore be prudent for management to consider other forms of motivating employees to complement financial and material rewards since employees are not only motivated by financial rewards.

4.0 References.

Taylor, Frederick Winslow(1911), The Principles of Scientific Management, New York, NY, USA and London, UK: Harper & Brothers.

Taylor, Frederick Winslow(1903),Shop Management, New York, NY, USA:American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

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