1. Introduction
Currently, there are those who continue to wonder who is the father of the administration, however we will have to start by defining what a father is, from the Latin “parter” which means father is a man or male who has begotten or adopted a parental function, (Definition, 2012). And it is there where even more doubts arise, although it is true that Taylor lays the foundations of scientific administration (generates) there were also those who strengthened and developed (adopt) studies that continue to be applied today, such as Smith, Weber and Fayol, who It is even from the same time.
If we start from the beginning of our era, the administration has existed for thousands of years, theoretical or empirical in those times, tremendous projects were carried out in which thousands of workers participated, such as the pyramids of Egypt, to mention a particular case.
How were workers administered? Who told them what task to do? Since building a single pyramid in addition to employing more than 100,000 workers took more than 20 years to build, Robbins (Stephen P. Robbins, 2005), said that the solution was managers at that time. Whatever they were called at that time, someone had to plan the work, organize the people and the materials, instruct and direct the masons and see that everything was done as planned.
The present work presents the contributions of those who are currently considered the initiators and precursors of scientific administration, but in a particular case we will talk about the one who laid the foundations of scientific administration, Frederick W. Taylor, those bases and principles served for many authors to consider him the father of scientific administration, Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915), American Industrial Engineer, was born in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. In 1878, he began working at the Midvale Steel Company. (Escalona, 2003).
2. Development
For the study of the administration, 2 events before the 20th century are particularly significant. In 1776, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, a book in which he argued the advantages generated by organizations and society by the division of labor, as well as the decomposition of jobs into specialized and repeated tasks. (Stephen P. Robbins, 2005)
Smith used pinmaking as an example, ten individuals, each doing a specific specialized task, together produced some 48,000,000 pins per day. On the other hand, if everyone worked on their own and did all the tasks, it would be quite an achievement to finish 10 pins a day. That is why Smith concluded that the division of labor increases productivity by improving the skill and ability of the workers, saving the time lost when changing from one task to another, and with the invention of techniques and machines, saves labor. work. The popularity of job specialization is without a doubt due to the economic advantages discovered by Adam Smith.
The second influence, prior to the 20th century, on the administration was the Industrial Revolution, which began in England and spread to the Atlantic in the late American Civil War. The Industrial Revolution replaced human power with the power of machines, which made it cheaper to manufacture goods in factories, and which in turn made it cheaper to manufacture products in factories instead of homes. These large and efficient factories required administrative skills. Why? Managers had to forecast demand, ensure there was enough raw material to make products, assign tasks to workers, direct daily activities, etc.
Thus arose the need for a form theory that would help managers run these large organizations, but it was not until the turn of the 20th century that the first step was taken in formulating such a theory.
Coulter mentioned that if the birth year of modern management theory were to be pointed out, it would be 1911, the year of the publication of Frederick Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management. Its content was accepted by managers worldwide. In his work, Taylor exposed the theory of scientific administration: the application of the scientific method to determine "the best way" to do a job. (Stephen P. Robbins, 2005)
Frederick W. Taylor did most of his work at the Midvale and Bethlehem Steel mills in Pennsylvania. Taylor was a Puritan-trained mechanical engineer. He was constantly amazed at the inefficiency of the workers. Operations used very different techniques to do the same job. I spend more than 20 years searching intensively for "the best way" to do each job.
Taylor's experiences at Midvale led him to define clear guidelines for improving production efficiency.
The argument that its four principles of scientific administration would bring prosperity to both workers and managers. 4 principles of Taylor management. (Jáuregui G, 2001).
- Establish the science of each part of the individual's work, to replace the old method of “doing it to the eye.” Scientifically choose the worker and then train and develop him. Enthusiastically cooperate with workers to ensure that all work is done according to the principles of the science that was developed. Divide the work and the responsibility almost equally between the management and the workers, the management assumes all the work for which it is more qualified than the workers.
One of Taylor's most relevant achievements in applying scientific management was the iron ingot experiment. The workers loaded the ingots (42 kilos each) to the rail cars. Its daily production average was 12.5 tons. Taylor believed that if the work was scientifically analyzed to determine "the best way" to load the ingots, production would increase to 47 or 48 tons per day.
Indeed, after applying various techniques and procedures, I managed to obtain those levels of productivity. How do i do it? Placing the right person on the job, with the right tools and equipment, made the worker follow instructions exactly and motivated him by paying him more than he earned before.
After Taylor more scientists and authors, they decided to study those techniques created by him in order to improve or contribute more in the field of scientific administration.
The name of “schools” is known to those groups of authors who systematically support similar principles and methods regarding a given discipline. (Reyes Ponce, 2004).
Authors like Frank and Lilian Gilbreth, looked for how to eliminate useless manual and corporal movements. As well as experimenting to optimize the results of the work, regarding the design and use of tools and equipment.
The two most prominent theorists of the general administration approach were Henri Fayol and Max Weber.
Henri Fayol wrote around the same time as Taylor, and while Taylor was interested in front-line managers and the scientific method, Fayol turned his attention to the activities of all managers.
His belief was that administration is a common activity of everyone, in companies, governments, even at home. This belief led him to write the 14 principles of administration.
Max weber the german sociologist studied organizational activity. Weber described an ideal type of organization that he called bureaucracy, a form of organization characterized by division of labor, a well-defined hierarchy, detailed rules, norms, and impersonal relationships.
3. Conclusion
Currently all the colleges require that they be considered as Scientific Administration. Thus, the name given by Taylor and the authors to the theories of the criteria and principles that he established and the consequent school that arose from it, only historically deserve the name of School of Scientific Administration, as mentioned (Reyes Ponce, 2004).
Taylor has the merit of having pointed out the need to apply standards in the administration and the scientific method, but it is indisputable that what Taylor wanted to implement in his time and what is required in modern administration today is only the beginning, which does not detract Taylor's work is one of the pioneers of the administration.
Taylor applied his techniques to similar jobs, including others that were unrelated, and managed to establish "the best way" to do each job. Overall, Taylor achieved better production permanents on the order of 200% or more.
We cannot fail to mention that some authors consider Fayol as the true father of the administration for his contributions, and although he is considered a pioneer, if we return to the concept of father, it was Taylor who engendered the foundations of scientific administration. (Reyes Ponce, 2004)
And this is how thanks to his scientific studies carried out before and after the publication of his book "scientific administration" in which he set his theory to apply the scientific method to determine "the best way" to do a job. Taylor earned the title of "father of scientific management."
His ideas spread throughout the United States, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan, and inspired others to study and develop methods of scientific administration.
Even today for modern administration….
Bibliography
- Definition. (2012). http://definicion.de/padre/.Escalona, MI (12 of 2003). Gestiopolis. Retrieved on 04 of 11 of 2012, from http://www.gestiopolis.com/es-taylor-el-padre-de-la-administracion-cientifica/Jáuregui G, A. (7 of 2001). Gestiopolis. Retrieved on 04/11/2012, from http://www.gestiopolis.com/principios-de-la-administracion-cientifica-taylor-y-ford/Reyes Ponce, A. (2004). Modern Administration. Mexico: Limusa. Stephen P. Robbins, MC (2005). Administration (8 ed.). Mexico: Prentice Hall.
Professor María Gisbert, from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, presents in the following video-lesson a synthesis of the general principles of the school of scientific administration, which has its origin in the studies of Frederick W. Taylor, who grouped various postulates made by other researchers of the time, which led to the formulation of a general theory that sought to increase labor productivity.
