SOCI 425 Industrial Sociology I

Transcription

1 SOCI 425 Industrial Sociology I Session Nine: Organizational Theory Part II: Contemporary Theorist: F.W. Taylor and Fordism Lecturer: Dr. Samson Obed Appiah, Dept. of Sociology Contact Information: soappiah@ug.edu.gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/ /2017

2 Lecture Overview Overview In modern industry, production has been organized in a very formal manner unlike pre-industrial societies. This has resulted in the emergence of various theories which deals with the structure of work organizations.this lecture discusses two main contemporary theorist namely F.W. Taylor and Henry Ford. Objective: At the end of the lecture, the student will be able to; Examine F.W. Taylor s Scientific Management Theory; Identify the benefits of the scientific management theory; Identify the criticisms against the scientific management theory; Evaluate Henry Ford s Fordism. Slide 2

3 Session Outline The key topics to be covered in this session are as follows: Topic One: Main Tenets of F.W. Taylor s Scientific Management Theory Topic Two: Benefits of Scientific Management Theory Topic Three: Criticisms of Scientific Management Theory Topic Four: Rise and Emergence of Fordism Topic Five: Development of Fordism Slide 3

4 Topic One: Scientific Management Theory Scientific Management Theory This theory was developed by Frederick W. Taylor; At college, he began to have trouble with his eyesight and was advised by his physicians to give up all thoughts of academic carrier and instead learn manual work for the sake of his health. He underwent various courses of training in technical subjects and gained experience in different types of jobs; in this way, his background influenced his theory; Slide 4

5 by F.W. Taylor Scientific Management Theory Taylor s work was a response to the challenges that were associated with the industrial revolution and unproductive work attitude; Taylor became a chief engineer and found that the traditional ways of doing things are often inefficient and that inefficiency in industry costs money; For him, whereas the industrialist had a clear idea of how much work he is entitled to expect from a machine, He has no comparative knowledge of the limits of efficiency of workers; Slide 5

6 Scientific Management Theory According to him, it should be possible to estimate how much work a really capable worker could produce in a given operation; It will be possible then to increase the efficiency and output of each worker if the work was scientifically organized; Basic Principles of the Theory Taylor set out to work on three basic principles namely: To select the best man for the job; To instruct them in the most efficient method; most economical movement; To give incentives in the form of higher wages to the best workers Slide 6

7 Scientific Management Theory When Taylor was appointed as a Consulting Engineer in Management at Bethlehem Steel Company, he decided to test these principles in an experiment in the Company; Taylor found that seventy-five (75) labourers were each loading into a railway truck an average of 12.5 tonnes of iron a day; He observed that it should be possible to get an efficient worker to handle between forty-seven (47) and forty-eight (48) tonnes a day. Slide 7

8 Scientific Management Theory Taylor sets out to prove the validity of his belief by selecting a Dutch worker known as Schimidt who was very industrious and strong; Taylor told him that if he did exactly as he was instructed, he will earn more money; There was to be no argument, no initiative, nothing but just obeying orders; For instance when told to lift, he was to lift; when told to walk, he was to walk; When told to put the iron down, he was to put the iron down and when told to rest, he was to rest. Slide 8

9 Scientific Management Theory By the end of the day, this labourer had loaded 47.5 tonnes of iron and for three (3) years he was under observation, he continued to load this amount and was paid 60% higher than his former wages; The other workers were later trained in the same way and Taylor used this method to increase the efficiency of workers; Taylor was able to decrease the number of workers needed to load at the company from 500 to 140 and increased their daily earnings by 60% as well as saving the company about $75,000 a year on production cost. Slide 9

10 Scientific Management Theory Benefits of Scientific Management Theory Taylor s theory and innovations were a positive acquisition for industry and remained useful for ensuring higher productivity; For instance, today the theory has developed into such advanced and widely used technique such as Forecast and Appraisal for Management Evaluation (FAME), a tool used to evaluate the performance of any management position; The theory also ensures efficiency and salary administration in terms of paying workers according to the amount of work produced; There is clarity, specification, orderliness and predictability in production process i.e. the theory made work clearer in terms of how much work was expected within a particular duration. Slide 10

11 Scientific Management Theory Limitations/Criticisms The human factor was not taken into consideration in developing the theory; The theory viewed the worker as an organic machine since Taylor did not realize that workers are human or social beings affected by the behaviour of their employers; He also ignored the informal interaction among the workers; The theory was more of the job centred or task oriented method of supervision but placed no importance on the human being since the job was more important to Taylor; Slide 11

12 Scientific Management Theory In this way, the theory does not help initiative and creativity since the worker is always dictated to; The unions saw the whole theory as in favour of management and as a form of exploitation of workers since the focus is on workers; A socialist by name Sinclair wondered why Taylor gave about 60% in wage increase and got 362% increase in work; The owners of the company were not happy with Taylor. They complained that Bethlehem was being depopulated; The theory did not take into account the sociality of men since the depopulation of Bethlehem meant the houses were left unoccupied; Slide 12

13 Topic Two: Fordism: Its Rise and Emergence The Rise of Fordism During the course of the 19 th century the factory became the dominant image of work in industrial capitalism; Yet manufacturing often still involved a mixture of machine- and hand-made products by machine operators; And craft workers producing a range of small batch and individual products; The pre-fordism era emphasize the role of highly skilled craft workers operating general purpose machines; As a result of this way of organizing production, complex products like cars were extremely expensive to build and buy. Slide 13

14 Fordism: Its Rise and Emergence At the beginning of the 20 th century, Henry Ford combined the organizational innovations of Taylorism, namely the separation of conception from execution; And associated task fragmentation and simplification, with the introduction of special or single-purpose machine tools; Which made standardized and interchangeable parts, and arranged production in a continuous flow in the form of a moving assembly line; It also involved reducing the working day to eight hours and doubling of wages. Slide 14

15 Fordism: Its Rise and Emergence This was to reduce high labour turnover, absenteeism, growing worker dissatisfaction and threat of unionism. These changes did not occur overnight but evolved following experimentation and modification over years; The moving assembly line was the culmination of many mechanical transfer devices introduced between 1910 and 1914; The flow production principle was an organizational innovation which saved time by restricting workers to their position on the line. Slide 15

16 Fordism: Its Rise and Emergence Three main elements of production system inspired the term Fordism namely; The fragmentation and simplification of work via Taylorized tasks; Managerial control over the pace of work via the moving assembly line; And the standardization of parts and products via singlepurpose machines; The consent of workers was achieved via higher wages for those who complied with Ford s model of good behavior involving cleanliness, no drinking, smoking and gambling. Slide 16

17 Fordism: Its Rise and Emergence This created a virtuous circle in which the gains in productivity meant that there were only winners; The employer achieved larger profits, the employee received higher wages, and the consumer was able to purchase cheaper products; The Fordist system of mass production democratized consumption by making what were previously luxury goods for the few available in a standardized form to everyone; The success of Ford s new system of mass production was the increase in production, profit and worker loyalty. Slide 17

18 Key Features of Pre-Fordism and Fordism Pre-Fordism : Type of Production System Craft Skills Stationary Assembly Non-standardized Parts Low volume of high-quality products Fordism: Type of Production System Fragmented and simplified (Taylorized) Work Task Moving Assembly Line Standardized Parts High volume of low-quality products Slide 18

19 The Development of Fordism The dissemination of technical knowledge nationally and internationally plus the rise of the multinational corporations, facilitated the diffusion of Fordism; Fordism became a global system when mass production was relocated to then developing countries like Brazil, to take advantage of lower wages and weaker trade unions; Fordism thus became a shorthand for standardization; a standardized product produced by standardized machinery; Using standardized methods and standardized human labour employed for a standard working day; Ford s achievement in creating a new way organizing production. Slide 19

20 The Development of Fordism Ford was interested in the behavior of his workers outside as well as inside the factory; His employees were punctual and performed their detailed work well, They also conformed to non-work behavior deemed appropriate by the company, including cleanliness at home and avoidance of alcohol and gambling; In return for satisfying these work and non-work prescriptions, Ford offered the prospect of regular work for higher pay. Slide 20

21 The Development of Fordism Fordism culmination not only in standardized production, standardized work; And standardized employment, but also in standardized consumption, and standardized lifestyle; It is argued that by the mid-1970s, Fordism was in crises of decline prosperity and destabilization. Slide 21

22 Reading List Refer to students to relevant text/chapter or reading materials you will make available on Sakai Edgell, S, (2006). The Sociology of Work: Continuity and Change in Paid and Unpaid Work. London: Sage Publications (Chapters 5 Pages ). Taylor, F.W (1967). The Principles of Scientific Management, London: Harper Publication. Slide 22

23 Activity/Assignment To what extent is Taylor s theory practical for solving problems of efficiency at the work place? Slide 23