processes instead of bureaucratic functions. As in the old classical theory, the basic
assumption is that if you get the engineering right the human factor will fall into place.
Needless to say, this is not always the case. As a result, the reengineering movement has
encountered exactly the same problems and failures experienced by olderstyle classical
management principles. The human factor often subverts the reengineering process,
leading to massive failure rates.
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
In Frederick the Great's approach to military organization we thus find many of the
basic principles later elaborated by the classical management theorists. We also find
many of the principles elaborated by the other great Frederick of organization theory
Frederick Taylor, who pioneered what is now known as scientific management.
Taylor was an American engineer and a flamboyant if somewhat disturbed personality.
By his death in 1915 he had gained a reputation as a major "enemy of the working man,"
having been summoned in 1911 to defend his system of management before a committee
of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although one of the most maligned and criticized
of all organization theorists, he has also proved to be one of the most influential. His
principles of scientific management provided the cornerstone for work design throughout
the first half of the twentieth century, and in many situations prevail right up to the
present day.
Taylor advocated five simple principles, which can be summarized as follows:
1. Shift all responsibility for the organization of work from the worker to the manager.
Managers should do all the thinking relating to the planning and design of work,
leaving the workers with the task of implementation.
2. Use scientific methods to determine the most efficient way of doing work
Design the worker's task accordingly, specifying the precise way in which the
work is to be done.
3. Select the best person to perform the job thus designed.
4. Train the worker to do the work efficiently.
5. Monitor worker performance to ensure that appropriate work procedures are followed
and that appropriate results are achieved.
In applying these principles Taylor advocated the use of time-and-motion study as a
means of analyzing and standardizing work activities.
His scientific approach called for detailed observation and measurement of even the most
routine work to find the optimum mode of performance. Under Taylor's system, menial
tasks such as pigiron handling and earth shoveling became the subjects of science. He
fused the perspective of an engineer with an obsession for control.
Prominent models of his approach to scientific management are found in numerous
manufacturing firms, retail organizations, and offices. Consider, for example, the fast
food chains serving hamburgers, pizzas, and other highly standardized products. Here
work is often organized in the minutest detail on the basis of designs that analyze the tota