Scientific Management
According to Henry Ford, the assembly line was based on three simple principles: «the planned, orderly, and continuous progression of the commodity through the shop; the delivery of work instead of leaving it to the workman »s initiative to find it; an analysis of operations into their constituent parts». A scientific approach to these principles, the next logical step in the organization of work, had already been enunciated by the American industrial engineer Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915). From his work an entirely new discipline—industrial engineering or scientific management — emerged, in which the managerial functions of planning and coordination were elevated to a primary position in the productive process.
In Taylor's view, the task of factory management was to determine the best way for the worker to do the job, to provide the proper tools and training, and to provide incentives for good performance. Taylor broke each job down into its constituent motions, analyzed these to determine which were essential, and timed the workers with a stopwatch. With superfluous motion eliminated, the worker, following a machinelike routine, became much more productive. In some cases, Taylor recommended a further division of labour, delegating some tasks, such as sharpening tools, to specialists.
These studies were complemented by two of Taylor's contemporaries in the United States, Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth, whom many management engineers credit with the invention of motion studies. In 1909 the Gilbreths, studying the task of bricklaying, concluded that much motion was wasted by the worker in reaching down to pick up each brick. They devised an easily adjusted scaffold that eliminated stooping and improved average work performance from 120 to 350 bricks per hour. Industrial engineering ultimately came to include all elements of factory operation within its compass—layout, materials handling, and product design, as well as labour operations.
Taylor regarded his movement as «scientific» because he attempted to apply scientific principles and measurement to the work process. Many previous advances in manufacturing had been made by applying scientific principles to machines in order to make them more efficient, and, through his minute subdivision of labour, Taylor sought to do the same to the work process itself. This scientific approach, however, neglected the human element, so that Taylor in effect converted the work process from a relationship between worker and machine into a relationship between two machines.
Scientific management theorists assumed that workers desired to be used efficiently, to perform their work with a minimum of effort, and to receive more money. They also took for granted that workers would submit without question to standardization of physical movements and thought processes. Their system, however, ignored human feelings and motivations, leaving the worker dissatisfied with the job. Furthermore, some employers omitted the altruistic elements
in Taylor's system and employed time and motion studies to set high norms of production and speed up the production line while still keeping wages down.
Exercise 4.1. Read these sentences and express the same in Russian.
1. The trade delegation is expected to arrive in June. 2. The visitor was asked to wait in the outer office. 3. The forwarding agents are reported to come next month. 4. The company office is said to be in the centre of the town. 5. The right management is considered to be the most important factor in determining success. 6. The goods proved to be damaged. 7. The secretary is certain to have posted the letter. 8. Business is likely to be successful if it fulfils three criteria: it is managed properly, the idea and the market for it have the necessary growth potential, financing is sufficient. 9. The director is not likely to come today. 10. The boss happened to be out at that time.
Text 5 page 60
Management
The word «management» is used in four meanings. First, it relates to the control and organizing of a business or any non-profit organization. Second, it refers to people's activity aimed at running a factory, a shop or a firm. Third, management is the people who run a company or an organization. Fourth, the word «management» stands for management science. In this text we will use the word in the first three meanings.
Experts believe that business is likely to be successful if it fulfils three criteria: it is managed properly, the idea and the market for it have the necessary growth potential, financing is sufficient.
The right management is considered to be the most important factor in determining success. It makes the company more efficient and the people in it more productive.
Management is the activities aimed at the conducting or supervising of a business. It implies planning, organization, motivation and control while setting and reaching the goals of a company. Some experts believe that management is a kind of art and it needs talent and skill.
The managing staff is the collective body of people who run or direct an organization, an enterprise, a firm, etc. A manager is a professional who plans, organizes and controls a business or a department of a business.
Different organizations may have different structures of management. But all of them have much in common. American experts distinguish three levels of management in big companies: the top level, the middle level and the low level.
The top (executive) management is usually represented by the chairman of the board of directors, the president and the vice-president of a corporation, the chancellor of a college.
Top executives concern themselves with corporate values that are the priorities that dictate how organizations should work. They exercise general leadership. Top executives must be strong leaders who are able to take charge and steer the organization in the direction of improvement and progress. They work out the proper development strategy for their companies or enterprises. They specify if the enterprises are capable of producing, appraise the state of the capacities and determine their profits. Top management must respond to quickly changing business conditions.
Managers of departments at companies, deans of faculties at colleges, directors of branches and other administrators belong to the middle (administrative) management.
Many responsibilities are delegated to this level. Administrators make important decisions in their specific fields. They are connected with their boss, peers, subordinates and customers. They organize collective thinking and problem solving. Managers run meetings and conduct negotiations. They deal with hiring, firing, promotions and demotions.
The low management is represented by foremen at enterprises; supervisors, heads of sections at companies; heads of departments at schools of business; head nurses at hospitals, etc.
These people deal with employees. They maintain discipline, explain tasks to subordinates, correct mistakes and compliment achievements. Their activities are directly connected with production and practical work. They take control over fulfilment of production assignments. They are responsible for using raw materials and equipment.
Exercise 5.1. Find in the text the equivalents of these words and word combinations.
Управление фабрикой; коммерческое предприятие (фирма); некоммерческая организация; вероятно, отвечает трем критериям; деятельность, направленная на управление фабрикой; определение и достижение целей компании; управленческий персонал (административно-управленческий аппарат); имеют много общего; занимаются корпоративными ценностями; разрабатывают правильную стратегию развития компаний; реагировать на быстро изменяющиеся условия ведения бизнеса; принадлежать к; заниматься чем-либо; сырье.
Exercise 5.2. Answer the following questions using your chart and your table.
1. What is management?
2. What levels of management do American experts distinguish?
3. What are the duties of executives?
4. What do administrators do?
5. What work is done by junior managers?
Exercise 5.3. Say which of the organizations and enterprises listed below may be called a business and which is a non-profit organization.
Model: A factory is a business. A school is a non-profit organization.
A plant, a business school, an art school, a music school, a secondary school, a vocational school, a college, an institute, a university, a charity , a factory, a job centre, an employment agency, a cafe, a restaurant, a service station, a shop, a publishing house.
Exercise 5.4. Find information about an American company and write about its levels of management.