Taylorism

Taylorism Modern History Sourcebook: Frederick W. Taylor: The Principles of Scientific Management, 1911 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick W. Taylor was a mechanical engineer whose writings on efficiency and scientific management were widely read. The founder of "systems engineering," the selection below is from a collection of his essays published in 1911. The essays were translated into several languages, giving his ideas an influence around the world INTRODUCTION PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, in his address to the Governors at the White House, prophetically remarked that "The conservation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger question of national efficiency." The whole country at once recognized the importance of conserving our material resources and a large movement has been started which will be effective in accomplishing this object. As yet, however, we have but vaguely appreciated the importance of "the larger question of increasing our national efficiency." We can see our forests vanishing, our water-powers going to waste, our soil being carried by floods into the sea; and the end of our coal and our iron is in sight. But our larger wastes of human effort, which go on every day through such of our acts as are blundering, ill-directed, or inefficient, and which Mr. taylor, frederick, taylorism, management, work, men, each, scientific, under, one, been, workmen, man, done, output, workman, through, should, per, certain, best, working, time, soldiering, principles, ordinary, great, system, piece, paper, much, less, even, doing, wages, upon, science, same