2008 Woodie Awards
Famous Alumni
Father of Scientific Management
Sheeraz Hyder
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Campus News
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Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 - 1915) graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1883 as a part-time student through correspondence courses with a Mechanical Engineer Degree. He graduated thirteen years after the institutes's opening and remains one of its most famous alums to this day. Recognized as the "Father of Scientific Management," Taylor's work is used in factories around the globe today. Taylor's Principles, or deridingly Taylorism, are the ideas bought forth by his book "The Principles of Scientific Management." These ideas were aimed to increase factory efficiency in the early 1900s. Taylor is credited along with Maunsel White with the development of high speed steel. Later in his life he was a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.
Taylor tried to analyze the "One Best Way" to do things through his time-and-motion studies. By breaking each component down to a hundredth of a minute, Taylor felt he could improve the way business did business. However, his methodology was seen as cold and removed by some who felt that Taylor was taking away the human aspect of the factory system. Taylor, during his time at Stevens was a brother of the Gamma chapter of the Theta Xi Fraternity.
Taylor's most famous study involved the use of shovels. It was found that the most effective load was 21.5 pounds which led him to develop shovels of different types that would maximize that load. At Bethlehem Steel, where he worked after graduating Stevens, his ideas were never seriously considered with the administration. This eventually led to his resignation. Shop Management, the book he wrote after his firing, sold well but Bethlehem had already let him go.
Taylor felt that industrial management during his time was below average and that management itself could become an academic discipline. It was of his belief that an equal partnership between trained and qualified management and cooperative, innovative workers would make for the most optimal working environment. He effectively stated that each side could not live without the other and that trade unions were obsolete.
Taylor tried to analyze the "One Best Way" to do things through his time-and-motion studies. By breaking each component down to a hundredth of a minute, Taylor felt he could improve the way business did business. However, his methodology was seen as cold and removed by some who felt that Taylor was taking away the human aspect of the factory system. Taylor, during his time at Stevens was a brother of the Gamma chapter of the Theta Xi Fraternity.
Taylor's most famous study involved the use of shovels. It was found that the most effective load was 21.5 pounds which led him to develop shovels of different types that would maximize that load. At Bethlehem Steel, where he worked after graduating Stevens, his ideas were never seriously considered with the administration. This eventually led to his resignation. Shop Management, the book he wrote after his firing, sold well but Bethlehem had already let him go.
Taylor felt that industrial management during his time was below average and that management itself could become an academic discipline. It was of his belief that an equal partnership between trained and qualified management and cooperative, innovative workers would make for the most optimal working environment. He effectively stated that each side could not live without the other and that trade unions were obsolete.