Abstract
Taylor’s theory of organization has never been properly delineated even though it has given rise to much passion, both supportive and critical. Some would argue that Taylor had no clear idea of the organization, working only at the level of the individual workers. But this is to forget Taylor’s considerable experience and success as a senior executive and investor, and as a leading management consultant. Taylor could not have had these successes without a powerful set of ideas about how successful firms should work. His concept of functional foremen and his disputes with Henri Fayol, the French industrialist and organizational theorist with whom he is often compared, and with Edwin Gay, the first Dean of the Harvard Business School, also suggest that Taylor had a distinctive theory in mind.
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Spender, JC. (1996). Villain, Victim or Visionary?: The Insights and Flaws in F. W. Taylor’s Ideas. In: Spender, JC., Kijne, H.J. (eds) Scientific Management. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1421-9_1
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