Abstract
This chapter describes Taylor from a perspective that appears to have been much neglected – his role as a change agent. Throughout his life and career as a manager and management consultant, Taylor worked with organizations to make positive changes, making them better, more efficient, and less reliant on rules of thumb. He changed the notion of the modern organization to one driven and managed by scientific principles. This chapter interprets his work through this lens. It is not intended as a celebration or critique, but rather as an alternative perspective – one that offers or inspires new insights and views on change and on Taylor and his work. The chapter sets out a general introduction before going on to discuss Taylor’s main influences and sources of motivation – what was fueling his thinking and driving his actions? From there, we consider Taylor’s key contributions, or more precisely his key contributions in his role as a very early proponent of change. This leads us on to a new view of Taylor, from which we ask what can be learned from him today; what new insights, if any, does he bring to perspectives on organizational change? In this context, we review examples of his influence in areas that may be surprising to readers. The chapter ends with a discussion of some unresolved issues – unfinished business and harder-to-transfer ideas that must be addressed if we are to truly harness the potential of Taylor’s work and deliberations. The chapter ends with a short list of suggested further reading.
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References
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Further Reading
For those who find they would like to know more about Taylor, I have provided a list of proposed additional reading. It is not an exhaustive or authoritative list. The volume of literature on Taylor and his works is extensive. Rather, it is a list that I have compiled based on my own research into his life and work. It shows the breadth of his influence which extends in many directions. His influence begins with his own work, The Principles of Scientific Management, which stands out as the one book that those of us who have worked with him use to underscore the impact of his thinking and conclusions. Next, there is a list of articles, many of which were written in relation to the centennial for the publication of Taylor’s book in 1911. They are chosen because I feel that they all deal with the author and his work in a manner displaying curiosity, academic rigor, and a genuine interest in seeing more than just the obvious. The articles look at Taylor with a view to understanding his thinking and his actions, to identify underlying patterns in his writing.
Blake, A. M., & Moseley, J. L. (2010). One hundred years after The Principles of Scientific Management: Frederick Taylor’s life and impact on the field of human performance technology. Performance Improvement, 49(4), 27–34.
Boddewyn, J. (1961). Frederick Winslow Taylor revisited. Journal of Administrative Management, 2, 100–107.
Kuleza, M. G., Weaver, P., & Freidman, S. (2011). Frederick W. Taylor’s presence in 21st century management accounting systems and work process theories. Journal of Business and Management, 17(1), 105–121.
Monin, N., Barry, D., & John, M. D. (2003). Toggling with Taylor: A different approach to reading a management text. Journal of Management Studies, 40(2), 377–401.
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Henning Jensen, S. (2017). Frederick Winslow Taylor: The First Change Agent, From Rule of Thump to Scientific Management. In: Szabla, D., Pasmore, W., Barnes, M., Gipson, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_24-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_24-1
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Taylor, Frederick Winslow: The First Change Agent, from Rule of Thump to Scientific Management- Published:
- 16 October 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_24-2
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Frederick Winslow Taylor: The First Change Agent, From Rule of Thump to Scientific Management- Published:
- 14 March 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_24-1