Comments on: The Principles of Scientific Management. http://benschmidt.org/HIST1234/?p=346 HIST 1234 at Northeastern University, Fall 2014 Mon, 24 Nov 2014 04:26:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.18 By: joe.robinson93 http://benschmidt.org/HIST1234/?p=346#comment-10 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:03:20 +0000 http://benschmidt.org/HIST1234/?p=346#comment-10 I think Taylor’s goal of developing the efficiency of individual workers is achievable to an extent. Today in class we discussed Henry Ford and his ability to ensure the productivity of his workforce in part by creating detailed background checks on each employee. I think a similar system could be applied to Taylor’s theory when it comes to the identification of workers’ skills. Taylor seems more concerned with finding the right jobs for the right people rather than developing the skills of individual workers. He discusses the inefficiency of some pig iron workers who were unable to carry the maximum weight of iron and how they were reassigned to other departments within the company. I think this is what Taylor is talking about in your quote on the masses and given his example, it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility to treat workers this way.

I agree that the wage raises workers like “Schmidt” received were not enough to justify the increase in output that they generated. That being said, my guess is Taylor would argue that these laborers were being overpaid to begin with (given the lack of efficiency) and that their increased pay more accurately reflects the work that they do.

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