Taylorism Search for Industrial Efficiency or Robotism?

Taylorism, like Fordism, originated as a critical concept in the early twentieth century’s search for industrial efficiency in the United States. It influenced the rest of the industrialised world for the next 50 years. Frederick Winslow Taylor invented it to achieve efficiency on the factory floor. He did this by researching the organising and sequencing of work tasks through a series of ‘time and motion studies.’

His 1911 book Principles of Scientific Management outlined these concepts. They have influenced various design aspects, including labour-saving kitchens and more ergonomic household equipment. These included the writings of fellow American Christine Frederick, who published Household Engineering, Scientific Management in the Home in 1915. Also, Lillian Gilbreth’s assessments of domestic efficiency for the Brooklyn Gas Company in 1930 looked at the kitchen as a location of industrial production. Grete Schütte-Lihotsky explored similar ideas in her 1924 designs for the Frankfurt kitchen. It was used in mass housing in Frankfurt, Germany.

Key Theories

According to Taylor’s ideas of scientific management, each component of a person’s work is analysed scientifically. The best way to complete the task is to develop. The person best suited for the task is chosen and instructed on how to carry out the duties precisely as intended. Managers must work with employees to ensure that the task is completed scientifically. Both management and employees have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. To eliminate “soldiering” or “natural laziness,” Taylor’s management philosophy aimed to maximise prosperity for the company and each employee. He set out to scientifically analyse every task to eliminate uncertainty. This included determining the work that could and should be accomplished daily.

Taylor’s methodology made one of the first formal distinctions between those who perform the job and those who oversee and plan it. He established planning departments of clerks to ensure every labourer’s work was meticulously planned. The clerks would then transfer the workers from one location to another using intricate yard maps or diagrams. A more “elaborate organisation and system” had to be implemented to accomplish this. This laid the groundwork for Max Weber’s bureaucratic organisational structure. (British Library, n.d.)

Digital Taylorism – Robotism

Taylorism came to be associated with the wrongs of handling employees, such as programmable machine parts while squeezing the most value possible from them. 100,000 Australian employees participated in a general strike in 1917. This was due to the implementation of time cards, which kept track of every minute spent at work and taking breaks. This degrading design was criticised as “robotism.” Modern Taylorism is more dehumanising than its early detractors could have predicted. It is also more powerful than he could have ever envisaged. Thanks to technological advances, managers can now swiftly and affordably gather, process, evaluate, and act on enormous amounts of information.

Gig Economy

The gig economy is being managed algorithmically. The ability to use digital tools to generate continuous streams of data for employee appraisals has also made performance management much more sophisticated than it was during Taylor’s lifetime. Constant monitoring and the addition of peer review to supervisor input may foster an environment where employees are overly competitive and even hostile. The most crucial information in this text is that surveillance is becoming increasingly covert. Thanks to our always-on digital environment, Taylor’s reasoning has permeated our daily lives. We need to experiment with regulation and strengthen employees’ rights through organisations like unions to combat digital Taylorism.

The “right to disconnect”

The “right to disconnect” law in France, which forbids business communications during weekends and holidays, is a positive development. However, it also calls for a change in attitude. Taylorism encourages poor morale and forces people to behave like resources that need to be micromanaged. It starts from the premise that workers are inherently shirkers. In theory, treating people like machines might lead to greater efficiency. However, contemporary Taylorism imperils something these market analyses miss: the value of being a person. (Frischmann & Selinger, 2017)

Sources

British Library. (n.d.). British Library. https://www.bl.uk/people/frederick-winslow-taylor

Frischmann, B., & Selinger, E. (2017, September 25). Robots have already taken over our work, but they’re made of flesh and bone | Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/25/robots-taken-over-work-jobs-economy

Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.

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