The Principles of Scientific Management

The father of The Principles of Scientific Management F. W. Taylor advocated the replacement o traditional ‘rules of thumb’ with scientific means of management so as to raise productivity. He brought about the major concept of specialization whereby each worker should do what he is best at doing by first recognizing his capabilities and skills and then by being given the right training and incentive. Incentives, Taylor believed worked best when they were monetary and linked to output as people previously were not as productive as they got a fixed pay no matter how much they produced.

Also, he was the one who gave the concept of differentiating managers from employees whereby management would guide employees and takes the major decisions as not all employees have the necessary decision making kills (Taylor, 2009). The application of specialization is clearly visible in university as each teacher teaches only the subject he is best at and thus can deliver to the best of his abilities. Also, continuous training sessions, workshops, seminars and quality circle meetings are held for teachers to polish their skills even further and to equip them with the latest knowledge and education.

With the management of university being distinctively different from the employees and staff, the concept of departmentalization is clearly visible. Also, in a way monetary reasons such as high pay, bonuses and overtime drive the people to work better and keep them motivated (Castilla, 2008). Advantages The advantages of having a clearly defined organizational structure in the form of an organizational chart in Long Island University are numerous. Firstly, the organizational structure will depict clearly the lines of management whereby each person will know who to report to e.

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g. the marketing teacher will know that he has to be accountable to the Head of the Marketing Department and can bring up his queries to him (Robbins & Judge, 2004). This also facilities communication between departments, superiors and subordinates and also between campuses as people know which lines of communication they need to follow and use. Control and supervision is improved as each campus and branch is being managed separately by its own set of governing bodies that are all then accountable to one President of the University (Castilla, 2008).

If a person lower in the hierarchy has a problem he can also have a say and voice his concern as problems can be more easily addressed when working in separate units such as departments and then at a bigger level such as campuses. It also reduces unnecessary processes and give more direction and focus as it allows each unit such as a student body head like a ‘General Secretary’ to manage only the students while leaving more important tasks to be tackled by the other respective department heads (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2005).

The General Principles of Management can be seen in Long Island University whereby each unit is managed, controlled and organized separately but each unit’s vision and strategies are aligned with the overall strategy and goal, of the University. The advantages are that controlling allows superiors to guide, direct and lead the subordinates which give them a sense of direction about what to do. Organizing will lay out the plans properly about what has to be achieved e. g.

the student body organizing a fund raising program by holding a charity function first chalk out a plan of everything that will be needed and needs to be done. Planning will be done e. g. when the University wants to expand its premises or add new courses in the coming year based on the present condition of competitors, the future capacities and fund available. (Castilla, 2008) Bureaucracy is not really implemented in Long Island University but doe occur in the government bodies dealing with the university.

Under certain circumstances, bureaucracy such as centralization may be needed and will be advantageous when major decisions are being made at the top levels by senior executives such as expansion plans so as not to be deviated by too many opinions and suggestions of people (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2005). Also, by adhering to the overall rules and policies such as government regulations, student rules and overall university formulated policies, all the people in the university will become more observant of them and this will save them from any law violations consequences (Daft, 2001).

The Principles of Scientific Management is advantageous as pay, bonuses, overtime, skill, performance and knowledge based pay and extra classes are all monetary mean of motivating the staff to work efficiently. Specialization allows each individual to do just the task he is best at doing e. g. a person with a degree in finance will only teach finance and related courses and no other course. The university has been divided into units whereby management is separated from the actual performance and so this is beneficial as only the people with the necessary skills will undertake the task of decision making.

Disadvantages Disadvantages of organizational structure are that in some cases the p of control is too wide e. g. the head of the student body needs to monitor all the students which he may not be able to do so effectively and which may create a hassle and confusion. Also, centralization at the top university level for major decisions creates rigidity and hampers personal development of staff as they are not invited to give their views and inputs.

With de-centralized decision making for each department, come economies of scale many lost and each department such as finance will only tend to take a narrow departmental view and not align the unit’s goals with the university’s goals (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2005). Disadvantages of The General Principles of Management maybe that of control is too tight then staff may become hostile as their development will be hampered.

Also, if everything is being done by the department heads such as all the organizing and very strict controlling then it will be a loss for the university as more diverse and helpful views of people cannot be taken and there will be no flexibility. Thus, the extent to which control is to be exercised has to be decided. Also, co-ordination may result in hostilities as the collaborative views of too many people such as all the campus heads and also department heads will bring difference of opinions and resulting conflicts (Daft, 2001).

Bureaucracy will be disadvantageous if the top management comprising of just the President and the Board of Directors completely excludes the lower levels from absolutely any suggestions and inputs e. g. when deciding which new courses to bring in and to what level to expand. This will also create a hostile situation and limit the number of inputs that could be gained if more views were obtained (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2005).

The Principles of Scientific Management may be hard to apply in case of university because Taylor proposed to link output with monetary benefits whereas in universities, the amount of teaching cannot really be accurately measured. Also, specialization results in teachers becoming bored as they keep on teaching a single course even though they may want to teach other course in which they have relevant interest but do not have a degree. Also, if the concept of separating management from operations is implemented too strictly then staff may become isolated and quality of decision making will also be affected (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2005).

Conclusion The three theories described in the text are highly related to the organizational structure and based on the extent to which each of the theories need to be applied in Long Island University, the organizational structure has been developed. It is important not to apply the theories straight forward as they are just theoretical models of management, but do provide major insights about how an organization is to be operated, structured and managed.

According to the needs of the organization, its nature of work and the type of people working in it, the concepts should be applied in a way most beneficial for the overall organization. Works Cited Castilla, E. J. (May 2008). Gender, Race, and Meritocracy in Organizational Careers. American Journal of Sociology , 1479-1526. Daft, R. (2001). Organization Theory and Design, 9th ed. Chicago: South-Western. Management Theory by Henri Fayol. (2009). Retrieved April 6, 2009, from www. business.

com/directory/management/management_theory/classical_and_scientific/fayol,_henri/weblistings. asp Max Weber-6 characteristics of the buraucratic form. (2009). Retrieved April 6, 2009, from www. busting-bureaucracy. com/excerpts/weber. htm Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2004). Organizational Behavior. New York: Pearsons. Shafritz, J. M, Ott, J. S. & Jang (2005). Classics of Organization Theory (6th Ed) Taylor, F. W. (2009). Principles of Scientific Management. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from www. marxists. org/reference/subject/economics/taylor/index. htm

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