Frederick Winslow Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) was an American mechanical engineer and management theorist who developed scientific management, using measurement and standardization to improve industrial efficiency.

Scientific management: A management approach that studies work systematically to improve productivity and standardize tasks. Taylor’s central framework turned his efficiency methods into a general system for managing labor.
Midvale Steel Works: A Philadelphia steelworks where Taylor worked as a machinist, engineer, and manager. His early experiments with work measurement took shape during his years at Midvale.
Henry Gantt: An American mechanical engineer and management consultant who developed the Gantt chart and promoted scientific management. Gantt worked with Taylor and adapted efficiency principles into planning and incentive systems.
Craft production: A form of production in which skilled workers make goods using broad control over methods and pace. Taylor’s standardized tasks challenged the autonomy and customary practices associated with skilled craft work.
Taylorism: A workplace system applying measurement, standardization, and managerial control to improve productive efficiency. The term names the practices and influence associated with Taylor’s approach to organizing work.
Time-and-motion study: A method for analyzing work by measuring the time and movements required to perform tasks. Taylor timed workers’ operations to identify and prescribe more efficient methods.
Bethlehem Steel: A major American steel producer where Taylor conducted industrial efficiency studies in the 1890s. The pig-iron and shovel studies there became prominent demonstrations of Taylor’s methods.
Frank Bunker Gilbreth: An American engineer who studied work motions and developed methods for reducing unnecessary movements. Gilbreth’s motion studies extended the work-measurement program associated with Taylor.
Piece work: A wage arrangement in which workers are paid according to the number of units they produce. Taylor altered piece-rate pay by tying differentiated wages to measured standards and prescribed methods.
Hoxie Report: A 1915 U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations report examining scientific management and labor conditions. It documented labor disputes and concerns about the consequences of Taylor’s system.

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