The development of the concept of the "one best method " in Public Administration
Summery :
This paper talked about some concept and things related to scientific management and relationship between public administration . At First title the author argued the foundation of P.A which appeared in Woodrow Wilson 's article "The study of P.A". In this article , he called for using scientific management in the field of P.A and reinvention of government from the corrupting influences of spoils system .Also , He called to reforming and making P.A more efficient through development science of administration and he suggested the P.A should emulate the field of business as means "the field of administration is a field of business ".Wilson' article talked about other concept such as role of science , business like , efficiency and professionalism . Goodnow agreed with Wilson that we have to use of science to reform government .Goodnow argued that administrative functions of P.A should attend to technical, scientific & commercial activities to ensure most efficient performance applied by government .
At the second section , the author talked about Taylorism and scientific management and its impact on P.A so, the father of scientific management , Fredrick Taylor argued in his book "Principles of scientific management " that there is only one right way "Best method " to accomplish any task . The principles used to increase outcomes through fastest and most efficient method of production but these principles lost values , public and democracy of human . on other hand , Brownlow committee provided some managerial techniques to reform the performance of government . Taylorism not only shaped practice and also , theory by Willoughby and Leonard W...
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...o major paradigms of organization , one called the closed system which focuses on controlling organization from inside and the second one called open system which is influenced by different internal & external forces which can't controlled .
The similarities between public and private sectors clearly shown on divisions of work , flow of information , importance of training , motivations , teamwork , communication , cooperation and informal groups .But there some differences which are one best method , rational decisions, public interest , uncertainty, flexibility , political & social purpose , economic considerations and economy of incentives. In other words, because of different environments and natures between both sectors (public & private ) make some model of management possible to applied and other not possible to apply in private sector or in public sector .
Fordism and Scientific Management are terms used to describe management that had application to practical situations with extremely dramatic effects. Fordism takes its name from the mass production units of Henry Ford, and is identified by an involved technical division of labour within companies and their production units. Other characteristics of Fordism include strong hierarchical control, with workers in a production line often restricted to the one single task, usually specialised and unskilled. Scientific management, on the other hand, "originated" through Fredrick Winslow Taylor in 1911, and in very basic terms described the one best way work could be done and that the best way to improve output was to improve the techniques or methods used by the workers. (Robbins p.38)
By the constantly changing dynamics of the 21st century business world, it is clear that it would be highly unproductive for managers to employ what is in actual fact a restrictive, controlling theory of management. As a results of globalisation of the economy, intensification of international competition, pervasive influence of the social market economy, increasing participation of women in the labour force and ecological consciousness, scientific management is no longer suitable in modern workplaces, as this theory tends not to allow for the constant innovation that is necessary to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Today’s era of business world adapts to everything new but these modern concepts are an indirect tribute to the theories produced by Taylor, Fayol, Mayo and Weber. Taylor’s Scientific management theory is one such example which has become such an important aspects of modern management that it feels unbelievable that his concepts were a part of the history. It is falsely assumed that as the society progresses, the older theories tend to lose their importance. The thing to be noted here is that these theories are based on basic human needs which do not change with time; the thing that changes is the method to fulfil those needs. Investigating earlier management theories is important because these theories are less complex and provide immediate solution to the problems. These theories basically help us to go to the root of the problem and understand its complexity. The better understanding we have about the problem, the easier it is to accomplish the objectives of the company. The following essay states the importance of the Taylor’s Scientific management theory and how it is implemented even today in the business world.
Wilson’s “The Study of Administration,” is insightful. His essay gives a foundation and greater understanding that administration is a field of business and in need of separation from politics. His view on both politics and matters of administration can be frequently intertwined, causing convolution with systems. Wilson addresses the necessity to improve and organize to eliminate disorder and perplexities. Perhaps the emphasis on why Wilson encourages the study of the “science of administration”.
Scientific management is a way that an organisation regulates their staff within a workplace. The theory behind this is accomplished by selecting the ‘best person for the best role’, who will undertake the training to train each worker to do a ‘specific role the right way’ (Frederick Taylor). This extracts the responsibility from the employee whilst handing over executive decisions to the employer to make strategic directions. Frederick Taylor required the managers to set the tasks for the employees in advanced and that each task was to be detailed to each employee, to be done in a certain way and completed by an exact time no less.
The major change came through the work of Fredrick Winslow Taylor and his theory of scientific management system. It was not that Taylor was unique or completely new; only time and motion study could be put in that category. The trend was already moving towards systematic management such as formal management methods or by cost ...
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
The evolution of management though the decades can be divided into two major sections. One of the sections is the classical approach. Under the classical approach efficiency and productivity became a critical concern of the managers at the turn of the 20th century. One of the approaches from the classical time period were systematic management which placed more emphasis on internal operations because managers were concerned with meeting the growth in demand brought on by the Industrial revolution. As a result managers became more concerned with physical things than towards the people therefore systematic management failed to lead to production efficiency. This became apparent to an engineer named Frederick Taylor who was the father of Scientific Management. Scientific Management was identified by four principles for which management should develop the best way to do a job, determine the optimum work pace, train people to do the job properly, and reward successful performance by using an incentive pay system. Scientifi...
Sapru R.K. (2008) P370 argues that New Public Management (NPM) is a new model of public sector management which emerged in the beginning of the 1990 in response to the challenges of globalization, global competitivenes...
There are several theories that examine an organization and it’s approach to managing work in an effort to develop efficiency and increase production. Two classical approaches to management are Taylor’s scientific management theory and Weber's bureaucratic management theory. Both men are considered pioneers of in the study of management.
M. Petrescu, e. a. (2010). Public Management: between the Traditional and New Model. Review of International Comparative 408 Management , 411.
The concept of scientific management is based on the idea that work could be studied to increase efficiency, and specialization. Economist Adam Smith changed the way the world looked at the economy and organization. In his essay, “Of the Division of Labour,” Smith emphasizes the importance of specialization, and how division of labor leads to specialization. He states that this would allow a worker to be more productive and efficient (Shafritz, Ott, & Jang, 2011, p. 41-45). Frederick Taylor introduced the principles of scientific management, which stated that management is a science, workers should be scientifically selected and trained scientifically, and both management and workers should work together.
The study of public administration only continued to grow over the course of the next two decades. As the study of public administration expanded, so did the development of s...
Since its emergence as a field of study, there have been some important contributions to public administration. Its goal has always been to improve productivity which then improves workplace performance. All of the contributions have been aimed at completing the work with the highest level of efficiency and at the lowest cost.
the study of time and action; b) the management on assignment; c) the theory of organization. (8)Taylor’s theory created a revolution in the subject of management because it was the first scientific method in field of management science. (1)After that, management became a truly scientific knowledge and it expanded and modified by later generations. Therefore, Taylor is “known as the father of scientific management”. (2) Taylor put forward a perspective which was “study the character, the nature and the performance of each workman” and moreover, to “train and help and teach this workman”. (3) In the following paragraphs, will exploring the relevant and irrelevant hypotaxis between Scientific Management and organizations.