Lecturas de Ingeniería Industrial

THE TAYLORISM IS STILL ALIVE

When we talk of Taylorism we make referring to industrial production model designed by the American engineer Frederick Taylor Wislow (1856-1915) , author of " the principles of scientific management" published in 1911 and for which he is recognized as the father of scientific Management . Taylor seeks to improve production and increase productivity, based on an organizational approach based on scientific study and control of the work. [1 ]

Organizational theories arise , usually in response to another theory which precedes their established paradigms and the implications resulting influences, or socioeconomic characteristics of the environment that shape organizations. This is the case of the Theory of Human Relations , which springs from the need to humanize and democratize the administration , as the classical theory predecessor imposed a rigid and mechanical style, a more flexible and less mechanical model making it necessary , in addition to appropriate new patterns of life of society . This theory is also influenced by the development of the human sciences , such as psychology and sociology , the contributions of thinkers like John Dewey and Kurt Lewin , plus Elton Mayo with the conclusions of the Hawthorne experiment . ( Chiavenato , 1997 ) .

But despite all the opponents , weaknesses and shortcomings that have been found and saddled , the contribution of Frederick Winslow Taylor is still valid , even more than we can suppose . Aspects such as job analysis and study of time and motion study of human fatigue, division of labor and specialization of labor , design fees and duties , salary incentives for production , environmental conditions, standardization of methods and machinery functional supervision , continue to apply in organizations, although other names and hardware , depending on the fashion management .

Taylorism continues in different parts of the world , albeit often hybrid or mixed ( Antunes , 2001). The revolution of labor productivity of the century in the United States and later in Europe and elsewhere as Asia has led to Taylorism symbol with repercussions that even yet manifested . All these changes they have done is create a new model of social relations based on flexible automation , articulating technology and deregulation of labor to make it malleable and versatile. Perform tasks in living with the team but Taylorized work resulting from streamlining processes , seeking to be increasingly competitive in order to survive the globalization of the economy , using economies of scale, process improvement , training of workers, design of new tools , piece rates and all that lead to lower costs , effectiveness and efficiency , effectiveness and strengthen competitive advantage. All this passed in the principles of Taylor.

Taylor and his followers also make a special valuation of the management function , which remains focus for contemporary authors in the search for greater effectiveness in the business, a task in which the manager is the main character, the dynamic element that gives life to every business and that , in a competitive economy , constitutes a real advantage for the company. [2 ]

For Taylor the initiative and intellectual development is concentrated in the area he called steering , preventing the worker his creative input and thus the generation of knowledge in the organization. Registration time and motion limits the innovative potential of the operator , since only explicit knowledge is transmitted to the developer considers important. This is overcome by Mayo who concludes that improving productivity is due to social factors as morale, satisfactory interrelationships among members of a work group and an administration that understands human behavior , especially group and improved by skills such as motivation , counseling , management and communication. ( Koontz , 1996). However, the above contribution does not replace or exceeds truly Taylorism , which continues to apply in its entirety .

Despite the years the Taylor thought continues in force in our organizations , especially now that productivity is the prime target in the search to be competitive and prune face the challenges of globalization and international treaties. For all the above , we can say that Taylorism continues and remains effective despite the time and that her death is still far from happening .