Article: Taylor is Dead, Hurray Taylor! The 'human factor' in Scientific Management: Between Ethics, Scientific Psychology and Common Sense Journal: Journal of Business and Management (JBM) 2011 Vol.17 No.1 pp.23 - 41 Abstract: Approximately one hundred years after the historical insights of Adam Smith on the division of labor (1776) as a determining factor in value creation (Taylor, 1911), the first conceptions of modern industry and what would come to be known as Scientific Management were born. The incubation period had been long. But, in 1879, Taylor, at twenty-three, was hired at the Midvale Steel Company where he progressively deduced and outlined those principles, models, and ideologies that would go on to influence production and the way to 'live' their work, and reconfigure their daily life for an entire century. Now, a century later, life is full of great promise and many changes and by rereading Taylor's works contextually to the 'Progressive Era' (Gould, 2000), they assume the paradigmatic value of a broader debate (Nelson, 1975, 1980), concerning what extent his work and action can be in some way rediscovered and focalized. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Taylor is Dead, Hurray Taylor! The 'human factor' in Scientific Management: Between Ethics, Scientific Psychology and Common Sense

Authors: Riccardo Giorgio Zuffo

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: Approximately one hundred years after the historical insights of Adam Smith on the division of labor (1776) as a determining factor in value creation (Taylor, 1911), the first conceptions of modern industry and what would come to be known as Scientific Management were born. The incubation period had been long. But, in 1879, Taylor, at twenty-three, was hired at the Midvale Steel Company where he progressively deduced and outlined those principles, models, and ideologies that would go on to influence production and the way to 'live' their work, and reconfigure their daily life for an entire century. Now, a century later, life is full of great promise and many changes and by rereading Taylor's works contextually to the 'Progressive Era' (Gould, 2000), they assume the paradigmatic value of a broader debate (Nelson, 1975, 1980), concerning what extent his work and action can be in some way rediscovered and focalized.

Keywords: Scientific management; human factor; ethics; scientific psychology; Taylor's legacy.

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.2011.141189

Journal of Business and Management, 2011 Vol.17 No.1, pp.23 - 41

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *

Title: Taylor is Dead, Hurray Taylor! The 'human factor' in Scientific Management: Between Ethics, Scientific Psychology and Common Sense

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