Page 91 - Copshaholm Curriculum Book_2015

Scientific Management

Many of the factories in the early 20th century operated under the philosophy of scientific
management. Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American industrial engineer, made this
theory popular. Taylor believed that workers should be hired to perform a small number
of tasks, in a repetitive manner.

Scientific management principles discouraged workers from working more effectively
and efficiently. The theory was that workers would definitely make mistakes, but
inspectors would catch these at the end of the assembly line. Workers could then be
docked for faulty workmanship. If a worker made too many mistakes, they could be
fired.

This same method made its way into the public schools at the turn of the century.

Total Quality

William Edwards Deming is the person who popularized the Total Quality Philosophy.
He felt that the Taylor method of scientific management was degrading to the human
spirit. He thought that workers could be trained to conduct their own quality controls.
Deming believed that if workers were trained and empowered to manage their own work
processes, the quality of their output would increase. If workers could do this, then the
inspectors at the end of the line would be unnecessary. Therefore, total quality would
lower manufacturing costs.