Abstract This analysis of data from a 2003-2004 telephone survey of 750 Canadian and 450 English workers finds that work practices and human resource (HR) practices had important implications for unions. The effects differed by the type of practice (for example, traditional versus "new" HR), and were mediated by each country's institutional environment. For example, traditional personnel/HR practices were strongly positively related to the likelihood of union representation and strongly negatively related to workers' propensity to vote for a union in Canada, but made little difference to either of those union outcomes in England; and "alternative" work practices bore an inverse U-shaped association with union representation in Canada, versus a positive relationship with that outcome in England. In general, the Canadian findings are consistent with an adversarial dynamic, and the English findings with a more collaborative one. Show
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Answer: The Taylor philosophy also contributed to the development of labor unions and established an adversarial relationship between labor Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 - 1915) Principles of Scientific ManagementYonatan ReshefSchool of Business University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6 CANADA Slides In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first (Taylor: 7). Principles of Scientific Management (download the whole book in PDF format. Read pp. 1-37) Taylor's focus of attention was plant management. He argued that labor problems (waste, low productivity, high turnover, soldiering, and the adversarial relationship between labor and management) arose from defective organization and improper methods of production in the workplace. Production, he contended, was governed by universal and natural laws that were independent of human judgment. The object of scientific management was to discover these laws and apply the "one best way" to basic managerial functions such as selection, promotion, compensation, training, and production. In this way, Taylor sought to eliminate guesswork from the business of management. Taylor advocated using time and motion studies to determine the most efficient method for performing each work task, a piece-rate system of compensation to maximize employee work effort, and the selection and training of employees based on a thorough investigation of their personalities and skills. Taylor also promoted changes in the organizational structure of the firm, such as replacing the single omnipotent foreman in charge of all aspects of production and personnel management in a given department with several foremen, each of whom would be trained in the knowledge and skills of a specific functional activity (e.g., productivity, machine repair, quality assurance). The gist of the problem. Taylor believed that under the traditional management each worker was to become more skilled in his own trade than it was possible for any one in management to be, and that, therefore, the details of how the work should best be done must be left to him (p. 63). Unfortunately, four problems existed that rendered this situation untenable for society: First, management used rules of thumb to decide on what constitutes a fair day of work (p. 22), work procedures, personnel matters, etc. Second, being self-centered, workers abused managers' trust in two ways (pp. 17, 19, 20, 50). According to Taylor, "the natural instinct and tendency of men is to take it easy, which may be called natural soldiering" (p. 19). "To ward off a rate cut was one reason to soldier. To thumb his nose at the boss, protest wages deemed too low, or husband shop work otherwise apt to run out were others" (Kanigel, 1997: 164). Third, even those employees who wanted to perform to the best of their capabilities were forced to conform to an informal, group-made norm that was always lower than their optimal performance (p. 13). This Taylor labeled "systematic soldiering," where the whole shop conspired to restrict production (p. 20). Fourth, any man phlegmatic enough to do manual work was too stupid to develop the best way, the 'scientific way' of doing a job, hence the vast amount of waste in the workplace (p. 63). An important brick in the intellectual edifice of Taylor's scientific management is the "rabble hypothesis:"
What then should management do with employees? (See pp. 36, 140):
We begin to see that Scientific Management has a strong HRM component. Taylor strongly believed that the successful manager was a manager who controlled every aspect of the production process. To achieve this, managers should:
These principles constitute a dynamic of work bureaucratization & deskilling. Thus Taylor went from one extreme, the rule of the omnipotent supervisor, to another, the rule of the impersonal bureaucracy. Importantly, the drive for deskilling was initiated not by Taylor but by larger factories and more specialized machines. HOW TO READ TAYLOR
References: Frederick W. Taylor. 1985. (Originally 1911). Principles of Scientific Management. Easton: Hive. Robert Kanigel. 1997. . Penguin. Bruce E. Kaufman. 2004. The Global Evolution of Industrial Relations: Events, Ideas and The IIRA. Geneva: ILO. Elements of FordismTaylorism provided the technological and intellectual foundations for Fordism -- a system whereby giant factories employ thousands of mainly unskilled workers and specialized machines to turn out huge quantities of a single product (emphasis should be put on interchangeability of parts and ease of assembly).
What is the Taylor philosophy?The Taylor philosophy established an adversarial relationship between labor and management. T/F The Taylor philosophy established an adversarial relationship between labor and management. T/F Creating a culture for high performance begins with senior leadership's commitment to the workforce. T/F
What is the Taylor philosophy of strategic human resource management?The Taylor philosophy established an adversarial relationship between labor and management. Strategic human resource management relies on proven approaches to improve organizational performance. Creating a culture for high performance begins with senior leadership's commitment to the workforce.
Why did Frederick Taylor’s workforce management system fail?The workforce management system proposed by Frederick Taylor failed to improve productivity in organizations. The Taylor philosophy established an adversarial relationship between labor and management. Strategic human resource management relies on proven approaches to improve organizational performance.
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