Dewey and Taylor on Scientific Management in a Democratic Society

Shane J. Ralston, Ph.D.Penn State University-Hazleton

Penn State University-World Campus

Outline of the Paper

Scientific Management (SM) in PA = Frederick Winslow Taylor

SM in philosophy =John Dewey

Similarities/differences between their two accounts of SM -Dewey, various texts on logic/inquiry/education-Taylor,The Principles of Scientific Management (PSM) (1911)

- Dewey’s critique of Taylorism/SM in Democracy and Education (DE) (1916)

Q: What are the implications of the comparison for public management/organizational theory/democratic governance?

The Dewey-Taylor Comparison

Initial points of comparison:– Emphasis on experimental inquiry– Faith in technological progress– Professed commitment to industrial democracy, worker welfare– Belief that scientific method should be extended into all areas of life

No consensus among commentators (Patricia Shields, Keith Snider, G. Alan Tarr)

Dewey’s trenchant critique of Taylorism in DE weakens the comparison

Nevertheless, the implications of the comparison could prove fruitful

Deweyan Inquiry and SM

Dewey’s 5 Stages of Inquiry

1) Felt difficulty2) Locate and define problem3) Suggest possible solution(s)4) Refine suggestion(s)5) Test suggestion(s)

Dewey: “Management . . . amount[s] to rule-of-thumb procedure, to routine. If circumstances resembled the past, it might work well enough . . . “ (DE)

2. Specifying the problem

3. Suggesting a solution

4. Refining the suggestion

5. Testing the suggestion

1. Indeterminate

situation Settled situation/Warranted assertion

Primary, non-reflective experience

Secondary, reflective experience

Dewey: “Democracy is away of life controlled by a working faith in the possibilitiesof human nature”

Taylor and the “One Best Way”

Taylorism = management consulting (Kanigel, Lepore)

SM= “philosophy in industrial management”

Four principles1) One best way2) Workers selected scientifically3) Worker pay is a function of worker efficiency4) Congenial worker-management relations

Taylor’s time-motion studies1) Catalogue basic movements2) Establish baseline data for time each movement takes3) Experimentally determine standard time, quickest time = quota

Dewey’s Critique of Taylorism

Concedes that division of labor/standardized work procedures are

necessary for industrial efficiency, but ...

Workers must derive intrinsic rewards from work - Extrinsic rewards only favor physical efficiency, end is independent of

the action- Social efficiency also matters

- Latent mind/body dualism in Taylor’s account

No one best way - Always multiple methods for increasing productivity

- Different conception of the “labor problem”

Scientific Management in the Public Sector – From Taylor to Dewey

Morris Cooke, Taylorite extends SM to public sector management

Dewey’s approach = closer to Human Relations Theory than SM

1) Emphasizes intrinsic (not extrinsic) rewards, generate a positive work environment (similar To Elton Mayo)

2) Supervisors should form supportive relationships with subordinates, empower, not command (similar to Fritz Roethlisberger)

3) Develop informal/collaborative groups, promote workplace democracy(similar to Mary Parker Follet)

4) Motivational strategy that integrates the end into the action, cultivates moral imagination

Conclusion

Danger: Treating Taylorism as synonymous with SM

Key difference between Taylor and Dewey

Prospect of a joint Taylor-Dewey approach to public management