Is 'scientific Management' Still Relevant in a Predominantly Service Economy?

MGMT1001:

Managing Organizations and People

Assignment 1: Essay

Student Name: Ciao Lam

Student Number: z3377100

Word Count: 1001

Essay Question:

Is 'Scientific Management' still relevant in a predominantly service economy? Discuss.

Scientific management, is to a certain extent, still considered to be relevant in a predominantly service economy. Scientific management, also known as Taylorism, is a principle developed by Frederick Taylor that aims to improve labour productivity and economic efficiency through the application of science to the engineering of processes and management (Anderson). The service economy refers to the business sector in which, predominantly, services, rather than goods, are provided to consumers. The implementation of Taylorism in service economies is portrayed through the 'task' idea, the reorganization of processes, the scientific selection, training and supervision of workers and the integration of technology in the workplace. These factors all aim to increase labour productivity and efficiency, however, its significance and relevance remains questionable as implications for the employees and employers arise. Thus, scientific management is considerably relevant in a predominantly service economy, however, the ability for it to achieve management goals efficiently remains questionable.

The 'task idea' is a concept in scientific management suggesting that all work should be planned out a day beforehand. It also advises that all workers should receive full written instructions of what task needs to be completed, the method in which it should be achieved and the time frame allowed for the completion (Freeman 1996). This is particularly relevant to the service economy as it is a flexible concept that can be adapted to any type of work and task. If the tasks are completed successfully within the time specified, workers receive 30 percent to 100 percent rise in wages. This, therefore, aims to encourage and motivate workers as the tasks are regulated to suit their jobs, which overtime, should lead to workers becoming happier and more prosperous. It is, however, important for managers to ensure that the tasks assigned is not injurious to workers' health, as it may create adverse effects upon employees who may become unmotivated and stressed (Freeman 1996).

Another element of Taylorism is the reorganization of processes to enable specialization among workers. This is shown in the cleaning industry as the labour process transforms from "zone cleaning" to "gang cleaning." "Zone cleaning" is the traditional organization of work in the cleaning industry whereby cleaners are assigned a floor each and are expected to complete all tasks by the end of the shift, this provided workers with autonomy as they were allowed to arrange their own pattern of tasks. The transformation to "gang cleaning" reassigned specific tasks to cleaners so that specialization for each function can take place in a prescribed sequence and manner which is designed and specified by a computer program under a tight managerial control (Aguiar 2001). This shift in the operations is relevant to the cleaning industry as it enables the quality of service to improve and the time required for the tasks to reduce, thus allowing efficiency to be achieved.

This element of scientific management is also present in the service industry of call centers. Similar to the cleaning industry, call centers also underwent the fragmentation of the work process into specific tasks and instructions concerning what needs to be done, how it should be achieved and the exact time frame allowed for the completion of the tasks. The