The definitive biography of the first "efficiency expert."

In this carefully researched look at Taylor, the much-misunderstood father of scientific management, the authors present a biography/history of both the man and his ideas. They show that Taylor's ideas have a place in the Information Age and that most of the negative ideas we have about scientific management are not grounded in what Taylor actually did. ISBN 1-55623-501-1: $24.95.

Following the volumes on Henri Fayol, this next mini-set in the series focuses on F.W. Taylor, the initiator of "scientific management". Taylor set out to transform what had previously been a crude art form in to a firm body of knowledge.

Many of those interested in the effect of industry on contemporary life are also interested in Frederick W. Taylor and his work. He was a true character, the stuff of legends, enormously influential and quintessentially American, an award-winning sportsman and mechanical tinkerer as well as a moralizing rationalist and early scientist. But he was also intensely modem, one of the long line of American social reformers exploiting the freedom to present an idiosyncratic version of American democracy, in this case one that began in the industrial workplace. Such as wide net captures an amazing range of critics and questioners as well as supporters. So much is puzzling, ambiguous, unexplained and even secret about Taylor's life that there will be plenty of scope for re-examination, re-interpretation and disagreement for years to come. But there is a surge of fresh interest and new analyses have appeared in recent years (e. g. Wrege, C. & R. Greenwood, 1991 "F. W. Taylor: The father of scientific management", Business One Irwin, Homewood IL; Nelson, D. (Ed. ) 1992 "The mental revolution: Scientific management since Taylor", Ohio State University Press, Columbus OH). We know other books are under way. As is customary, we offer this additional volume respectfully to our academic and managerial colleagues, from whatever point of view they approach scientific management, in the hope that it will provoke fresh thought and discussion. But we have a more aggressive agenda.

The author discusses the influence of Taylor in transforming the philosophy of American industry from the "factory system" to "scientific management." Nelson believes that though Taylor is best remembered for techniques such as time study, he was a reformer whose ideas were more readily adopted after his death, following World War I.

This volume comprises three works originally published separately as Shop Management (1903), The Principles of Scientific Management (1911) and Testimony Before the Special House Committee (1912). Taylor aimed at reducing conflict between managers and workers by using scientific thought to develop new principles and mechanisms of management. In contrast to ideas prevalent at the time, Taylor maintained that the workers' output could be increased by standardizing tasks and working conditions, with high pay for success and loss in case of failure. Scientific Management controversially suggested that almost every act of the worker would have to be preceded by one or more preparatory acts of management, thus separating the planning of an act from its execution.