Yönetim ve Organizasyon Araştırmaları Dergisi (Apr 2020)
Taylor and His Scientific Management System: Legendary Narratives and ‘Scientific’ Evaluations
Abstract
Frederick W. Taylor is seen as the pioneer, even founder, or father of management science, and the scientific management system he developed is taught almost everywhere in the world under the name of Taylorism. However, while this is done, scientific evaluation of Taylor’s studies towards developing the scientific management system is rarely made under the consideration of the period he lived, original data, and sources. With this study, to better understand how and under what conditions the scientific management system spreading as Taylorism was developed, we seek to evaluate the research and the studies done by Taylor in terms of originality, accuracy and consistency based on the accessible electronic archives, correspondences, and academic literature. The evaluations made in this regard lead to an opinion that it would be more appropriate and useful to approach Taylor’s scientific management studies with caution in terms of originality, accuracy, and consistency, at least to conduct further examinations and research concerning these issues.
