The principles of scientific management developed by Frederick Taylor have shaped the work of many organizations. Overall, this approach implies that every procedure should be specified and standardized. This standardization is supposed to replace the rules of thumb which are deemed to be less effective.
This paper is aimed at discussing the applications of scientific management in modern companies. In particular, I would like to discuss this question from the perspective of a consumer because this method can directly affect the experiences of clients. Overall, one can say this approach is still of great importance to many business administrators.
As a rule, it is believed that scientific management is applied mostly to the needs of manufacturing companies; however, one can say that this model can affects the work of service organizations as well. For instance, every visitor of a fast-food restaurant can notice that practically every workplace procedure is standardized.
The employees of such companies have to adhere to specific instructions, especially when they prepare and serve food. In this case, the goal of scientific management is to improve the time-efficiency of the personnel. This model enables fast-food companies to serve a greater number of customers as quickly as possible. This is one of the reasons why these fast-food restaurants are able to achieve financial success. To some, their practices reflect the ideas of Frederick Taylor.
Another example that one can discuss is the work of modern airports since these organizations also have to serve the needs of many customers. Moreover, it is important for them to optimize their performance, especially to improve their time management strategies. For instance, the luggage of passengers is always scanned, bar-coded, and transported to a particular plane. This set of procedures ensures that people do not have to stay in extremely long queues.
Moreover, these rules are supposed to prevent the loss of property. The employees of airports have to follow these procedures, instead some rules of thumb. Again, scientific management is imbedded into the work of these organizations. Business administrators apply it in effort to improve the experiences of clients.
Finally, many people have experienced of dealing with call centers. One can notice that the employees of these organizations often ask the same questions or use similar expressions, especially when greeting a customer. Some people may find this similarity rather irritating, but they should not blame workers.
This behavior can be explained by the rules and requirements that call centers set for employees. In particular, managers want them to follow specific rules of etiquette while interacting with clients and ask specific questions, particular when a client complains of something. Thus, one can argue that scientific management can influence even communication between customers and companies.
On the whole, the ideas expressed by Frederic Taylor and his followers continue to play an important role for many organizations. Certainly, this approach may be criticized for making work too monotonous. Nevertheless, many companies adopt this method in effort to maximize performance.
This method also affects the way in which organizations interact with clients. Most likely, the principles of scientific management will find practical applications in the future. This model can bring such benefits as time-efficiency, cost reduction and clarity of workplace duties. This is why it still enjoys significant popularity among many managers who may work in very different organizations.