Lets us begin with a brief introduction of John Stuart. He was born in British an economist and a civil servant. Stuart made a major contribution to political theory, political economy, and social theory in Britain and beyond. Stuart stood firm on the concept of liberty and freedom of individuals. He was strongly against the state of controlling humanity based on the distribution of resources. He stood firm for the idea that the human race should make decisions as they see fit and be provided with a variety of options as opposed to presenting a situation that leaves them without. Stuart was a strong proponent of utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism is an ideology that originated from Jeremy Bentham. The ideology stands for using the available natural resources for the greater benefit of all. Stuart figured out that state of control was the basis of scientific management methods, which were used to induce human choices. Stuart was also very much against falsification. Falsification is another key component of scientific methods of management to influence the choices made by human beings (Thompson, 1914). Since John Stuart Mill was against every key component of scientific management methods, there is no way he could have supported Taylor’s scientific management process.
Background the reader needs to understand the question
The question asks whether Stuart can support Taylor. Without considering the positions of these two people, your answer would be a straight yes. However, before that, it is important too, first of all, find out whether they support the same ideology or not. After factoring in the diverging views of the two, it will be safe to give a response. The reader must understand that Stuart, unlike Taylor, was a strong proponent of utilitarianism (Thompson, 1914).
Taylor on the other hand supported the use of scientific management methods. A strong supporter of utilitarianism believes that a state of control confiscates from individuals, liberty, and the necessary free will to make desired choices (Thompson, 1914). Jeremy Bentham, the originator of utilitarianism was against the concentration of public wealth for personal gains. He considered the act unethical since it posed a great threat to the human democratic way of life.
Like Jeremy, Stuart held similar ideologies concerning democracy (Thompson, 1914). The reader needs to understand clearly that Taylor is a strong proponent of scientific methods of management. In this ideology, those with limitless access to public resources concentrate them under their possession and use their surplus status to oppress those who live in wealth deficiency.
This act limits the access of the other members of the public to the necessary resources, unless under a strict quid pro quo circumstance. They, therefore, use the wealth to influence the decision made by their employees. This ideology is a breeding ground for falsification and hinders the open and fair practice of democracy (Thompson, 1914). It breeds totalitarianism. For example, from the readings, Schmidt’s employer has information about his financial background and uses disproportionate pay rise to influence Schmidt’s decision and make it look like it was his decision. The employment terms are rather exploitative because Schmidt is influenced to load 34.5 tons more than in his former job, daily, just for a $ 0.7 salary increase.
In percentage form, the employment terms are a 276% increase in daily workload against a 60.87% increase in salary. According to me, for all the terms that I know, this is the most exploitative employment terms. These employment terms show no effort of the employer using his resources for the benefit or good of Schmidt. Schmidt could know the unfairly heavy task before him but did not have any choice because after all, he needed a source of livelihood (Taylor, 1915).
References
Thompson, C. B. (1914). Scientific management: A collection of the more significant articles describing the Taylor system of management. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Taylor, W.F. (1915). Selection from the principles of scientific management. Web.