Citation (IEEE): F. W. Taylor, The Principles of Scientific Management. New York, NY, USA: Harper & Brothers, 1911. [Online]. Available: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6435
What it argues
Taylor argues that industry wastes enormous effort through rule-of-thumb methods and that management should study work scientifically. Management should develop a science for each task, select and train workers, cooperate with them so the work follows the science, and take on the planning that workers once did. He illustrates the method with studies such as pig-iron handling at Bethlehem Steel. The book founded industrial engineering and drew lasting criticism for treating workers as instruments.