Efficiency and Control

Understanding the Legacy and Impact of Scientific Management

De: The Practical Atlas

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Efficiency and Control: Understanding the Legacy and Impact of Scientific Management is a comprehensive exploration of one of the most influential—and controversial—management theories in modern history. Emerging in the early 20th century through the work of Frederick Winslow Taylor, scientific management sought to bring order, precision, and efficiency to the chaos of industrial production. This book traces its origins in the Industrial Revolution, the development of Taylor’s time and motion studies, and its application across factories, corporations, government offices, and schools.

Far more than a historical survey, this book examines the human cost of efficiency, the fierce labor resistance it provoked, and the way it shaped the rise of modern corporations. It highlights how scientific management influenced later management theories, from administrative and bureaucratic models to the human relations movement and beyond. It also considers the system’s global impact, its political controversies, and its continued relevance in today’s digital age, where algorithmic management and real-time workplace monitoring echo the same principles first laid out over a century ago.

Whether you are a student of business history, a professional seeking to understand the roots of modern management, or simply someone interested in how efficiency became a cultural obsession, this book provides both depth and clarity. By exploring both the achievements and limitations of scientific management, it sheds light on the enduring tension between productivity and humanity in the workplace—an issue as urgent now as it was in Taylor’s day.

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