The Scientific Management Phase:

Introduction:
At the end of the first phase of its development, the pioneering phase, an organisation encounters a variety of challenges. These are mainly due to the increasing failure of the informal, unsystematic procedures it has developed to cope with the increasing complexity and size of the business.

To overcome these problems, new systems and procedures are introduced, and the company moves into the second phase of development, known as the scientific management phase. The principles of scientific management fall into four categories:-

o Mechanisation
o Standardisation
o Specialisation
o Co-ordination

Mechanisation:
The activities involved in mechanisation are self-evident. The small-batch, hand-worked process gives way to mechanised mass production. This is necessitated by much higher production requirements, needs to minimise production costs and the requirements for a standard product (as opposed to the tailor-made product of Phase 1).

Within the organisation, this move highlights the importance of engineering and maintenance skills, coupled with mechanical fault finding, while reducing the emphasis on original trade skills (of small and large companies) - this shift is not always fully appreciated by management and training in hand skills may continue regardless for some time.

Standardisation:
In Phase 2 of development, there is a strong move to ensure that the informal variety of previous planning and activity is replaced by carefully controlled consistency. Quality standards are laid down and individuals appointed to carry out inspection functions. Job methods and procedures are standardised, to ensure that any job is always performed in the same (best) way, regardless of the individual doing it.

To achieve this standardisation, as well as co-ordination, more rigid control systems are needed, which gives rise to much greater emphasis on planning in all areas.

Specialisation:
In Phase 1, jobs were not formally defined - most managers would, in a fairly casual manner, cover a variety of activities, in many areas overlapping each other. This led eventually to problems of duplication of effort and buck-passing. In contrast, people and functions within the organisation are now expected to concentrate on a more limited and clearly defined range of activities. Specialisation is introduced in a variety of ways:-

Vertical Specialisation;

Different levels of management are introduced. Top management defines policy, middle management plans how the policy is to be achieved and first line management/supervision carries out the plans.

Function Specialisation:

Different individuals specialise in specific functions (i.e. production, sales, accounting, engineering etc.). Within some functions, for example production and sales, further departmental divisions are made.

Work Flow Specialisation:
A distinction is also made between planning, carrying out and controlling the work. Separate departments now concern themselves with planning (production planning, design office etc.) and with control (quality control, costing department etc.), leaving only the actual carrying out of the work to the line management.

Technical Specialisation:
A variety of professional techniques are introduced into all aspects of the company and individuals or departments are introduced to specialise in these (e.g. work study, computer services, personnel and training etc.).

Co-ordination:
The advent of specialisation clearly has the effect of breaking up the easy communications and teamwork of Phase 1. As a result, the organisations structure now has to be made more carefully defined to ensure that co-ordination of effort is maintained. The following rules are normally applied:-

Span Of Control:

Each manager has a defined area of operation and a limited number of subordinates under their direct control.

One Boss Principle:
Each individual is clearly responsible to one manager in the hierarchy. An organisation tree can be drawn, as a result, showing lines of responsibility.

Staff/Line Relationships:
The various specialists are said to have an advisory role to line management. Responsibilities/authority remains with line managers

Financial Incentives:
The labour force is encouraged to work by the application of incentive schemes giving extra pay for extra effort. This replaces the incentive in Phase 1 provided by direct contact with the pioneer and overall commitment to the goals of the company.

Formal Communication:
There is an upsurge in paperwork systems designed to keep employees informed of plans affecting them, and to inform management of activity against defined standards.

Summary Of Phase 2:
In contrast to Phase 1, the scientific management phase relies heavily on systematic planning, controls and standards. The initial informality, flexibility and personal touch of Phase 1 is unavoidably lost, in order to allow the company to cope with a more complex situation, wider markets, higher production, more investments, costly assets etc.

Crisis Of Phase 2:
Despite its inherent disadvantages, the scientific management oriented company may continue to cope effectively for a long period. Many very large companies in Great Britain today may be seen to conform very closely to the characteristics of this phase. However, if the company continues to develop, a point is reached when a number of problems arise:-

Inflexibility And Inertia:
It becomes increasingly difficult for the organisation to adapt and change to meet changes in its environment. As resistance to new ideas grows, the company gradually ceases to progress. It is then in danger of failing to meet outside needs, in terms of markets, products or manpower.

Loss Of Co-ordination:
The formal communication system fails to help individuals within the organisation to appreciate the full picture. Commitment to the organisation is replaced by a concentration on the immediate performance of the section and department. This in turn leads to inter-departmental squabbles and lack of co-operation.

Lack Of Communication:
The policy-makers at the top of the organisation lose touch with the practical problems affecting executive management. This can cause unrealistic policies to exert an increasing strain on company resources. In turn, lower Management feel unable to make decisions because of their lack of overall data, and therefore tend to pass decisions upwards.

Breakdown Of Staff/Line System:
The distinction between specialist and line manager becomes increasingly uncertain; advice and instruction are blurred.

Lack Of Motivation:
The individuals within the organisation begin to lose their commitment to it. From the narrow limits of their position, they can no longer see where they or the company are going. They feel like a cog in a big machine, that their work is pointless and other colleagues work to different ends, without proper understanding of their problem.

This attitude causes serious labour relations difficulties at shop floor level, as employees express their general frustration in demands for increased financial rewards; it also affects all levels of the company and can lead to the loss of key management personnel.

Productivity goes down and management may try expensive solutions without effect.

These problems will often indicate the need for a firm to enter the third phase of development - the Integration Phase.

The Integration Phase:

Introduction:
The vast majority of organisations in the United Kingdom are currently in the first two phases of development (the pioneering and scientific management phases). This has made it possible to compile considerable data on the characteristics of each phase, both when it is healthy for the company (i.e. suitable for its needs at the point in time) or sick (i.e. no longer adequate) and causing problems.

Comparatively few companies have surmounted the second crisis and entered the third phase. It is not, therefore possible to describe in such detail all the characteristics of Phase 3, nor to identify the nature of the crisis which might logically be expected to follow it.

Nevertheless, it is possible to describe some of the activities and characteristics which occur.

Principles Of Integration:
The overall aim of the integration phase is to re-establish some of the flexibility, informality and teamwork of the pioneering phase, while maintaining the systematic approach to planning and controlling initiated in the scientific management phase.

This involves a different philosophy to that of Phase 2. In Phase 2, management worked to the basic principle that human beings worked directly for financial reward and were inherently unreliable. The role of management was, therefore, to apply rigid controls to ensure that employees functioned as required and support action to prevent any obstacles to performance.

Phase 3 management aims to create a situation in which individuals can satisfy their fundamental needs as human beings (e.g. the need to be part of a group, the need to be recognised as having status, the need to fully develop their skills set etc.) while contributing effectively to the goals of the organisation. In this situation, the role of management is to assist rather than control, to guide rather than lead and responsibility is shared more evenly through the organisation. The basic principle in this case is that human beings are fundamentally responsible and responsive, provided that a situation is created for them which provides the opportunity for this to develop.

Practical Steps To Reach Phase 3:
A number of steps are necessary to reach this phase:-

Senior Management Philosophy:
Senior managers have to understand the motivational need of human beings and develop the skills to apply such concepts to company goals.

Team Building:
The organisational structure must lose some of its hierarchical rigidity and be replaced by a series of groups. Initially, the top level policy makers must become an effective and cohesive group. They must achieve a level of understanding which enables them to function effectively together and be able to formulate company objectives and policies in realistic and achievable terms. Subsequently, similar team effectiveness must be developed throughout the organisation in interlocking groups (i.e. each manager and their subordinate in turn forms a group with their subordinates). Each group carries its own responsibility for its actions within the overall objectives defined by the company and communication is achieved through the overlap of groups.

Management By Exception
Communication up or down the groups is not normally necessary for routine. positive action is initiated only where something out of the ordinary occurs.

Production Process:
Shop floor staff is given more responsibility for setting and maintaining standards and creating change and innovation.

Ending Payment By Results:
The integration phase creates a climate which relies on other inducements than financial for encouraging individuals to contribute. Incentive schemes tend to disappear.

At present, much of our thinking in industry is geared to Phase 2 development and its superiority over Phase 1. Effort for improvement is often concentrated on an attempt to be more systematic, more logical in approach. In this light, many of the characteristics of Phase 3 appear impractical and academic. They rely on an organisations ability to develop trust and confidence throughout its members, and on the individuals ability to grasp and apply concepts of behaviour and development. Nevertheless, it would appear to offer a prospective solution to many problems afflicting our largest companies who are struggling with the crisis of the second phase of development.

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