Taylor businnes

Frederick W. Taylor's 1899 Pig Iron Observations: Examining Fact, Fiction, and Lessons for the New Millennium Author(s): Charles D. Wrege and Richard M. Hodgetts Source: The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43, No. 6 (Dec., 2000), pp. 1283-1291 Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1556350 Accessed: 26/01/2010 17:56
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? Academy of Management Journal 2000, Vol. 43, No. 6, 1283-1291.

FREDERICK W. TAYLOR'S 1899 PIG IRON OBSERVATIONS: EXAMINING FACT, FICTION, AND LESSONS FOR THE NEW MTILLENNIUM
CHARLES D. WREGE Cornell University RICHARD M. HODGETTS Florida International University Taylor's pig iron observations at Bethlehem Iron in 1899 are often cited as an example of howscientific management helped increase industrial efficiency. The current research, relying almost exclusively on primary sources, reveals that Taylor's famous pig iron anecdote was erroneous. Additionally, this article offers lessons and guidelines for managers in the new millennium.

Although Frederick W. Taylor's impact on management cannot be denied, whether his work always represented the use ofscience to solve management problems is questionable. George has said that Taylor believed "to maximize output with a given level of effort. . . the scientific method had to be applied to worker selection, job determination, creation of a proper environment, and so on, to determine properly the task for each man" (1972: 93). This concept of a scientific, research-based approach in managementpracticewas not new (Hoagland, 1955). For example, in Poland in the late 1890s Karol Adamiecki was developing work flow network diagrams to solve production problems in local factories (Marsh, 1975). However, Taylor did impress his audiences by describing the apparent use of scientific methods to reduce costs and to create prosperity for the workforce. More importantly, his claims were readily accepted bypractitioners and scholars until almost 75 years later, when they were challenged by Wrege and Perroni (1974). These authors focused on how Taylor's account of his study of pig iron loading at the Bethlehem Iron Company continually changed in the years from 1901 to 1911. However, they did not attempt to study the details of pig iron loading or whether the company or the workers actually prosperedfrom the piece rate system that Taylor recommended. The current research focuses on these latter three aspects of Taylor's work. The reason for the continued acceptance of Taylor's observations largely lies in the persistent reliance of management scholars on published sources (usually those appearing in management publications) rather than on original documents prepared at the time of the...