Abstract
In 1893, Frederick Winslow Taylor became general manager of the Manufacturing Investment Company of Philadelphia where he noticed two main problems: the saunter of workers and the high number of qualified workers with high salaries. Therefore, he developed a theory of management, "the scientific organization of work" that he exposed in 1911 in The Principles of Scientific Management. He described in his book the "one best way" work could be done to increase productivity of each worker and therefore the output of the organization.
The scientific management of work started a real transformation of the industrial work organization. This kind of organization knew great success especially after the Second World War as it allowed huge profits, and was part of the reason the "Trente Glorieuses" period was so prosperous. However, the system collapsed at the end of the 1970s and it seems today that it is completely discredited.
Has the scientific been relegated to an obsolete theory that was only efficient in ancient history or is it still used today?
