RE: Need an operational Definition of Scientific Management

["John K. Balor" <balor1999@yahoo.com>]

Peter Collis says he is reading the recent discussion as seeing the application of "Scientific Management" as almost a universal answer.  I think he is right.  I also think that Deming would agree deeply with this.  There is no substitute for knowledge, Deming used to say.  There is no knowledge without theory, he also said.  I think it is very good that we have been having this opportunity to dig into the basics of the Deming philosophy and discuss how it relates to the philosophy of Taylor.  In a way, perhaps it is wrong to talk of the "philosophy" of Taylor or Deming in this context, as science is not really a philosophy of a single man, it is the only way to understand how to improve organizational performance.  When people say that Taylor and Deming were people who were interesting for their time but that we have other management methods now, then they have learned nothing and are probably living on the stone age level where as management is concerned.
   
  John Balor