Frederick Winslow Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer and a principal founder of scientific management. Early work in steel and machine shops led him to study shop-floor efficiency through systematic analysis of motions, time, tools, and methods. He advocated standardized work and a differential piece-rate wage system.

The Principles of Scientific Management (1911) set out his program of replacing rule-of-thumb practice with scientific methods to raise productivity. Taylor’s ideas shaped industrial engineering, work study, and modern management, and have remained debated for their view of labor and the work process.