Jay Warner inquires about the missing links between Fred W Taylor and TQM.
One of the better known of these missing pieces of management history would be
Allan H Mogensen. Few now know his name but he was the originator of what he
called "methods improvement" and what later became known as "work
simplification." You can find references to him in various of Drucker's
writings, especially in Management (1973). Mogensen's approach was a
precursor
to reengineering (without the downsizing and human costs). Consider, for
example, the simple little five-step process below, taken from one of
Mogensen's articles in Factory Management & Maintenance (c.1949):
1. Pick a job to improve.
2. Make a process chart.
3. Challenge every detail.
4. Work out a better method.
5. Apply the new method.
Look familiar?
Taylor died in 1915 and Mogensen pioneered the methods improvement effort in
the 20s and carried it on into the 30s and 40s.
Others who came along after that would include Douglas McGregor (of Theory X
and Theory Y fame), a fellow who was known for focusing on "the human side of
enterprise" (and wrote a book bearing that title). George Odiorne (MBO) is a
name you seem to know already. And, of course, there's Peter Ferdinand
Drucker, management's great publicist and a wonderful management thinker in
his
own right. He started with Concept of the Corporation in 1937 and hasn't
stopped since. Adolph Berle and Gardner Means showed us a thing or two about
corporate ownership, management and governance but their work doesn't seem to
get much attention any more.
"Stop!" I just yelled at myself. It is impossible to do justice to the
history
of management from Fred Taylor to TQM in an e-mail. Perhaps one of the other
list members can point us all to a nicely written paper providing a survey of
field during that period.
--
Regards,
Fred Nickols
Distance Consulting "Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095