Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is regarded as the original time-and-motion man, the first efficiency expert, a man who in 1911 said, "In the future the System must be first". To organized labour, Taylor was a slavedriver, to the bosses he was an eccentric and a radical. To himself he was a misunderstood visionary, possessor of "the one best way" who under the banner of science would erase the antagonism between labour and management. He is also the man most responsible for the modern obsession with time and efficiency ...
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Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is regarded as the original time-and-motion man, the first efficiency expert, a man who in 1911 said, "In the future the System must be first". To organized labour, Taylor was a slavedriver, to the bosses he was an eccentric and a radical. To himself he was a misunderstood visionary, possessor of "the one best way" who under the banner of science would erase the antagonism between labour and management. He is also the man most responsible for the modern obsession with time and efficiency. This biography is also a business book but rather than focusing on balance sheets and boardrooms it is about making things and the men who make them.
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Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $3.22, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Penguin Group.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $5.83, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Abacus.
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Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $6.22, very good condition, Sold by BookDepart rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Shepherdstown, WV, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Abacus.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $13.00, very good condition, Sold by funyettabooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bloomington, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Penguin Books.
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Very Good+ Biography, Business. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Clean and tight. No creases along the spine. Appears unread. Just a little shelfwear. Name on the inside of the front cover. The basis of the Public Television Special: Stopwatch.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by Dunaway Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Saint Louis, MO, UNITED STATES, published by Viking.
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Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $20.47, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by MIT Press.
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Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $21.95, very good condition, Sold by The Warm Springs Book Company rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fremont, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Little, Brown & Company.
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Very good in very good dust jacket. A near fine copy in a fine mylar protected DJ. 1st British edition with with no additional printings listed. DJ has some minor general wear and creasing to the bottom front DJ flap fold. The book's front hinge has some weakening (possibly as manufactured) which does not affect the tight binding of the book. Illustrated. 8vo; 675 pages.
Add this copy of The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the to cart. $21.97, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1997 by Little, Brown & Company.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 1150grams, ISBN: 9780316882941.
This is a very well-written, engaging and comprehensively-researched biography of Taylor - and beyond a good introduction to scientific management in general and its universal legacy through the pervasive cult of efficiency which subliminally defines, to a large extent, our age. Something that Kanigel explains very well.
It has the great merit to be on the whole fairly balanced, leaving the reader ample space to make his/her own opinion on this important yet controversial figure. It also suggests several further reading avenues, including on education, Soviet economics, and management scholarship.
It is, however, regrettable that Kanigel does not deal more explicitly with the very serious and convincingly documented accusations made by the Taylor scholar Wrege (the other biographer of reference) regarding Taylor's outright falsifications and blatant lies and manipulations throughout his career - including use of personal connections and direct ownership of companies in order to secure the conduct of ethically and economically-flawed human experiments for self-publicity purposes.
Although Kanigel repeatedly touches on these disturbing aspects of Taylor's life and ideas - and insightfully highlights the myriad contradictions, prejudices, flaws and showman/tyrannical nature of Taylor, as well as the complete lack of real scientific basis of scientific management - this biography would have gained from some dialogue with Wrege's work. Wrege's contribution is acknowledged in the bibliographical section, with mention of certain differences of views but without explaining their exact nature. If Taylor's ideas have defined our modern times, but if these ideas have, as it seems, absolutely no valid empirical foundations, don't we have then a serious problem?
In combination with Wrege's 'Frederick W. Taylor, the Father of Scientific Management: Myth and Reality', Kanigel's work remains an excellent biography and good starting point for all those interested in and wish to revisit - or critically reassess - Taylor, scientific management, taylorism, and overall the efficiency principle on which personal power strategies and legitimising discourses are often built.
Is efficiency really efficient? In the light of Taylor's life, peculiar methods and unconvincing results, one might wonder if the efficiency principle should continue to be taken for granted.
Raphael V
Oct 4, 2012
Must read if interested in Taylor
Appears to be well researched. Uses direct quotes from Taylor and his colleagues. Somewhat opinionated in areas, but none of the opinions seem unsupported. Does not fully integrate what he reports - but the data is there for you to do so. Provides a great insight into aspects of Taylor not present elsewhere - as far I know. Also, a great insight into the machinations of the Gilded Age.
