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Abstract—“Scientific management trend”, which claims that

there is only one best way to deal with every issue and directs its

efforts to finding this way and applying it on production process,

underpins today’s management science. We still witness the

effects of Taylor’s insights and theories, who is the pioneer of

this trend, on modern management understanding. It is

of Taylor’s insights and techniques in modern management and

portray the contributions of Taylor on human resources

management in the personnel selection process.

I. INTRODUCTION

Even though it existed with the emergence of the first

person, management concept which is defined as carrying out

the work through people in general, it is thanks to Taylor that

it was called as “science”. Taylor is a pioneering model due

among the others. This principle has inevitably reached to the

time and motion study, the equation of employees with

machines and finally automation and robot science [1].

Although Taylor made great contributions to the

management as a science, he received harsh criticisms as well.

The focus of the criticisms he received lies in the fact that he

put the human factor into the background. However, we still

see that Taylor’s many insights are still valid in today’s

modern management trend. Although his ideas have been

harshly criticised, the fact that they are still valid displays the

this case, both the employer and employee suffered from it.

Thanks to the use of Taylor’s scientific management

techniques, it could be said that this damage is subsidized.

Within this scope, the current study consists of three parts.

In the first part, Taylor’s life is elaborated since his

characteristics are important in the theory he developed.

Afterwards, his most significant work titled Scientific

Management Techniques is mentioned. In the second part,

selection are discussed.

II. TAYLOR AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Born into a wealthy family in the US in 1856, Frederick

Winslow Taylor wanted to study law, but, had to quit his

university education due to certain health problems. Starting

as a machinist apprentice in 1874, Taylor noticed that

production was limited by the employees and found the

opportunity to closely observe the lack of compliance

between the employees and employers during his four-year

some observations and experiments in the meantime. He left

from Midvale in 1890 and worked as a general director in

Manufacturing Investment for three years, Taylor decided to

work as a consultant engineer due to the accounting

knowledge and engineering past he acquired during his last

position. He made great contributions to the development of

the companies by applying innovative ideas he developed for

some big firms among his customers to increase the industrial

productivity [2].

Mentioned as the first intellectual of industrial engineering

work harder. The second article titled “Shop-Management”.

He focused on management philosophy, emphasized the

necessity of high wage and low cost per unit, and therefore

Taylor’s “Scientific Management Principles”:

the manager-workman/workwoman collaboration in the

selection and training of the personnel in compliance with

scientific methods was pointed at in this article. The audience

failed to understand what Taylor emphasized by assuming

that money was taken into consideration more than

systematic managerial work [3]. Taylor collected his ideas in

the article titled “The Principles of Scientific Management”

published in 1911.

be discussed as a mental revolution rather than a means of

productivity which came into fashion at that time. The

employers and managers who would realize this revolution

should have increased the income by collaborating with each

other instead of sharing surplus income [4]. Taylor accepts

the collaboration between the manager and

workmen/workwomen as an essential principle in the

implementation of Taylorism. If the collaboration between

the manager and personnel working the organization is not

attained, other methods and techniques are of little use.

and prevents proletarian class from growing poor, and the

person who started this revolution is Taylor” [6]. In fact, this

period coincides with the end of nineteenth century and the

first half of the twentieth century. This period witnessed the

individualism, liberalism, capitalism and similar movements

in North America and Europe. Also, this period is the one on

which the production, based on the application of these

movements, and productivity came into prominence. In other

words, it is an era when the behaviours of human were

disregarded to a certain extent [7].

success of personnel recruitment, human resources

management and methods is possible on the condition that

the establishment recruits right people and retains them [8].

The importance of human factor in management is accepted,

yet labour among the inputs, which are vital for the formation

of an establishment, (e.g. nature, capital, and entrepreneur)

has not been able to be on the forefront since the date when

scientific management implementations started until 1950s

is a public body, it still remains as a significant component in

service delivery. The personnel who deliver public service

have an indirect influence on political power’s gains.

Whether the recruited personnel contribute to the bodies or

not is of vital importance for the future of these bodies.

Therefore, the bodies are quite imperturbable to recruit the

personnel and come up with new methods to select the right

person. Private sector not only aims to benefit from the

personnel in order to increase profit margin, but also employs

the personnel with less cost.

they are not accustomed in order to completely understand

the scientific method and implement it. He announced these

missions and responsibilities as “Scientific Management

Principles” which is the title of the book at the same time [4].

These principles are as follows [10]:

work, which replaces the old rule-of-thumb method.

develop the workman, whereas in the past he chose his

own work and trained himself as best he could.

collaboration between the management and workmen/

workwomen which denotes to the third principle is not an

available situation as desired by Taylor in today’s conditions.

As seen in Table I, studies are carried out in order to prevent

the clashes from occurring between the

manager-workman/workwoman rather than a heartily

collaboration. The fourth principle which describes the state

of equal responsibility between the management and

hours/ rest range

Common use of rest breaks in a

week for 40 hours (or less)

We could see the validity and acceptability of Taylor’s

insights and techniques which aim to increase the labour

productivity and count the worker as one of the mechanical

devices to reach this aim in Table I [11]. The ideas he built his

philosophy on are acceptable in today’s management science

and it is observed that these ideas have a worldwide impact

since the management is universal.

However, previously it was assumed that anybody can do

anything and the cost of giving up on somebody was

disregarded [12].

Today the process of providing human resources for the

establishments starts with human resources planning.

Personnel selection is one the challenging issues dealt by

human resources executives. Yet, it is not possible for every

organization to staff and carry out the selection process in the

same way. We could claim that the organizations use

different personnel selection techniques as a result of the

recruitment takes place. So to speak, work analysis is

implemented. Afterwards, personality tests are applied in

order to determine the candidates who are apt for the job

requirements and recruitment interviews are held via

semi-structured behavioural interview techniques in the light

of these evaluations. The interviews dwell upon competence

identifying questions and the candidates are eliminated based

on their competence evaluations [14]. Unlike private sector,

recruitment differs in public sector. There are some

requirements to be met in order to be a public official. The

selection is made via certain exams prepared by Human

Resources Unit if it is a big establishment. On the other hand,

the relationship between the employee and employer is of

more importance in small establishments. It could be said that

it is difficult to implement the scientific management

techniques here.

On a study carried on a group, Taylor determined that

while a pig iron girder carried 12, 5 tons in a day per person,

this number reached to 47 tons when scientific management

techniques were used. It was time for the selection of the

limitations, and since we are not dealing with men in masses,

As can be understood from these basic principles, Taylor

gave the priority to the recruited personnel after developing

the management as a science since according to Taylor the

performance of the employee is crucial for the productivity of

the work place. Generally it is assumed that the interests of

the employee and employer are the opposite. On the contrary,

scientific management puts the claim that the interests of both

parties are the same. If the employer cannot provide the

employee’s welfare, she/he cannot ensure his/her own

but are trying to develop each individual man to his highest

state of efficiency and prosperity. Our first step was to find

the proper workman to begin with. We therefore carefully

watched and studied these 75 men for three or four days, at

the end of which time we had picked out four men who

appeared to be physically able to handle pig iron at the rate of

been observed to trot back home for a mile or so after his

work in the evening, about as fresh as he was when he came

trotting down to work in the morning. We found that upon

wages of $1.15 a day he had succeeded in buying a small plot

of ground, and that he was engaged in putting up the walls of

a little house for himself in the morning before starting to

work and at night after leaving. He also had the reputation of

being exceedingly “close,” that is, of placing a very high

value on a dollar. As one man whom we talked to about him

said, “A penny looks about the size of a cart-wheel to him…”

commodity is one of the primary criticisms directed towards

Taylor. Behavioural Approach writers have carried out

substantial studies to develop Taylor’s ideas. Hawthorne

experiments could be given as an example for this. Although

the studies seem to refute Taylor’s ideas, today we witness

that most of his ideas are the basis of implementation.

Especially, even if the scientific selection of the personnel,

which is the title of our proceeding, differs from one country

to another, the same logic works in principle.

Private sector gives more importance to the personnel

methods. It could also be expressed that this case is different

in public bodies because it becomes harder for the public

official to be dismissed from compared to the private sector.

Therefore, public bodies should pay more attention to the

selection of personnel. However, private sector pays more

attention to the selection of the personnel. Moreover,

Taylor’s ideas are taken to a step further and some companies

whose mission is to recruit the personnel for the work places

have come up in the private sector. Nowadays, many big

human resources management and his theories form a basis

for personnel selection, being one of the most important

functions of personnel management. Although he has been

criticised for putting the human factor into the background,

most of his ideas still survive. No matter how much human

resources management change and develop, Taylor’s ideas

will provide a basis for it. Perhaps techniques will change,

Hakan Turan was born in Çorum Turkey in 1984.

He finished undergraduate level in Turkey at Muğla

public administration at Hitit University in Çorum

Turkey. His research interests are human resource, strategic management,

performance management, public economics and finance, public personnel

management, administrative law and local governments.

welfare is attained as a result of maximum productivity. Both

the employee and employer will increase their interests to a

maximum level in terms of income and happiness. It becomes

more of an issue for the employer who increases his/her profit

to share it with the employees. Taylor asserts that the

employee will be more content if she/he makes more

production. As a result of this, she/he will feel more worthy,

regard himself/herself as a high-waged employee and

endeavour for the continuity of this situation.

Limited, Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16

1WA, United Kingdom

[2] Ö. Livarçin and D. Kurt, “49 People 49 theory in management science

[In Turkish: Yönetim biliminde 49 insan 49 Teori],” Beta Yayınları,

İstanbul, 2012.

[3] R. M. Hodgetts, Management Theory, Process, and Practice, 5.B.,