SOURCE: "The Ideas of Frederick W. Taylor: An Evaluation," in The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, January, 1982, pp. 14-24.

In the following essay, Locke defends Taylor's methods, maintaining that Taylor produced the "most objectively valid" theories in modem thought.

Few management theorists have been more persistently criticized than has Frederick W. Taylor, the founder of scientific management, despite his being widely recognized as a key figure in the history of management thought (Wren, 1979). Taylor and scientific management frequently were attacked in his own lifetime, prompting, among other responses, Gilbreth's Primer (Gilbreth, 1914/1973), and the criticisms have continued to this day.

The present author agrees with Drucker (1976), although not with all of his specific points, that Taylor has never been fully understood or appreciated by his critics. Many criticisms either have been invalid or have involved peripheral issues, and his major ideas and contributions often have gone unacknowledged.

Wren...