Under which of the following systems is all work broken down into its smallest repetitive elements and divided amongst the workers?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Scientific Management System
Option (4) Scientific Management System — Correct. In the 1890s the American Frederick Winslow Taylor invented a system he called ‘Scientific Management’, also known as Taylorism or industrial engineering. Under it, all work was broken down into its smallest repetitive elements and divided between workers, who were timed with stopwatches and had to meet a daily target. The assembly line speeded production up further.
Note: The passage on Taylor’s ‘Scientific Management’, in the chapter ‘Change and Development in Industrial Society’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT. It had already been cut in the 2023-24 NCERT, which NTA followed in 2024, and is not in the NCERT book (2025-26), which still speaks of ‘Taylorist labour processes’ in the IT sector without explaining them; the chapter is still there.
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “5.4 How is Work Carried Out? … Another way of increasing output is by organising work. An American called Frederick Winslow Taylor invented a new system in the 1890s, which he called ‘Scientific Management’. It is also known as Taylorism or industrial engineering. Under his system, all work was broken down into its smallest repetitive elements, and divided between workers. Workers were timed with the help of stopwatches and had to fulfil a certain target every day. Production was further speeded up by the introduction of the assembly line. Each worker sat along a conveyor belt and assembled only one part of the final product. The speed of work could be set by adjusting the speed of the conveyor belt.…” |