An American named Fredrick Winslow Taylor invented a new system in the 1890's in which all work was broken down in smallest repetitive elements and divided between workers. He called it:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Industrial Engineering
Option (2) Industrial Engineering — Correct. Frederick Winslow Taylor called his system ‘Scientific Management’; it is also known as Taylorism or industrial engineering. All work was broken down into its smallest repetitive elements and divided between workers, who were timed with stopwatches and had to meet a target every day.
Option (3) Mechanisation of work — Incorrect. Mechanisation means using machines in place of human labour; the more mechanised an industry gets, the fewer people are employed. Taylor’s system was about organising the work of people, not about adding machines.
Note: The paragraph on Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ‘Scientific Management’, in the chapter ‘Change and Development in Industrial Society’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. It has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter is still there; the book still speaks of Taylorist labour processes, and its glossary explains Taylorism.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.4 How is work carried out? … Now let us look at the services sector. Software professionals are middle class and well educated. Their work is supposed to be self-motivated and creative. But, as we see from the box, their work is also subject to Taylorist labour processes.…” “…Taylorism: System invented by Taylor, involving break up of work under management control.…” 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.…” |