The following paper provides an annotation including a summary and critique from one reading in the assigned list. Taylor (1916/2005) will the target article within the first annotation. The second portion of this paper is a reflection that synthesizes multiple reading while also considering how the reading can be applied to my own practice/organization.
Annotation: Taylor (1916/2005)
Summary
The average businessman in the early twentieth century report 19 out of 20 workers believe it is in their best interests to work at a slower pace rather than a faster pace at work (Taylor, 1916/2005). Output was restricted in the workplace because, a) the belief that increasing efficiency would decrease jobs and b) workers would not be paid more for efficiency (Taylor 1916/2005). Taylor asserts that actually the opposite would be true and increased workman output will result in improved quality of life. Taylor (1916/2005) proposes scientific management of work to alleviate the common work problems of inefficiency, slow rate of work, and decreased productivity by using the workers and management to work together striving toward the same fundamental interests. The main objective of the scientific management is to systematically gather information about the work process and the worker in order to improve overall efficiency, especially labor productivity. Emphasis placed on teamwork between management and workers is encouraged, while a new focus was on training workers and brainstorming solutions for struggling workers to continue employment rather than to simply replace them. Critique Taylor’s model was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to work processes and management. …show more content…
Particularly, collection and analysis of data to improve work place processes, promoting work ethic, and standardization of best practices are influences that continue in business systems today. However, Taylor describes a simplistic and narrow view of a workplace and worker, seeing the worker only as a mean to an end. In addition, it overlooks multiple perspectives from different workers throughout a system. Reading Reflections As a board certified behavior analyst, evidence based practice is embedded throughout my daily work activities. Questions and difficult cases result in pouring over the current research in order to develop the most effective behavior strategy. I was surprised to read Dirkx (2006), in which he discussed how adult educators and address problems they encounter in practice and the profound disconnect between research and theory and the practitioner’s needs and knowledge of practice. Dirkx (2006) went on to discuss the practice of adult educators looking to one another, rather than the research community for ideas, tips, and techniques. While discussing problems with colleagues, in the field of applied behavior analysis, it is quite common that these discussions involve scientific research and evidence based strategies. I believe it is important for adult educators to work as researchers while remaining in close contact with practice. Currently, I observe a large gap between practitioners and researchers (in many fields); in that researcher often become out of touch of the “real world” once they are no longer practicing. My organization is an Autism Center within a University setting and is an excellent site to encourage the ongoing research to practice alignment, including in the adult education area. The Autism Center’s organizational structure is a combination of bureaucracy (University) and loose coupled (Autism Center), which can make for a difficult combination (Weick, 1978). Higher education uses bureaucratic principles defined as “rationally ordered instruments for the achievement of stated goals” (Selznick, 1948/2005, p. 125). While the loose coupled system operates within the Autism Center as three separate services (i.e., psychology, speech/language, and applied behavior analysis). These services maintain individuality and autonomy while also functioning as teams at the Center. Strong leadership and high quality teamwork are some key components that must be present in order to make this a successful organization. First, there must be strong and ethical organizational leadership. Ethical leaders must have strong values, communicate effectively, lead with integrity and make fair decisions (Mihelic, Lipicnik & Tekavcic, 2010). Leading with ethics is important for the well being and overall success of an organization. Leaders must lead by utilizing the authority, power, and responsibility as interrelated concepts within the organization (Manning, 2013). For example, leaders that have authority without responsibility is futile, yet having responsibility without authority is unproductive. The organizational
Annotation: Taylor (1916/2005)
Summary
The average businessman in the early twentieth century report 19 out of 20 workers believe it is in their best interests to work at a slower pace rather than a faster pace at work (Taylor, 1916/2005). Output was restricted in the workplace because, a) the belief that increasing efficiency would decrease jobs and b) workers would not be paid more for efficiency (Taylor 1916/2005). Taylor asserts that actually the opposite would be true and increased workman output will result in improved quality of life. Taylor (1916/2005) proposes scientific management of work to alleviate the common work problems of inefficiency, slow rate of work, and decreased productivity by using the workers and management to work together striving toward the same fundamental interests. The main objective of the scientific management is to systematically gather information about the work process and the worker in order to improve overall efficiency, especially labor productivity. Emphasis placed on teamwork between management and workers is encouraged, while a new focus was on training workers and brainstorming solutions for struggling workers to continue employment rather than to simply replace them. Critique Taylor’s model was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to work processes and management. …show more content…
Particularly, collection and analysis of data to improve work place processes, promoting work ethic, and standardization of best practices are influences that continue in business systems today. However, Taylor describes a simplistic and narrow view of a workplace and worker, seeing the worker only as a mean to an end. In addition, it overlooks multiple perspectives from different workers throughout a system. Reading Reflections As a board certified behavior analyst, evidence based practice is embedded throughout my daily work activities. Questions and difficult cases result in pouring over the current research in order to develop the most effective behavior strategy. I was surprised to read Dirkx (2006), in which he discussed how adult educators and address problems they encounter in practice and the profound disconnect between research and theory and the practitioner’s needs and knowledge of practice. Dirkx (2006) went on to discuss the practice of adult educators looking to one another, rather than the research community for ideas, tips, and techniques. While discussing problems with colleagues, in the field of applied behavior analysis, it is quite common that these discussions involve scientific research and evidence based strategies. I believe it is important for adult educators to work as researchers while remaining in close contact with practice. Currently, I observe a large gap between practitioners and researchers (in many fields); in that researcher often become out of touch of the “real world” once they are no longer practicing. My organization is an Autism Center within a University setting and is an excellent site to encourage the ongoing research to practice alignment, including in the adult education area. The Autism Center’s organizational structure is a combination of bureaucracy (University) and loose coupled (Autism Center), which can make for a difficult combination (Weick, 1978). Higher education uses bureaucratic principles defined as “rationally ordered instruments for the achievement of stated goals” (Selznick, 1948/2005, p. 125). While the loose coupled system operates within the Autism Center as three separate services (i.e., psychology, speech/language, and applied behavior analysis). These services maintain individuality and autonomy while also functioning as teams at the Center. Strong leadership and high quality teamwork are some key components that must be present in order to make this a successful organization. First, there must be strong and ethical organizational leadership. Ethical leaders must have strong values, communicate effectively, lead with integrity and make fair decisions (Mihelic, Lipicnik & Tekavcic, 2010). Leading with ethics is important for the well being and overall success of an organization. Leaders must lead by utilizing the authority, power, and responsibility as interrelated concepts within the organization (Manning, 2013). For example, leaders that have authority without responsibility is futile, yet having responsibility without authority is unproductive. The organizational