Management and Organizations: Taylorism, Ford, and Globalization

This report examines the concepts of Taylorism and Ford's contributions to management practices, acknowledging their historical significance while assessing their relevance in the contemporary global environment. It explores how Taylorism, though not directly employed by most modern companies, still influences organizational strategies, particularly in combination with other theories and technologies. The report discusses the application of Taylorism in specific industries like call centers and fast-food chains, and contrasts its use in developed versus developing countries. Furthermore, it analyzes the impact of globalization, as defined by Friedman's 'flat world' theory, on business dynamics, international interactions, and the challenges posed by cultural differences and the rise of multinational corporations. The report concludes by evaluating the uniform applicability of globalization across different nations and emphasizes the balance between global integration and the preservation of local cultures.

Running head: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Management and Organizations in Global Environment
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MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Taylorism and Ford
Introduction
The concept of Taylorism is not used directly by most companies in the world. However
the concept has not been lost or totally rejected. Organizations apply the theories when certain
situations arise within the organizational culture. Also other organizational theories in
combination with Taylorism are applied in order to increase the labor force and enhance the
organizational performance.
1.
In the contemporary world the management and leadership do not engage in the practice of
Taylorism in their organizations. The workers in the developed countries like Europe, Australia
or America do not practice Taylorism in its primitive form. It is not like that all the organizations
have totally rejected a concept like Taylorism; it is still in the organizational culture in a
modified or varied form. The management applies various strategies and other theories wit
Taylorism to make it more applicable in the contemporary organizational work flow (Waring
2016). One can take examples of retail or insurance business where Taylorism is still applied in
combination with digital technologies or ergonomics. In the original form the employers were
the key drivers of the Taylorist practice, the authoritative power let them control the labor in a
strict manner by this practice, because their only aim was to maximize the productivity by
controlling the workers. The belief that Taylorism is management’s only way of controlling the
labors to make them produce most and ignoring the employee concerns became obsolete
(Nyland, Bruce and Burns 2014). The concept of Taylorism is losing its relevance in the

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
contemporary business practice because it sees money is the only factors that run an effective
organization. The charity based organizations are such examples where the idea of Taylorism is
not applicable at all. On the other hand, there are cases where Taylorism becomes an important
option for the organization to improve the productivity. If the organization is performing poorly
or labors are not working as much as they are supposed to, then the organizations tend to adapt
few strategies from Taylorism.
2.
Taylorism and later Ford developed the concept in order to maximize the labor output. Originally
Taylor reexamined and rationalized the existing labor work force by monitoring the worker
performance for a long time and developed the idea. Later Ford incorporated economic
inducements and increased the labor productivity in his car manufacturing business. There are
organizations that still use the Taylorism in their business successfully, Call Centre business is
one of them. To run a Call Centre business the management has to instruct the employees what
exactly they have to do and no creativity or examination is appreciated (Schermerhorn, 2013). It
is even visible in countries like India (Sinha and Gabriel 2016). There the employers with the
help of Taylorism maintain the productivity by constantly monitoring the workers.
3.
In today’s world, the application of Taylorism is based upon the product and size of the
organizations. McDonalds is one of such companies that apply Taylorism successfully in ceratin
parts of its international business market (Babajana and Webber 2015). In India the management

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
applies Taylorism successfully in order to control a large number of workers so that they can
serve maximum number of customers in short period of time (Sinha and Gabriel 2016).

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Conclusion
If the organization is capable of identifying the most relevant elements from the Taylorism and
applies it to control certain situation within the organizational work force, the productivity can be
increased. In most developed countries the workers do not accept it as it affects their concerns,
but in underdeveloped countries with huge labor force it can prove to be a really effective
strategy.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Reference
Babajana, Z. and Webber, A., 2015. Organisational Behaviour.
Nyland, C., Bruce, K. and Burns, P., 2014. Taylorism, the international labour organization, and
the genesis and diffusion of codetermination. Organization Studies, 35(8), pp.1149-1169.
Parker, L.D., 2016. The global Fayol: contemporary management and accounting
traces. Entreprises et histoire, (2), pp.51-63.
Schermerhorn, J.R., 2013. Management. John Wiley & Sons.
Sinha, S. and Gabriel, Y., 2016. 5 Call Centre Work: Taylorism with a Facelift. Re-Tayloring
Management: Scientific Management a Century On, p.87.
Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC
Press Books.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Activity 2
Globalization
Introduction
The globalization has changed the world dynamics by increasing the interaction level among the
nations, organizations and humans at a large level. The business process has changed and
developed and most countries are working their best to utilize the opportunities that globalization
has created in the global market.
There are many advantages which the citizens access from living on the common platform of flat
world. However there are the following advantages that the citizens, organizations or the nations
suffer from as well:
1) Though Friedman suggests all the nations are connected and somehow feel or act in a
similar way, but every culture s different and every individual person act or think
differently in the world.
2) A common international business ethics affects the organizational performance, so they
select the options which are most suitable for them. The organizations leave their home
countries from the developed world as their freedom has been reduced because of the
business ethics. The rise of multinational companies in the developing countries proves
that.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
3) The flat world is based on the idea that there are no borders or boundaries. It can result in
the nations o organizations to build their own rules for business.
2. After analyzing Friedman’s globalization theory I do agree with the iron rule of flat world. the
nations or individuals around the world interact more than ever now. In the flat world, anyone
can interact with anyone at anytime, so the preexisted societal, political, economic, geographical
frame experienced in an extensive integration and transformed the world flat (Friedman 2004). In
the twenty first century the globalization increased individual’s power as now everyone is
capable of controlling the business in a flat world. The globalization in the flat world unified the
nations, organizations and individuals all over the world. Because of the iron rule of the flat
world the organizations or nations or organizations perform or manage their business by the iron
rule.
3. No, the globalization is not uniform across the world. In many nations the aspects like export,
direct investment, communication and immigration running against the concept. Most countries
are careful about the penetration of Globalization in their society or business. As Ghemawat
suggests that the nations never let the globalization affect their individual cultures. The
developed a mutual space where their own culture is retained and the globalization is active as
well (Guillotin and Mangematin 2015).
Conclusion
Friedman’s concept of flat world is highly appreciable because of its direct implication in
the real world. Nations are interacting with each other in order to maximize the business.
However the concept is applicable in all the nations in equal measure. There are countries that do

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
not adapt the concept in its entirety. They developed a harmony between the local culture and
globalization.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Reference
Friedman, J., 2004. Globalization. A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics, pp.179-197.
Friedman, T., 2005. The world is flat: A brief history of the globalized world in the 21st
century. London: Allen Lane.
Guillotin, B. and Mangematin, V., 2015. Internationalization Strategies of Business Schools:
How Flat Is the World?. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(5), pp.343-357.
Peters, M.E., 2015. Open trade, Closed Borders Immigration in the era of Globalization. World
Politics, 67(1), pp.114-154.