From scientific management to homemaking: Lillian M. Gilbreth's contributions to the development of management thought

Krenn, M. (2011). From scientific management to homemaking: Lillian M. Gilbreth’s contributions to the development of management thought. Management & Organizational History, 6(2), 145 –161.

Introduction

Lillian Moller Gilbreth was one of the pioneers of management theory. She is renowned as the "First lady of engineering, "the first lady of management", and the "Mother of industrial psychology. Her book The Psychology of management contributed greatly to the understanding of people in industry, and was signed on her name, but without her acknowledgment as a woman.

Part 1: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth in scientific management

The efficiency couple

Lillian Evelyn Moller was born in 1878 in Oakland, California. She excelled in her education and received her bachelor and master's degrees in English literature from California University in Berkeley, where she also started her doctorate in Psychology.

She married Frank Bunker Gilbreth in October 1904. During their marriage, Frank was working on his construction company, which was well renowned for being the fastest to construct buildings and other constructs. Frank was passionate about his work and continued to find ways to efficiently increase the work his company did. Lillian educated herself in the building construction trade and researched ways to standardize the construction practices. She was an integral part of her husband's work.

In one of his letters to a friend, Frank indicated that due to sexual discrimination at the time, they wrote his wife on his books only through her initials.

The Taylor system

Fredrick Winslow Taylor, the father of scientific management suggested to add science into business. He said that bad management of business causes a fissure between achieving maximum production and efficiency.

By using time study in a standard setting and planning the work ahead of time and inventing schemas the work output can be maximized. This would break the jobs at hand into parts, test them, and even reconstruct them while the job is being done.

Frank became close friends with Taylor and assisted his lecturing on the topic.

The efficiency craze

The evolving era provided grounds for a wide acceptance of Taylor's system of scientific management and the impending efficiency craze. In the early 20^th century, factories were growing rapidly and society took a leap forward, and with that came many issues.

Efficiency and scientific management became popular and many experts rose to provide society with efficient tools which applied Taylor's method in a wide range of institutions.

In 1911 the Taylor system took the public's attention and started to become accepted, though some governmental divisions believed Taylor's system could cause labor problems.

Motion study

Motion Study (1911) was the first book that showed Lillian's influence on the work of the couple, as her psychology expertise grew. The book placed a bold line over the human element. The book showed that to bring a system to work, the human factor and its quality must be recognized in addition to motion, tools, equipment and surroundings.

The book brought into light the development of "therbligs", a classifying system of the elements of the worker movement. Based on this, Lillian and Frank conducted micromotion experiments with cameras and chronocyclegraphs to find the best way to do work. In contrast to Taylor's system, the couple believed that the stop watch, the symbol of the Taylor system, was not essential in motion study and that managers can cause errors in measuring time even with stopwatches.

Later on, Frank introduced his micromotion method, which cause a fissure between him and Taylor.

Frank found that the Taylor system was no good indication for efficiency because it neglected the worker's fatigue and his psychological prowess.

The psychology of management

Lillian's interest was the psychological aspect of work efficiency. She continually pushed Frank to see the human factor at work.

In the book Time out for Happiness their complementary viewpoints are clearly stated.

Lillian's focus was always directed at the individual doing the work, in regards to management. She stated, in her biography, that throughout the time, Franks' focus shifted towards the human factor, though this occurred in his unconscious.

In 1912 Lillian published Thy Psychology of management, which was later published in the Industrial engineering and the engineering digest.

Her work on the human element in scientific management granted her publicity among the readers, which convinced the couple to publish the book.

The Psychology of Management (2014) was the basis to Lillian's work in scientific management, to industrial psychology, and to the development of management thought. In this article, Lillian wrote that scientific management depends on the psychology of the difference between individuals.

The emphasis of the scientific management must be on the person, and not on the work itself. The psychological goal of the work was to allow the worker to accomplish himself, which would allow him to live a healthy life.

In contrast to Taylor, Lillian was concerned about the experience of the work itself. Salary incentives were also insignificant, to her point of view.

Fatigue study

Fatigue Study (1916) was a combination of the couple's ideas, and a way to direct them into a global manner. In their book, fatigue was operationalized. Lillian considered worker concerns for things such as safety, lighting, clothing and introduced apparatus that would eliminate fatigue. For her, maximizing satisfaction and saving energy for the worker would grant economic growth. Fatigue Study (1916) created the basis for policies across many streams and fields. Lillian identified two classes of fatigue: One that resulted from work, and one that resulted from unnecessary means. The target was to reduce physical and physiological fatigue, and thus creating a happier and more productive workers.

Lillian said that management is a social side that affected workers not only in factories, but also potentially affecting society itself.

While Taylor focused on the weaknesses of the workers, Lillian underlined their mental and physical needs, their potential, and saw their happiness as important.

Part II: Lillian on her own

Lillian's way into scientific homemaking

After Frank's death in 1924, customers began to withdraw their requests for motion study contracts they previously had with Gilbreth Inc. To support her family financially, Lillian began to offer motion study lessons at her household and gave speeches to organizations on fatigue elimination at home.

Scientific management reaches into the American middle-class home

There are three things that Lillian drew on: her doctoral experience in psychology, being a mother of 12 children, and the experience she had in industrial engineering.

With the progress of globalization and the advance of human society, middle-class housewives had to stand up for their own, and thus needed the guidance and expertise in the science of home economics and the path to modernization.

Christine Fredrick was referred to as the woman that invented scientific housekeeping. Though Fredrick and other experts claimed to bring revolution to the household, they failed to adapt their methods and systems to specific individuals, and failed to see the psychology in the scientific household. They did not match the psychological and physiological needs of the house manager.

These experts also failed to show women how to conduct various systems they created. Thus, they left the work to other experts such as Lillian.

The homemaker and her job

Lillian became a speaker in home economics for colleges, newspapers and radio stations about her methods to reduce fatigue and increase efficiency.

Lillian published The Home-maker and her job in 1927, a book that demonstrates her management on organizing beyond the global industry. The book showed the importance of physical, moral and psychological rewards for the house maker. Lillian measured these as "Happiness minutes", which measures if the house members are happy or not.

In the book, Lillian focuses on the skills that the house maker has that can be matched to the different jobs around the house. Lillian suggested in her book, that the house maker should conduct their own skill, motion, and fatigue studies to challenge themselves and improving their work around the house.

Her goal for the house maker was to use the best existing resources around the house without investing in new equipment or tools.

Lillian stated that skilled work can be tested by different people in comparison to what they favor. By connecting skill and satisfaction, happiness minutes can be attained for all house members. Physical and mental fatigue makes happiness minutes unattainable.

Avoiding fatigue and maximizing happiness minutes will provide the house maker the best productivity for their jobs.

For Lillian, successful house management is the utilization of motion study, fatigue study, and skill study, as well as the psychology of management.

Lillian's contributions to society and work management extend beyond her time, and whenever the industry invests in ergonomics or the importance of the individual at a job is explained, or the household design is discussed, Lillian's contributions remain imbedded in these categories.