tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post4090289207689096772..comments2023-11-05T07:27:43.837-05:00Comments on Narrative and Technology: Scientific Management at Regal CinemasAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post-72458099921759853672008-09-30T13:41:00.000-04:002008-09-30T13:41:00.000-04:00John - Good feedback, especially re: outcomesKevin...John - Good feedback, especially re: <I>outcomes</I><BR/><BR/>Kevin - You clearly have a good handle on what scientific management *is*. Like John, I thought you did a solid job demonstrating how it moved into your workplace, although with a couple caveats: you give some great examples, but they aren't systematically organized. You convince me that your workplace in some ways operated in accordance with scientific management, but after you carefully define scientific management, it's strange that you don't systematically prove how your workplace lines up with it.<BR/><BR/>Other than that, I'd echo most of John's comments. This is interesting, but without hearing about how you and/or other employees responded, it's not yet *compelling*Adam Johnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11588769281227456640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8692381608294018617.post-34628626557599201782008-09-24T21:49:00.000-04:002008-09-24T21:49:00.000-04:00As a whole, I feel that this essay is fairly solid...As a whole, I feel that this essay is fairly solid. It addresses the prompt and follows the necessary steps to provide connecting examples between Taylor's ideology and the author's personal experience. After reading through the essay several times, I found myself struggling to critique areas that would help it fulfill the basic assignment to a greater degree. To that end, I feel that the author did some fairly nice work.<BR/><BR/>Be that as it may, the author completes the assignment but does not go any further with it. Thus, I will mainly attempt to focus on ways in which the author could take the assignment to the next level. For one, I would like to see more detail in regard to the author's experiences. What type of soldiering went on with the employees at the theater? What were some other instances of rule-of-thumb methodology that had been put into place?<BR/><BR/>Furthermore, how did the second manager go about remedying these supposed problems? The author says that he put into effect firmer guidelines for things like when the employees should start closing the theater, how much of each ingredient should be used with the popcorn, etc. How were these values determined, though? Was there some type of scientific method employed where the manager knew in some way or another that the implemented values would be the most efficient/effective? Or was the manager simply just making his own rule-of-thumb judgement the norm for all employees?<BR/><BR/>While the previous segments of questions I present to challenge the author will help flesh out some of the author's own background and experience with scientific management, I think that perhaps the biggest impact the author could make with this article would be to relate the <I>outcome</I> of working under a system similar to scientific management to the outcome proposed by Taylor. I am really curious as to how the author and the other employees at the theater reacted to the stricter guidelines implemented by the new manager. Were they grateful for the more structured working environment or did they resent the fact that they had to work harder? Were any extra benefits or incentives provided in order to compensate the employees?<BR/><BR/>I think that one of the most important aspects to remember with this assignment is that detailing the role of scientific management in one's own life does NOT necessarily mean agreeing with the assertions that Taylor makes about it. Feel free to delve into greater depth with your own experience in order to either expand more greatly upon Taylor's points or to challenge them altogether. If the results you experienced were different from Taylor's predictions, try to think about why that might be and if any aspects Taylor highlighted as critical for the success of scientific management were not given their due time. By the same token, if scientific management was successful overall then you may want to attempt to highlight why.John Fabryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01196153336293299556noreply@blogger.com