The Principles of Scientific Management. by TAYLOR, Frederick Winslow - 1911

New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers,, 1911. First trade edition, first printing, of the foundational text of "Taylorism", the management of workers on an entirely rationalized, scientific basis. Though long criticized as dehumanizing human resources - "his methods were anathema to trade unionists almost everywhere" (PMM) - many of the principles have now become core components of modern management. Taylor's previous works on the subject were technical and for a smaller audience. He established his reputation as the foremost expert on factory management and delivered lectures to businesses on his principles. "In 1911 Taylor converted his standard lecture into a short book, The Principles of Scientific Management, which became an immediate bestseller and ultimately the most popular business book of the first half of the century" (ANB). This trade edition was issued in April 1911, preceded by an edition for private circulation issued in March. "Taylor attempted to determine scientifically how much a worker could accomplish in a given time by breaking tasks down into what he termed 'elementary motions', eliminating the unnecessary ones and combining the rest into an optimum series for maximum efficiency. He sought to eliminate the traditional inefficient rules of thumb followed by most labourers, replacing them with precisely determined tasks set out by a managerial planning department and performed with standardized tools and methods" (Norman). The principles were adopted internationally across varying economic systems: from the US, with its factories of mass-production that made the consumer age possible; to Germany, where Taylorism contributed to the country's rapid economic recovery after the First World War; and in Soviet Russia, as a key part of the five-year plans. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, covers framed in blind, the front with fasces motif stamped in blind, top edge blue. With the armorial bookplate of one Henry Parsons to the front pastedown; the Parsons family hailed from Oxfordshire and founded the colony of Springfield in Massachusetts. Spine ends and corners gently bruised, cloth and gilt bright, top edge faded, browning to front endpapers, contents clean: a very good copy. Crainer, The Ultimate Business Library, p. 275ff; Downs, Books that Changed America, 17; Norman 2059; Printing and the Mind of Man 403.