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Developed by the "Vienna Circle" during the 1920s and 30s, Logical Positivism was an attempt to systematize empiricism in light of developments in math and philosophy. The term Logical Positivism was first used by Albert Blumberg and Herbert Feigl in 1931. For logical positivists, the entire discipline of philosophy was centered one task: to clarify the meanings of concepts and ideas.

This led them to inquire what "meaning" was and what sorts of statements have any "meaning" in the first place.
Important Books on Logical Positivism:

Tractatus Logico-philosophicus, by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Logical Syntax of Language, by Rudolf Carnap
Important Philosophers of Logical Positivism:

Mortiz Schlick
Otto Neurath
Friedrich Waismann
Edgar Zilsel
Kurt Gödel
Hans Hahn
Rudolf Carnap
Ernst Mach
Gilbert Ryle
A.J. Ayer
Alfred Tarski
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Logical Positivism and Meaning:

According to logical positivism, there are only two sorts of statements which have meaning. The first encompasses necessary truths of logic, mathematics and ordinary language. The second encompasses empirical propositions about the world around us and which are not necessary truths — instead, they are "true" with greater or lesser probability. Logical positivists argued that meaning is necessarily and fundamentally connected to experience in the world.
Logical Positivism and the Verifiability Principle:

The most famous doctrine of logical positivism is its verifiability principle. According to the verifiability principle, the validity and meaning of a proposition is dependent upon whether or not it can be verified. A statement which cannot be verified is held to be automatically invalid and meaningless.

More extreme versions of the principle require conclusive verification; others require only that verification be possible.
Logical Positivism on: Metaphysics, Religion, Ethics:

The verifiability principle became for logical positivists a basis for attack on metaphysics, theology, and religion because those systems of thought make many statements which cannot, in principle or in practice, be verified in any way. These propositions might qualify as expressions of one's emotional state, at best — but nothing else.
Logical Positivism Today:

Logical Positivism had a lot of support for around 20 or 30 years, but its influence began to decline around the middle of the 20th century. At this point in time hardly anyone is likely to identify themselves as a logical positivist, but you can find many people — especially those involved in the sciences — who support at least a few of the basic theses of logical positivism.

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What is Logical Positivism? History and Profile

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Developed by the 'Vienna Circle' during the 1920s and 30s, Logical Positivism was an attempt to systematize empiricism in light of developments in math and philosophy. The term Logical Positivism was first used by Albert Blumberg and Herbert Feigl in 1931.

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Demystifying the IS Legends of Positivism

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Logical Positivism Logical Empiricism Whats in a Name

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Post Positivism and the Pragmatics of Leisure Research

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Post-positivism an effective paradigm for social and educational research

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Research dilemmas - Paradigms, methods and methodology

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Constructivism - Princples Paradigms and Integration

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Persuasive Pedagogy - A New Paradigm for Math Education Constructivism

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Knowledge Construction - A Paradigm Shift

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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In 1909, Taylor published " The Principles of Scientific Management." [1] In this, he proposed that by optimizing and simplifying jobs, productivity would increase. He also advanced the idea that workers and managers needed to cooperate with one another. This was very different from the way work was typically done in businesses beforehand. A factory manager at that time had very little contact with the workers, and he left them on their own to produce the necessary product. There was no standardization, and a worker's main motivation was often continued employment, so there was no incentive to work as quickly or as efficiently as possible.

Taylor believed that all workers were motivated by money, so he promoted the idea of "a fair day's pay for a fair day's work." In other words, if a worker didn't achieve enough in a day, he didn't deserve to be paid as much as another worker who was highly productive.

With a background in mechanical engineering, Taylor was very interested in efficiency. While advancing his career at a U.S. steel manufacturer, he designed workplace experiments to determine optimal performance levels. In one, he experimented with shovel design until he had a design that would allow workers to shovel for several hours straight. With bricklayers, he experimented with the various motions required and developed an efficient way to lay bricks. And he applied the scientific method to study the optimal way to do any type of workplace task. As such, he found that by calculating the time needed for the various elements of a task, he could develop the "best" way to complete that task.

These "time and motion" studies also led Taylor to conclude that certain people could work more efficiently than others. These were the people whom managers should seek to hire where possible. Therefore, selecting the right people for the job was another important part of workplace efficiency. Taking what he learned from these workplace experiments, Taylor developed four principles of scientific management. These principles are also known simply as "Taylorism".

Four Principles of Scientific Management

Taylor's four principles are as follows:

1. Replace working by "rule of thumb," or simple habit and common sense, and instead use the scientific method to study work and determine the most efficient way to perform specific tasks.

2. Rather than simply assign workers to just any job, match workers to their jobs based on capability and motivation, and train them to work at maximum efficiency.

3. Monitor worker performance, and provide instructions and supervision to ensure that they're using the most efficient ways of working.

4. Allocate the work between managers and workers so that the managers spend their time planning and training, allowing the workers to perform their tasks efficiently.

Critiques of Taylorism

Taylor's Scientific Management Theory promotes the idea that there is "one right way" to do something. As such, it is at odds with current approaches such as MBO (Management By Objectives), Continuous Improvement initiatives, BPR (Business Process Reengineering), and other tools like them. These promote individual responsibility, and seek to push decision making through all levels of the organization.

The idea here is that workers are given as much autonomy as practically possible, so that they can use the most appropriate approaches for the situation at hand. (Reflect here on your own experience - are you happier and more motivated when you're following tightly controlled procedures, or when you're working using your own judgment?) What's more, front line workers need to show this sort of flexibility in a rapidly-changing environment. Rigid, rules-driven organizations really struggle to adapt in these situations.

Teamwork is another area where pure Taylorism is in opposition to current practice. Essentially, Taylorism breaks tasks down into tiny steps, and focuses on how each person can do his or her specific series of steps best. Modern methodologies prefer to examine work systems more holistically in order to evaluate efficiency and maximize productivity. The extreme specialization that Taylorism promotes is contrary to modern ideals of how to provide a motivating and satisfying workplace.

Where Taylorism separates manual from mental work, modern productivity enhancement practices seek to incorporate worker's ideas, experience and knowledge into best practice. Scientific management in its pure form focuses too much on the mechanics, and fails to value the people side of work, whereby motivation and workplace satisfaction are key elements in an efficient and productive organization.

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Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management - Understanding Taylorism and Early Management Theory

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In 1909, Taylor published " The Principles of Scientific Management." [1] In this, he proposed that by optimizing and simplifying jobs, productivity would increase. He also advanced the idea that workers and managers needed to cooperate with one another. This was very different from the way work was typically done in businesses beforehand.

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

# data[].attributes.headline
Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism

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Scientific Management Theory - Taylorism