See the differences between Taylorism, Fordism and Toyotism

Taylorism, Fordism and Toyotism are three modes of organization of industrial production used by industries during the Second Industrial Revolution.

Despite the objective being the same - to manufacture at the lowest cost - they have differences in terms of the production process, work rhythm, employee's role, objectives, among others.

Taylorism and Fordism primarily emphasized manufacturing principles. The first began the study of labor in industrial production, organizing work in order to obtain high productivity at a lower cost.

For its part, Fordism maintained the mechanism of production and organization similar to Taylorism, but added the treadmill, dictating a new pace of work.

Toyotism, in turn, focused on the aspect of organizational culture and its importance for the competitiveness of a company.

Taylorism	Fordism	Toyotism
Production	In bulk, of homogeneous goods.	In bulk, of homogeneous goods.	Small batches, diversified production.
Pace of work	Based on individual income.	Based on the pace of the machines and the treadmill.	Based on customer demand and group work.
Economy	Of scale.	Of scale.	Of scope.
Stock	Maintenance of large inventories.	Maintenance of large inventories.	They don't stock.
production target	Back to resources.	Back to resources.	Back to demand.
Quality control	They are made at the end of the assembly line.	They are made at the end of the assembly line.	They are made throughout the process.
Tasks	The worker performs a single task.	The worker performs a single task.	The worker performs multiple tasks.
work autonomy	High subordination to managers.	Subordination slightly attenuated.	Performed structurally.
Work space	Space division.	Space division.	Spatial integration.
Ideas	Social welfare state.	Social welfare state.	Neoliberal State.
Demands	Collective.	Collective.	Individuals.
Power	State and unions hold the power.	State and unions hold the power.	Financial and individual power.

What is Taylorism?

Taylorism is an administrative theory created by the American Frederick Winslow Taylor and whose main objective is to rationalize work and thus increase productivity.

Taylorism aimed to achieve the maximum fragmentation of work, in order to minimize movements and superfluous tasks, as well as learning time.

Taylor broke down job execution into individual movements, analyzed them to determine which were essential, and timed employees performing their duties. In Taylorism, remuneration was established according to the productivity of each individual.

According to Taylor, management's task was to determine the best way for the employee to do his job, provide adequate tools and training, and incentives for good performance.

The consequences of this principle were an increase in productivity, profits and wages. However, the frustration of the workers grew, as they were restricted to only one function.

Features of Taylorism

1. Division of work into specific tasks;
2. Increased productivity;
3. Great level of subordination.

What is Fordism?

Aspect of a Fordist assembly line

Fordism is an organizing principle of the work developed by Henry Ford in 1908, being an offshoot of Taylorism.

In Fordism, the production mechanism and management organization used in the previous system were maintained, but the treadmill was added, establishing a more dynamic work pace.

This manufacturing philosophy was also based on industrial mass production and aimed to achieve greater productivity through standardization of manufacturing. This objective was achieved by dividing work into smaller tasks, where each employee is responsible for one step.

Minimizing costs and increasing productivity make product prices fall, however, this method ends up disqualifying employees.

Henry Ford was the first to understand that his workers were also consumers of his products and, therefore, limited working hours to 8 hours a day and increased his employees' wages.

Production features

1. Standardization of products;
2. Large-scale production;
3. Use of assembly lines;
4. Division of work into small tasks.

What is Toyotism?

Toyotism is a form of work organization developed by the Japanese Taiichi Ohno, in 1962, at the Japanese automaker Toyota. This philosophy is defined by two principles:

• Principle just in time (JIT): consists of minimizing inventories by producing according to demand;
• Principle of the five zeros: zero delays, zero defects, zero inventory, zero breakdowns and zero paperwork.

In Toyotism, teamwork is an important factor, with groups that organize themselves and control their own work, in order to obtain continuous improvement. Thus, a horizontal work organization emerged, with the objective of obtaining products of excellent quality.

Toyotism appears as an ideal model in terms of productivity, however, its implementation is difficult and many companies that have tried to apply it have failed.

Production features

1. Diversified production;
2. Elimination of waste;
3. Autonomy;
4. Workers with multiple tasks.

Now see the difference between:

• Phases of the Industrial Revolution
• Capitalism and Socialism