ABSTRACT
Technology in its broadest sense involves not just tools, machines, power sources, and chemical agents; it also includes the way in which productive activity is organized. New machines encourage changes in plant layout and organization, while organizational innovations pave the way for new machines. The thin line between these two forms of innovation is exemplified by the career of Frederick Winslow Taylor-a significant figure in the advance of both machine tools and ‘scientific management.’ In the 1890s, Taylor believed that if managers applied the same scientific principles that led to dramatic increases in the efficiency of machines to the activities of workers themselves, they too could become much more productive. This same close linkage between mechanical and managerial innovation characterized the introduction of Henry Ford’s assembly line in 1913.
