This article will help you to learn about the difference between rationalisation and scientific management.
Difference between Rationalisation and Scientific Management
Difference – 1. Nature and Scope:
Scientific management involves the application of scientific principles to a business unit. But rationalisation covers the entire industry. Logic and scientific methods are applied to the entire industry under rationalisation.
Scientific management is restricted to the internal organisation of a business unit while rationalisation tries to reorganise all the business units in an industry. In other words, scientific management seeks to eliminate waste and inefficiency within an individual unit, while rationalisation seeks to eliminate waste and inefficient units in an industry.
Difference – 2. Combination:
Rationalisation essentially involves combination of business units in order to eliminate unnecessary competition for resources and sick units. While scientific management is ‘not at all concerned with the combination of units. Its philosophy is the adoption of scientific methods.
Difference – 3. Objectives:
Scientific management is concerned with increase in efficiency of a business unit. While rationalisation also aims at eliminating weaker industrial units, proper allocation of resources, determination of prices, pooling the results of technical, commercial and economic research, etc.
Difference – 4. Application:
Scientific management is concerned primarily with increased efficiency of existing production facilities whereas rationalisation also covers a number of other activities like standardisation, simplification, mechanisation, etc. Scientific management is concerned with the technical aspect of business only. But rationalisation not only covers- production but also financing, distribution, purchasing, etc.
Difference – 5. Mechanism:
Scientific management as propounded by F.W. Taylor has a well defined mechanism to bring about efficiency in the production system whereas rationalisation does not have a fixed and pre-determined mechanism. It includes scientific management and other measures like combination, standardisation, simplification, specialisation, mechanisation, etc.