Scientific Entrepreneurial Management: Bricolage, Bootstrapping, and the Quest for Efficiencies

Abstract

Frederick Taylor is well recognized for his principles of scientific management. Scientific management was designed with the intent of seeking greater efficiencies in the use of labor and the consequent production of material goods. More notably, scientific management was tested and promoted primarily in the context of established and larger businesses. We argue that Taylor' s quest for efficiencies can apply in yet another context, that of entrepreneurial firms and small businesses. Bricolage and bootstrapping are presented as two resource management techniques used by entrepreneurs that closely resemble Taylorian efficiency perspectives. Taylor' s relevance to the scientific management of entrepreneurship is discussed. Since its publication a century ago, Taylor' s classic treatise on the principles of scientific management (Taylor, 1911) has been instrumental in revolutionizing management thought. Taylor was primarily motivated by the need for greater national efficiency, and responded to President Roosevelt' s call of the hour to conserve national resources as the first step on the road to reaching national efficiency. Taylor recognized that the greatest wastage of resources occurred in the area of human effort, as they were " less visible, less tangible, and are but vaguely appreciated " (Taylor, 1911, p.5). Towards this end, he systematically dedicated his efforts to improve, via scientific methods, the efficient and non-wasteful usage of human, material, time, technological, and capital resources. Scientific management can therefore be viewed under the broader framework