Frederick TaylorFrederick Taylor published The Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, describing how to increase worker productivity using the principles of the scientific method. He proposed that there was a “best way” to do any task and that by training any worker in this standard operation, production could be made more efficient. Taylor outlined four principles: • Replace working methods based on rules of thumb with methods based on a scientific study of tasks. • Scientifically select, train and develop each employee rather than passively leaving them to train on their own. • Provide detailed instruction and supervision. of each worker in performing that worker's distinct task • Divide the work nearly equally between managers and workers, so that managers apply scientific management principles to plan the work and workers actually perform the tasks. It is only through forced standardization of methods, forced adoption of the best tools and working conditions, and forced cooperation to ensure this work faster. And the duty to enforce the adoption of standards and to enforce this cooperation lies solely with management.' – Taylor, 1911Elton MayoIn contrast to Taylor and the scientific approach, Mayo developed the human relations movement, which focused on the individual, his motivation and behavior. Specifically, Mayo conducted the Hawthorne studies, looking at employee motivation when changing factors such as lighting. Ultimately, he concluded that communication and not external factors was the biggest motivator. The study and the movement changed public administration, introducing the concept of the individual within the workforce. Max WeberWeber published his masterpiece Economics......middle of paper......it won't go away, which persists in the foundations of contemporary traditional public administration. Postmodern public administration denounces the two most common alternatives to orthodoxy, constitutionalism (too conservative) and civicism (too optimistic), but offers a new approach to governance, discourse theory. Fox and Miller's discourse theory allows for a plurality of views, requiring only that participants in the discourse be sincere, transcend (but not deny) their own agendas, participate willingly, and offer a substantive contribution (broadly defined). These requirements become the standards by which they judge some current practices in public administration – opinion polls, citizen panels and policy analysis – and find them wanting. A truly discursive approach to public administration would avoid one-way interaction between civil servants and the public.