The Taylorization of Lenin: rhetoric or reality?

Abstract

Lenin advocated “Taylorization” (i.e. scientific management), to rebuild post‐revolutionary Russia's economy. The evidence, however, indicates that Lenin's advocacy caused conflict within the communist party, and scientific management was rarely implemented successfully. Noting a rhetoric‐reality gap, the paper explains the difference between Lenin's advocacy and actual practice. Lenin wished to convey the message that his regime was progressive, using the latest management techniques. Rather than following scientific management precepts, pressure was placed on Soviet workers to increase productivity without improving work methods. The paper's conclusion is that Lenin's advocacy of scientific management was a leader's rhetoric, a political expediency, and it would be misleading to connect scientific management with the practice of management in post‐revolutionary Russia.

Citation

Wren, D.A. and Bedeian, A.G. (2004), "The Taylorization of Lenin: rhetoric or reality?", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 287-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290410518265