Sanford Eleazer Thompson (1867–1949) was an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and consultant to the U.S. government and private sector. He is considered one of the key figures of the American scientific management movement, which emerged in the

progressive era The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...

Education and early career

Thompson was trained as a civil engineer at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, graduating in 1889. He was initially employed in construction and hydraulic engineering before becoming an independent consultant from 1896 to 1917.

Lyndall Urwick Lyndall Fownes Urwick (3 March 1891 – 5 December 1983) was a British management consultant and business thinker. He is recognised for integrating the ideas of earlier theorists like Henri Fayol into a comprehensive theory of management admi ...

, ''The Golden Book of Management: A Historical Record of the Life and Work of Seventy Pioneers'' (1956) He entered the U.S. Army Ordnance Department as a lieutenant colonel in 1917.

Work with F.W. Taylor and the time study

Thompson was a key ally of

Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer. He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consultants. In 1909, Taylor summed up ...

and was important in the development of Taylor's time studies, particularly in the building industry. To accompany Taylor's

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

lectures, Thompson delivered an advanced course on time studies.Daniel Nelson, 'The Transformation of University Business Education' in ''A Mental Revolution: Scientific Management Since Taylor'' (1992) With Taylor, he co-wrote ''Concrete Costs'' (1912),F.W. Taylor and Sanford E. Thompson, ''Concrete Costs'' (John Wiley & Sons, 1912). Online a
Archive.org
/ref> a goal of which was to distil different kinds of manual labor into comparable ''Unit Times'' data.Michael R. Weatherburn, 'Scientific Management at Work: the Bedaux System, Management Consulting, and Worker Efficiency in British Industry, 1914–48' (Imperial College PhD thesis, 2014). Years later,

wrote of Thompson that 'To him belongs the credit for perfecting the "tool" of management, and to him is attributed the invention of the decimal-dial stop-watch.'

Consultancy career

When peace returned, Thompson established another

consultancy A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

, Thompson and Lichtner, of which he was president from 1925 through 1949. He was president of the

Taylor Society The Taylor Society was an American society for the discussion and promotion of scientific management, named after Frederick Winslow Taylor. Originally named The Society to Promote The Science of Management, the Taylor Society was initiated in 191 ...

in 1932. During World War Two, Thompson acted as a consultant to the U.S.

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

, Henry Lewis Stimson.

Education and early career

Work with F.W. Taylor and the time study

Consultancy career

Notes and references

Further reading