Taylorism

The theory and practice of efficiency in work organisation, characterised by the division of factory work into smaller and simpler jobs.

"The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were first published in his monographs, Shop Management (1905) and The Principles of Scientific Management(1911)."
(Wikipedia, Scientific Management, visited 2010-08-11)