Frederick Taylor developed the theory of scientific management in the late 19th/early 20th century. He applied engineering principles to management to improve production efficiency and reduce waste. His theory involved gathering and analyzing data to develop rules and formulas for tasks, scientifically selecting and training workers, having managers and workers collaborate to apply scientific techniques, and sharing work equally between planning and task completion. Taylor's principles became widely adopted and influenced manufacturing, production planning, quality control, and other business functions.