The theory of scientific management was established as a way to increase workers' productivity. The following are among the key principles underpinning scientific management: task simplification and division of labor boost productivity; management must control the planning of work down to its minutiae; and remuneration should be based on output. Scientific management encountered important difficulties in practice, including alienation of employees and difficulty balancing quality against the dominant theme of quantity. Several parallels can be drawn between Australia's training packages and scientific management. Like scientific management, training packages are based on the concept of performance of a limited and highly structured range of tasks. Consequently, the level of training packages'"atomization" of competencies adds to their level of complexity rather than addressing it constructively. Second, the scientific management paradigm is incompatible with "soft skills" or the affective/interpersonal domain. Deskilling and assessment of skill/knowledge is another problem area. One of the major problems with the training package concept is that it confuses education with "the material arrangements through which we seek to provide education" (namely, jobs and job descriptions). The temptation to "cut quality corners" is another problem associated with training packages that stems from their reliance on the principles of scientific management. (Contains 20 references.) (MN)