WELFARE ..................................................... 311
Definition of Welfare--"Welfare" and "Welfare
Work"--Welfare Under Traditional Management--Welfare Work
Under Traditional Management--Welfare Under Transitory
Management--Welfare Work Under Transitory
Management--Welfare Under Scientific Management--Physical
Improvement--Mental Development--Moral
Development--Interrelation of Physical, Mental and Moral
Development--Welfare Work Under Scientific
Management--Summary: (a) Result of Welfare to the Work;
(b) Result of Welfare to the Worker.
INDEX ....................................................... 333
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER I
DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF
DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT.--The Psychology of
Management, as here used, means,--the effect of the mind that is
directing work upon that work which is directed, and the effect of
this undirected and directed work upon the mind of the worker.
IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.--Before defining the terms that will
be used more in detail, and outlining the method of treatment to be
followed, it is well to consider the importance of the subject
matter of this book, for upon the reader's interest in the subject,
and his desire, from the outset, to follow what is said, and to
respond to it, rests a large part of the value of this book.
VALUE OF PSYCHOLOGY.--First of all, then, what is there in the
subject of psychology to demand the attention of the manager?
Psychology, in the popular phrase, is "the study of the mind."
It has for years been included in the training of all teachers, and
has been one of the first steps for the student of philosophy; but
it has not, usually, been included among the studies of the young
scientific or engineering student, or of any students in other lines
than Philosophy and Education. This, not because its value as a
"culture subject" was not understood, but because the course of the
average student is so crowded with technical preparation necessary
to his life work, and because the practical value of psychology has
not been recognized. It is well recognized that the teacher must
understand the working of the mind in order best to impart his
information in that way that will enable the student to grasp it
most readily. It was not recognized that every man going out into
the world needs all the knowledge that he can get as to the working
of the human mind in order not only to give but to receive
information with the least waste and expenditure of energy, nor was
it recognized that in the industrial, as well as the academic world,
almost every man is a teacher.
VALUE OF MANAGEMENT.--The second question demanding attention
is;--Of what value is the study of management?
The study of management has been omitted from the student's
training until comparatively recently, for a very different reason
than was psychology. It was never doubted that a knowledge of
management would be of great value to anyone and everyone, and many
were the queer schemes for obtaining that knowledge after
graduation. It was doubted that management could be studied
otherwise than by observation and practice.[1] Few teachers, if any,
believed in the existence, or possibility, of a teaching science of
management. Management was assumed by many to be an art, by even
more it was thought to be a divinely bestowed gift or talent, rather
than an acquired accomplishment. It was common belief that one could
learn to manage only by going out on the work and watching other
managers, or by trying to manage, and not by studying about
management in a class room or in a text book; that watching a good
manager might help one, but no one could hope really to succeed who
had not "the knack born in him."
With the advent of "Scientific Management," and its
demonstration that the best management is founded on laws that have
been determined, and can be taught, the study of management in the
class room as well as on the work became possible and actual.[2]
VALUE OF PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT.--Third, we must consider the
value of the study of the psychology of management.[3]
This question, like the one that precedes it, is answered by
Scientific Management. It has demonstrated that the emphasis in
successful management lies on the _man_, not on the _work_; that
efficiency is best secured by placing the emphasis on the man, and
modifying the equipment, materials and methods to make the most of
the man. It has, further, recognized that the man's mind is a
controlling factor in his efficiency, and has, by teaching, enabled
the man to make the most of his powers.[4] In order to understand
this teaching element that is such a large part of management, a
knowledge of psychology is imperative; and this study of psychology,
as it applies to the work of the manager or the managed, is exactly
what the "psychology of management" is.
FIVE INDICATIONS OF THIS VALUE.--In order to realize the
importance of the psychology of management it is necessary to
consider the following five points:--
1. Management is a life study of every man who works with other
men. He must either manage, or be managed, or both; in any case, he
can never work to best advantage until he understands both the
psychological and managerial laws by which he governs or is governed.
2. A knowledge of the underlying laws of management is the most
important asset that one can carry with him into his life work, even
though he will never manage any but himself. It is useful,
practical, commercially valuable.
3. This knowledge is to be had _now_. The men who have it are
ready and glad to impart it to all who are interested and who will
pass it on.[5] The text books are at hand now. The opportunities for
practical experience in Scientific Management will meet all demands
as fast as they are made.
4. The psychology of, that is, the mind's place in management is
only one part, element or variable of management; one of numerous,
almost numberless, variables.
5. It is a division well fitted to occupy the attention of the
beginner, as well as the more experienced, because it is a most
excellent place to start the study of management. A careful study of
the relations of psychology to management should develop in the
student a method of attack in learning his selected life work that
should help him to grasp quickly the orderly array of facts that the
other variables, as treated by the great managers, bring to him.
PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK.--It is scarcely necessary to mention that
this book can hope to do little more than arouse an interest in the
subject and point the way to the detailed books where such an
interest can be more deeply aroused and more fully satisfied.
WHAT THIS BOOK WILL NOT DO.--It is not the purpose of this book
to give an exhaustive treatment of psychology. Neither is it
possible in this book to attempt to give a detailed account of
management in general, or of the Taylor plan of "Scientific
Management" so-called, in particular. All of the literature on the
subject has been carefully studied and reviewed for the purpose of
writing this book,--not only what is in print, but considerable that
is as yet in manuscript. No statement has been made that is not
along the line of the accepted thought and standardized practice of
the authorities. The foot notes have been prepared with great care.
By reading the references there given one can verify statements in
the text, and can also, if he desires, inform himself at length on
any branch of the subject that especially interests him.
WHAT THIS BOOK WILL DO.--This book aims not so much to
instruct as to arouse an interest in its subject, and to point
the way whence instruction comes. If it can serve as an
introduction to psychology and to management, can suggest the
relation of these two fields of inquiries and can ultimately
enroll its readers as investigators in a resultant great field of
inquiry, it will have accomplished its aim.
DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT.--To discuss this subject more
in detail--
First: What is "Management"?
"Management," as defined by the Century Dictionary, is "the
art of managing by direction or regulation."
Successful management of the old type was an art based on no
measurement. Scientific Management is an art based upon a
science,--upon laws deducted from measurement. Management continues
to be what it has always been,--the _art_ of directing activity.
CHANGE IN THE ACCEPTED MEANING.--"Management," until recent
years, and the emphasis placed on Scientific Management was
undoubtedly associated, in the average mind, with the _managing_
part of the organization only, neglecting that vital part--the best
interests of the managed, almost entirely. Since we have come to
realize that management signifies the relationship between the
managing and the managed in doing work, a new realization of its
importance has come about.[6]
INADEQUACY OF THE TERMS USED.--It is unfortunate that the
English language is so poor in synonyms in this field that the same
word must have two such different and conflicting meanings, for,
though the new definition of management be accepted, the "Fringe" of
associations that belong to the old are apt to remain.[7] The
thoughts of "knack, aptitude, tact, adroitness,"--not to speak of
the less desirable "Brute Force," "shrewdness, subtlety, cunning,
artifice, deceit, duplicity," of the older idea of management remain
in the background of the mind and make it difficult, even when one
is convinced that management is a science, to think and act as if
it were.
It must be noticed and constantly remembered that one of the
greatest difficulties to overcome in studying management and its
development is the meaning of the terms used. It is most
unfortunate that the new ideas have been forced to content
themselves with old forms as best they may.
PSYCHOLOGICAL INTEREST OF THE TERMS.--Psychology could ask no
more interesting subject than a study of the mental processes that
lie back of many of these terms. It is most unfortunate for the
obtaining of clearness, that new terms were not invented for the new
ideas. There is, however, an excellent reason for using the old
terms. By their use it is emphasized that the new thought is a
logical outgrowth of the old, and experience has proved that this
close relationship to established ideas is a powerful argument for
the new science; but such terms as "task," "foreman," "speed boss,"
"piece-rate" and "bonus," as used in the science of management,
suffer from misunderstanding caused by old and now false
associations. Furthermore, in order to compare old and new
interpretations of the ideas of management, the older terms of
management should have their traditional meanings only. The two sets
of meanings are a source of endless confusion, unwarranted
prejudice, and worse. This is well recognized by the authorities
on Management.
THE THREE TYPES OF MANAGEMENT.--We note this inadequacy of
terms again when we discuss the various _types_ of Management.
We may divide all management into three types--
(1) Traditional
(2) Transitory
(3) Scientific, or measured functional.[8]
Traditional Management, the first, has been variously called
"Military," "Driver," the "Marquis of Queensberry type," "Initiative
and Incentive Management," as well as "Traditional" management.
DEFINITION OF THE FIRST TYPE.--In the first type, the power of
managing lies, theoretically at least, in the hands of one man, a
capable "all-around" manager. The line of authority and of
responsibility is clear, fixed and single. Each man comes in direct
contact with but one man above him. A man may or may not manage more
than one man beneath him, but, however this may be, he is managed by
but one man above him.
PREFERABLE NAME FOR THE FIRST TYPE.--The names "Traditional," or
"Initiative and Incentive," are the preferable titles for this form
of management. It is true they lack in specificness, but the other
names, while aiming to be descriptive, really emphasize one feature
only, and in some cases with unfortunate results.
THE NAME "MILITARY" INADVISABLE.--The direct line of authority
suggested the name "Military,"[9] and at the time of the adoption of
that name it was probably appropriate as well as complimentary.[10]
Appropriate in the respect referred to only, for the old type of
management varied so widely in its manifestations that the
comparison to the procedure of the Army was most inaccurate.
"Military" has always been a synonym for "systematized", "orderly,"
"definite," while the old type of management was more often quite
the opposite of the meaning of all these terms. The term "Military
Management" though often used in an uncomplimentary sense would,
today, if understood, be more complimentary than ever it was in the
past. The introduction of various features of Scientific Management
into the Army and Navy,--and such features are being incorporated
steadily and constantly,--is raising the standard of management
there to a high degree. This but renders the name "Military"
Management for the old type more inaccurate and misleading.
It is plain that the stirring associations of the word
"military" make its use for the old type, by advocates of the old
type, a weapon against Scientific Management that only the careful
thinker can turn aside.
THE NAMES "DRIVER" AND "MARQUIS OF QUEENSBERRY"
UNFORTUNATE.--The name "Driver" suggests an opposition between the
managers and the men, an opposition which the term "Marquis of
Queensberry" emphasizes. This term "Marquis of Queensberry" has been
given to that management which is thought of as a mental and
physical contest, waged "according to the rules of the game." These
two names are most valuable pictorially, or in furnishing oratorical
material. They are constant reminders of the constant desire of the
managers to get all the work that is possible out of the men, but
they are scarcely descriptive in any satisfactory sense, and the
visions they summon, while they are perhaps definite, are certainly,
for the inexperienced in management, inaccurate. In other words,
they usually lead to imagination rather than to perception.
THE NAME "INITIATIVE AND INCENTIVE" AUTHORITATIVE.--The term
"Initiative and Incentive" is used by Dr. Taylor, and is fully
described by him.[11] The words themselves suggest, truly, that he
gives the old form of management its due. He does more than this. He
points out in his definition of the terms the likenesses between the
old and new forms.
THE NAME "TRADITIONAL" BRIEF AND DESCRIPTIVE.--The only excuses
for the term "Traditional," since Dr. Taylor's term is available,
are its brevity and its descriptiveness. The fact that it is
indefinite is really no fault in it, as the subject it describes is
equally indefinite. The "fringe"[12] of this word is especially
good. It calls up ideas of information handed down from generation
to generation orally, the only way of teaching under the old type of
management. It recalls the idea of the inaccurate perpetuation of
unthinking custom, and the "myth" element always present in
tradition,--again undeniable accusations against the old type of
management. The fundamental idea of the tradition, that it is
_oral_, is the essence of the difference of the old type of
management from science, or even system, which must be written.
It is not necessary to make more definite here the content of
this oldest type of management, rather being satisfied with the
extent, and accepting for working use the name "Traditional" with
the generally accepted definition of that name.
DEFINITION OF THE SECOND TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The second type of
management is called "Interim" or "Transitory" management. It
includes all management that is consciously passing into Scientific
Management and embraces all stages, from management that has
incorporated one scientifically derived principle, to management
that has adopted all but one such principle.
PREFERABLE NAME FOR SECOND TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--Perhaps the name
"Transitory" is slightly preferable in that, though the element of
temporariness is present in both words, it is more strongly
emphasized in the latter. The usual habit of associating with it the
ideas of "fleeting, evanescent, ephemeral, momentary, short-lived,"
may have an influence on hastening the completion of the installing
of Scientific Management.
DEFINITION OF THE THIRD TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The third form of
management is called "Ultimate," "measured Functional," or
"Scientific," management, and might also be called,--but for the
objection of Dr. Taylor, the "Taylor Plan of Management." This
differs from the first two types mentioned in that it is a definite
plan of management synthesized from scientific analysis of the data
of management. In other words, Scientific Management is that
management which is a science, i.e., which operates according to
known, formulated, and applied laws.[13]
PREFERABLE NAME OF THE THIRD TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The name
"Ultimate" has, especially to the person operating under the
transitory stage, all the charm and inspiration of a goal. It has
all the incentives to accomplishment of a clearly circumscribed
task. Its very definiteness makes it seem possible of attainment. It
is a great satisfaction to one who, during a lifetime of managing
effort, has tried one offered improvement after another to be
convinced that he has found the right road at last. The name is,
perhaps, of greatest value in attracting the attention of the
uninformed and, as the possibilities of the subject can fulfill the
most exacting demands, the attention once secured can be held.
The name "measured functional" is the most descriptive, but
demands the most explanation. The principle of functionalization is
one of the underlying, fundamental principles of Scientific
Management. It is not as necessary to stop to define it here, as it
is necessary to discuss the definition, the principle, and the
underlying psychology, at length later.
The name "scientific" while in some respects not as appropriate
as are any of the other names, has already received the stamp of
popular approval. In derivation it is beyond criticism. It also
describes exactly, as has been said, the difference between the
older forms of management and the new. Even its "fringe" of
association is, or at least was when first used, all that could be
desired; but the name is, unfortunately, occasionally used
indiscriminately for any sort of system and for schemes of operation
that are not based on time study. It has gradually become identified
more or less closely with
1. the Taylor Plan of Management
2. what we have defined as the "Transitory" plan of
management
3. management which not only is not striving to be
scientific, but which confounds "science" with "system."
Both its advocates and opponents have been guilty of
misuse of the word. Still, in spite of this, the very fact
that the word has had a wide use, that it has become
habitual to think of the new type of management as
"Scientific," makes its choice advisable. We shall use it,
but restrict its content. With us "Scientific Management"
is used to mean the complete Taylor plan of management,
with no modifications and no deviations.
We may summarize by saying that:
1. the popular name is Scientific Management,
2. the inspiring name is Ultimate management,
3. the descriptive name is measured Functional management,
4. the distinctive name is the Taylor Plan of Management.
For the purpose of this book, Scientific Management is, then,
the most appropriate name. Through its use, the reader is enabled to
utilize all his associations, and through his study he is able to
restrict and order the content of the term.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE THREE TYPES OF MANAGEMENT.--From the
foregoing definitions and descriptions it will be clear that the
three types of management are closely related. Three of the names
given bring out this relationship most clearly. These are
Traditional (i.e., Primitive), Interim, and Ultimate. These show,
also, that the relationship is genetic, i.e., that the second form
grows out of the first, but passes through to the third. The growth
is evolutional.
Under the first type, or in the first stage of management, the
laws or principles underlying right management are usually unknown,
hence disregarded.
In the second stage, the laws are known and installed as fast as
functional foremen can be taught their new duties and the
resistances of human nature can be overcome.[14]
In the third stage the managing is operated in accordance with
the recognized laws of management.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP.--The importance
of the knowledge and of the desire for it can scarcely be
overestimated. This again makes plain the value of the psychological
study of management.
POSSIBLE PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF MANAGEMENT.--In making this
psychological study of management, it would be possible to take up
the three types as defined above, separately and in order, and to
discuss the place of the mind in each, at length; but such a
method would not only result in needless repetition, but also in
most difficult comparisons when final results were to be deduced
and formulated.
It would, again, be possible to take up the various elements or
divisions of psychological study as determined by a consensus of
psychologists, and to illustrate each in turn from the three types
of management; but the results from any such method would be apt
to seem unrelated and impractical, i.e., it would be a lengthy
process to get results that would be of immediate, practical use
in managing.
PLAN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY USED HERE.--It has, therefore,
seemed best to base the discussion that is to follow upon arbitrary
divisions of scientific management, that is--
1. To enumerate the underlying principles on which scientific
management rests.
2. To show in how far the other two types of management vary
from Scientific Management.
3. To discuss the psychological aspect of each principle.
ADVANTAGES OF THIS PLAN OF STUDY.--In this way the reader can
gain an idea of
1. The relation of Scientific Management to the other types
of management.
2. The structure of Scientific Management.
3. The relation between the various elements of Scientific
Management.
4. The psychology of management in general, and of the three
types of management in particular.
UNDERLYING IDEAS AND DIVISIONS OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--These
underlying ideas are grouped under nine divisions, as follows:--
1. Individuality.
2. Functionalization.
3. Measurement.
4. Analysis and Synthesis.
5. Standardization.
6. Records and Programmes.
7. Teaching.
8. Incentives.
9. Welfare.
It is here only necessary to enumerate these divisions. Each
will be made the subject of a chapter.
DERIVATION OF THESE DIVISIONS.--These divisions lay no claim to
being anything but underlying ideas of Scientific Management, that
embrace varying numbers of established elements that can easily be
subjected to the scrutiny of psychological investigation.
The discussion will be as little technical as is possible, will
take nothing for granted and will cite references at every step.
This is a new field of investigation, and the utmost care is
necessary to avoid generalizing from insufficient data.
DERIVATION OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--There has been much
speculation as to the age and origin of Scientific Management. The
results of this are interesting, but are not of enough practical
value to be repeated here. Many ideas of Scientific Management can
be traced back, more or less clearly and directly, to thinkers of
the past; but the Science of Management, as such, was discovered,
and the deduction of its laws, or "principles," made possible when
Dr. Frederick W. Taylor discovered and applied Time Study. Having
discovered this, he constructed from it and the other fundamental
principles a complete whole.
Mr. George Iles in that most interesting and instructive of
books, "Inventors at Work,"[15] has pointed out the importance, to
development in any line of progress or science, of measuring devices
and methods. Contemporaneous with, or previous to, the discovery of
the device or method, must come the discovery or determination of
the most profitable unit of measurement which will, of itself, best
show the variations in efficiency from class. When Dr. Taylor
discovered units of measurement for determining, _prior to
performance_, the amount of any kind of work that a worker could do
and the amount of rest he must have during the performance of that
work, then, and not until then, did management become a science. On
this hangs the science of management.[16]
OUTLINE OF METHOD OF INVESTIGATION.--In the discussion of each
of the nine divisions of Scientific Management, the following topics
must be treated:
1. Definition of the division and its underlying idea.
2. Appearance and importance of the idea in Traditional and
Transitory Management.
3. Appearance and importance of the idea in Scientific
Management.
4. Elements of Scientific Management which show the effects
of the idea.
5. Results of the idea upon work and workers.
These topics will be discussed in such order as the particular
division investigated demands. The psychological significance of the
appearance or non-appearance of the idea, and of the effect of the
idea, will be noted. The results will be summarized at the close of
each chapter, in order to furnish data for drawing conclusions at
the close of the discussion.
CONCLUSIONS TO BE REACHED.--These conclusions will include
the following:--
1. "Scientific Management" is a science.
2. It alone, of the Three Types of Management, is a science.
3. Contrary to a widespread belief that Scientific Management
kills individuality, it is built on the basic principle of
recognition of the individual, not only as an economic
unit but also as a personality, with all the
idiosyncrasies that distinguish a person.
4. Scientific Management fosters individuality by
functionalizing work.
5. Measurement, in Scientific Management, is of ultimate
units of subdivision.
6. These measured ultimate units are combined into methods of
least waste.
7. Standardization under Scientific Management applies to all
elements.
8. The accurate records of Scientific Management make
accurate programmes possible of fulfillment.
9. Through the teaching of Scientific Management the
management is unified and made self-perpetuating.
10. The method of teaching of Scientific Management is a
distinct and valuable contribution to Education.
11. Incentives under Scientific Management not only stimulate
but benefit the worker.
12. It is for the ultimate as well as immediate welfare of
the worker to work under Scientific Management.
13. Scientific Management is applicable to all fields of
activity, and to mental as well as physical work.
14. Scientific Management is applicable to self-management as
well as to managing others.
15. It teaches men to coöperate with the management as well
as to manage.
16. It is a device capable of use by all.
17. The psychological element of Scientific Management is the
most important element.
18. Because Scientific Management is psychologically right it
is the ultimate form of management.
19. This psychological study of Scientific Management
emphasizes especially the teaching features.
20. Scientific Management simultaneously
a. increases output and wages and lowers costs.
b. eliminates waste.
c. turns unskilled labor into skilled.
d. provides a system of self-perpetuating welfare.
e. reduces the cost of living.
f. bridges the gap between the college trained and
the apprenticeship trained worker.
g. forces capital and labor to coöperate and to
promote industrial peace.
CHAPTER I FOOTNOTES: ===============================================
1. Charles Babbage, _Economy of Manufacturers._ Preface, p. v.
2. Halbert P. Gillette, Paper No. 1, American Society of
Engineering Contractors.
3. Gillette and Dana, _Cost Keeping and Management_, p. 5.
4. F.B. Gilbreth, _Motion Study_, p. 98.
5. F.W. Taylor, _Principles of Scientific Management_, p. 144.
6. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 16, Am. Soc. M.E., Paper
No. 1003.
7. William James, _Psychology_, Vol. I, p. 258.
8. F.B. Gilbreth, _Cost Reducing System_, Chap. 1.
9. Morris Llewellyn Cooke, _Bulletin No. 5 of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching_, p. 17.
10. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 234, Am. Soc. M.E., Paper
No. 1003.
11. F.W. Taylor, _Principles of Scientific Management_, pp. 33-38.
12. The idea called to mind by the use of a given word.--_Ed._
13. Henry R. Towne, Introduction to _Shop Management_. (Harper &
Bros.)
14. F.W. Taylor, _Principles of Scientific Management_, p. 123.
(Harper & Bros.)
15. Doubleday, Page & Co.
16. F.W. Taylor, _Principles of Scientific Management_, p. 137.
(Harper & Bros.)
====================================================================
CHAPTER II
INDIVIDUALITY
DEFINITION OF INDIVIDUALITY.--"An individual is a single thing,
a being that is, or is regarded as, a unit. An individual is opposed
to a crowd. Individual action is opposed to associate action.
Individual interests are opposed to common or community interests."
These definitions give us some idea of the extent of individuality.
Individuality is a particular or distinctive characteristic of an
individual; "that quality or aggregate of qualities which
distinguishes one person or thing from another, idiosyncrasy." This
indicates the content.
For our purpose, we may define the study of individuality
as a consideration of the individual as a unit with special
characteristics. That it is a _unit_ signifies that it is one of
many and that it has likeness to the many. That it has _special
characteristics_ shows that it is one of many, but different from
the many. This consideration of individuality emphasizes both the
common element and the diverging characteristics.
INDIVIDUALITY AS TREATED IN THIS CHAPTER.--The recognition of
individuality is the subject of this chapter. The utilization of
this individuality in its deviation from class, is the subject of
the chapter that follows, Functionalization.
INDIVIDUALITY AS CONSIDERED BY PSYCHOLOGY.--Psychology has not
always emphasized the importance of the individual as a unit for
study. Prof. Ladd's definition of psychology, quoted and endorsed by
Prof. James, is "the description and explanation of states of
consciousness, as such."[1] "By states of consciousness," says
James, "are meant such things as sensation, desires, emotions,
cognitions, reasonings, decisions, volitions, and the like." This
puts the emphasis on such divisions of consciousness as,
"attention," "interest," and "will."
With the day of experimental psychology has come the importance
of the individual self as a subject of study,[2] and psychology has
come to be defined, as Calkins defines it, as a "science of the self
as conscious."[3]
We hear much in the talk of today of the "psychology of the
crowd," the "psychology of the mob," and the "psychology of the
type," etc., but the mind that is being measured, and from whose
measurements the laws are being deduced and formulated is, at the
present the _individual_ mind.[4]
The psychology which interested itself particularly in studying
such divisions of mental activity as attention, will, habit, etc.,
emphasizes more particularly the likenesses of minds. It is
necessary to understand thoroughly all of these likenesses before
one can be sure what the differences, or idiosyncrasies, are, and
how important they are, because, while the likenesses furnish the
background, it is the differences that are most often actually
utilized by management. These must be determined in order to compute
and set the proper individual task for the given man from standard
data of the standard, or first-class man.
In any study of the individual, the following facts must
be noted:--
1. The importance of the study of the individual, and the
comparatively small amount of work that has as yet been
done in that field.
2. The difficulty of the study, and the necessity for great
care, not only in the study itself, but in deducing laws
from it.
3. The necessity of considering any one individual trait as
modified by all the other traits of the individual.
4. The importance of the individual as distinct from the
type.
Many students are so interested in studying types and deducing
laws which apply to types in general, that they lose sight of the
fact that the individual is the basis of the study,--that
individuality is that for which they must seek and for which they
must constantly account. As Sully says, we must not emphasize
"_typical developments_ in a new individual," at the expense of
"typical development _in a new individual_."[5] It is the fact that
the development occurs in an individual, and not that the
development is typical, that we should emphasize.
INDIVIDUALITY SELDOM RECOGNIZED UNDER TRADITIONAL
MANAGEMENT.--Under Traditional Management there was little or no
systematized method for the recognition of individuality or
individual fitness.[6] The worker usually was, in the mind of the
manager, one of a crowd, his only distinguishing mark being the
amount of work which he was capable of performing.
SELECTING WORKERS UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--In selecting
men to do work, there was little or no attempt to study the
individuals who applied for work. The matter of selection was more
of a process of "guess work" than of exact measurement, and the
highest form of test was considered to be that of having the man
actually tried out by being given a chance at the work itself. There
was not only a great waste of time on the work, because men unfitted
to it could not turn it out so successfully, but there also was a
waste of the worker, and many times a positive injury to the worker,
by his being put at work which he was unfitted either to perform, to
work at continuously, or both.
In the most progressive type of Traditional Management there was
usually a feeling, however, that if the labor market offered even
temporarily a greater supply than the work in hand demanded, it was
wise to choose those men to do the work who were best fitted for it,
or who were willing to work for less wages. It is surprising to find
in the traditional type, even up to the present day, how often men
were selected for their strength and physique, rather than for any
special capabilities fitting them for working in, or at, the
particular line of work to be done.
OUTPUT SELDOM SEPARATED UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--Under
Traditional Management especially on day work the output of the men
was not usually separated, nor was the output recorded separately,
as can be done even with the work of gangs.
FEW INDIVIDUAL TASKS UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--Seldom, if
ever, was an individual task set for a worker on day work, or piece
work, and even if one were set, it was not scientifically
determined. The men were simply set to work alone or in gangs, _as
the work demanded_, and if the foreman was overworked or lazy,
allowed to take practically their own time to do the work. If, on
the other hand, the foreman was a "good driver," the men might be
pushed to their utmost limit of their individual undirected speed,
regardless of their welfare.
LITTLE INDIVIDUAL TEACHING UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--Not
having a clear idea either of the present fitness and the future
possibilities of the worker, or the requirements of the work, no
intelligent attempt could be made at efficient individual teaching.
What teaching was done was in the form of directions for all,
concerning the work in general, the directions being given by an
overworked foreman, the holding of whose position often depended
more upon whether his employer made money than upon the way his men
were taught, or worked.
SELDOM AN INDIVIDUAL REWARD UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--As a
typical example of disregard of individuality, the worker in the
household may be cited, and especially the "general housework girl."
Selected with no knowledge of her capabilities, and with little or
no scientific or even systematized knowledge of the work that she is
expected to do, there is little or no thought of a prescribed and
definite task, no teaching specially adapted to the individual needs
of the taught, and no reward in proportion to efficiency.
CAUSE OF THESE LACKS UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--The fault
lies not in any desire of the managers to do poor or wasteful work,
or to treat their workers unfairly,--but in a lack of knowledge and
of accurate methods for obtaining, conserving and transmitting
knowledge. Under Traditional Management no one individual knows
precisely what is to be done. Such management seldom knows how work
could best be done;--never knows how much work each individual can
do.[7] Understanding neither work nor workers, it can not adjust the
one to the other so as to obtain least waste. Having no conception
of the importance of accurate measurement, it has no thought of the
individual as a unit.
INDIVIDUALITY RECOGNIZED UNDER TRANSITORY MANAGEMENT.--
Recognition of individuality is one of the principles first apparent
under Transitory Management.
This is apt to demonstrate itself first of all in causing the
outputs of the workers to "show up" separately, rewarding these
separated outputs, and rewarding each worker for his individual
output.
BENEFITS OF THIS RECOGNITION.--The benefits of introducing these
features first are that the worker, (1) seeing his individual
output, is stimulated to measure it, and (2) receiving compensation
in accordance with his output, is satisfied; and (3) observing that
records are necessary to determine the amount of output and pay, is
glad to have accurate measurement and the other features of
Scientific Management introduced.
INDIVIDUALITY A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF SCIENTIFIC
MANAGEMENT.--Under Scientific Management the individual is the unit
to be measured. Functionalization is based upon utilizing the
particular powers and special abilities of each man. Measurement is
of the individual man and his work. Analysis and synthesis build up
methods by which the individual can best do his work. Standards are
of the work of an individual, a standard man, and the task is always
for an individual, being that percentage of the standard man's task
that the particular individual can do. Records are of individuals,
and are made in order to show and reward individual effort. Specific
individuals are taught those things that they, individually,
require. Incentives are individual both in the cases of rewards and
punishments, and, finally, it is the welfare of the individual
worker that is considered, without the sacrifice of any for the good
of the whole.
INDIVIDUALITY CONSIDERED IN SELECTING WORKERS.--Under Scientific
Management individuality is considered in selecting workers as it
could not be under either of the other two forms of management. This
for several reasons:
1. The work is more specialized, hence requires more
carefully selected men.
2. With standardized methods comes a knowledge to the
managers of the qualifications of the "standard men" who
can best do the work and continuously thrive.
3. Motion study, in its investigation of the worker, supplies
a list of variations in workers that can be utilized in
selecting men.[8]
VARIABLES OF THE WORKER.--This list now includes at least 50 or
60 variables, and shows the possible elements which may demand
consideration. When it is remembered that the individual selected
may need a large or small proportion of most of the variables in
order to do his particular work most successfully, and that every
single one of these variables, as related to the others, may, in
some way affect his output and his welfare in doing his assigned
work, the importance of taking account of individuality in selection
is apparent.
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT NEEDS SUPPORT IN STUDYING WORKERS.--The
best of management is by no means at its ultimate stage in practice
in this field. This, not because of a lack in the laws of
management, but because, so far, Scientific Management has not
received proper support from other lines of activity.
PRESENT LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF APPLICANTS.--At present, the men
who apply to the Industries for positions have no scientifically
determined idea of their own capabilities, neither has there been
any effort in the training or experience of most of those who apply
for work for the first time to show them how fit they really are to
do the work which they wish to do.
SUPPLEMENTS DEMANDED BY SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--Before the
worker can be scientifically selected so that his individuality can
be appreciated, Scientific Management must be supplemented in
two ways:--
1. By psychological and physiological study of workers under
it. By such study of the effect of various kinds of
standardized work upon the mind and body, standard
requirements for men who desire to do the work can be
made.
2. By scientific study of the worker made before he comes
into the Industries, the results of which shall show his
capabilities and possibilities.[9]
WHENCE THIS HELP MUST COME.--This study must be made
a. In the Vocational Guidance Work.
b. In the Academic Work,
and in both fields psychological and physiological
investigations are called for.
WORK OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE BUREAUS.--Vocational Guidance
Bureaus are, at present, doing a wonderful work in their line. This
work divides itself into two parts:
1. Determining the capabilities of the boy, that is, seeing
what he is, by nature and training, best fitted to do.
2. Determining the possibilities of his securing work in the
line where he is best fitted to work, that is, studying
the industrial opportunities that offer, and the "welfare"
of the worker under each, using the word welfare in the
broadest sense, of general wellbeing, mental, physical,
moral and financial.
WORK OF ACADEMIC WORLD.--The Academic World is also, wherever it
is progressive, attempting to study the student, and to develop him
so that he can be the most efficient individual. Progressive
educators realize that schools and colleges must stand or fall, as
efficient, as the men they train become successful or unsuccessful
in their vocations, as well as in their personal culture.
NEED FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY IN ALL FIELDS.--In both these
complementary lines of activity, as in Scientific Management itself,
the need for psychological study is evident.[10] Through it, only,
can scientific progress come. Here is emphasized again the
importance of measurement. Through accurate measurement of the mind
and the body only can individuality be recognized, conserved and
developed as it should be.
PREPAREDNESS OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.--Experimental
psychology has instruments of precision with which to measure and
test the minds and bodies brought to it, and its leading exponents
are so broadening the scope of its activities that it is ready and
glad to plan for investigations.
METHOD OF SELECTION UNDER ULTIMATE MANAGEMENT.--Under Ultimate
Management, the minds of the workers,--and of the managers
too,--will have been studied, and the results recorded from earliest
childhood. This record, made by trained investigators, will enable
vocational guidance directors to tell the child what he is fitted to
be, and thus to help the schools and colleges to know how best to
train him, that is to say, to provide what he will need to know to
do his life work, and also those cultural studies that his
vocational work may lack, and that may be required to build out his
best development as an individual.
It is not always recognized that even the student who can afford
to postpone his technical training until he has completed a general
culture course, requires that his culture course be carefully
planned. Not only must he choose those general courses that will
serve as a foundation for his special study, and that will broaden
and enrich his study, but also he must be provided with a
counter-balance,--with interests that his special work might never
arouse in him. Thus the field of Scientific Management can be
narrowed to determining and preparing standard plans for standard
specialized men, and selecting men to fill these places from
competent applicants.
What part of the specialized training needed by the special work
shall be given in schools and what in the industries themselves can
be determined later. The "twin apprentice" plan offers one solution
of the problem that has proved satisfactory in many places. The
psychological study should determine through which agency knowledge
can best come at any particular stage of mental growth.
EFFECT ON WORKERS OF SUCH SELECTION.--As will be shown at
greater length under "Incentives," Scientific Management aims in
every way to encourage initiative. The outline here given as to how
men must, ultimately, under Scientific Management, be selected
serves to show that, far from being "made machines of," men are
selected to reach that special place where their individuality can
be recognized and rewarded to the greatest extent.
SELECTION UNDER SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO-DAY.--At the present
day, the most that Scientific Management can do, in the average
case, is to determine the type of men needed for any particular kind
of work, and then to select that man who seems, from such
observations as can be made, best to conform to the type. The
accurate knowledge of the requirements of the work, and the
knowledge of variables of the worker make even a cursory observation
more rich in results than it would otherwise be. Even such an
apparently obvious observation, as that the very fact that a man
claims that he can do the work implies desire and will on his part
to do it that may overcome many natural lacks,--even this is an
advance in recognizing individuality.
EFFECT OF THIS SELECTION.--The result of this scientific
selection of the workman is not only better work, but also, and more
important from the psychological side, the development of his
individuality. It is not always recognized that the work itself is a
great educator, and that acute cleverness in the line of work to
which he is fitted comes to the worker.
INDIVIDUALITY DEVELOPED BY SEPARATING OUTPUTS.--Under Scientific
Management the work of each man is arranged either so that his
output shows up separately and on the individual records, or, if the
Work is such that it seems best to do it in gangs, the output can
often be so recorded that the individual's output can be computed
from the records.
PURPOSE OF SEPARATING OUTPUTS.--The primary purpose of
separating the output is to see what the man can do, to record this,
and to reward the man according to his work, but this separating of
output has also an individual result, which is even more important
than the result aimed at, and that is the development of
individuality.
Under Traditional Management and the usual "day work," much of
the work is done by gangs and is observed or recorded as of gangs.
Only now and then, when the work of some particular individual shows
up decidedly better or worse than that of his fellows, and when the
foreman or superintendent, or other onlooker, happens to observe
this is the individual appreciated, and then only in the most
inexact, unsystematic manner.
Under Scientific Management, making individual output show up
separately allows of individual recording, tasks, teaching and
rewards.
EFFECT ON ATHLETIC CONTESTS.--Also, with this separation of the
work of the individual under Scientific Management comes the
possibility of a real, scientific, "athletic contest." This athletic
contest, which proves itself so successful in Traditional
Management, even when the men are grouped as gangs and their work is
not recorded or thought of separately, proves itself quite as
efficient or more efficient under Scientific Management, when the
work of the man shows up separately. It might be objected that the
old gang spirit, or it might be called "team" spirit, would
disappear with the separation of the work. This is not so, as will
be noted by a comparison to a baseball team, where each man has his
separate place and his separate work and where his work shows up
separately with separate records, such as "batting average" and
"fielding average." Team spirit is the result of being grouped
together against a common opponent, and it will be the same in any
sort of work when the men are so grouped, or given to understand
that they belong on the same side.
The following twelve rules for an Athletic Contest under
Transitory System are quoted as exemplifying the benefits which
accrue to Individuality.
1. Men must have square deal.
2. Conditions must be similar.
3. Men must be properly spaced and placed.
4. Output must show up separately.
5. Men must be properly started.
6. Causes for delay must be eliminated.
7. Pace maker must be provided.
8. Time for rest must be provided.
9. Individual scores must be kept and posted.
10. "Audience" must be provided.
11. Rewards must be prompt and provided for all
good scores--not for winners only.
12. Appreciation must be shown.[11]
This list shows the effects of many fundamental principles of
Scientific Management,--but we note particularly here that over half
the rules demand that outputs be separated as a prerequisite.
None of the benefits of the Athletic Contest are lost under
Scientific Management. The only restrictions placed are that the men
shall not be grouped according to any distinction that would cause
hatred or ill feeling, that the results shall be ultimately
beneficial to the workers themselves, and that all high scores shall
win high prizes.
As will be brought out later under "Incentives," no competition
is approved under Scientific Management which speeds up the men
uselessly, or which brings any ill feeling between the men or any
feeling that the weaker ones have not a fair chance. All of these
things are contrary to Scientific Management, as well as contrary to
common sense, for it goes without saying that no man is capable of
doing his best work permanently if he is worried by the idea that he
will not receive the square deal, that someone stronger than he will
be allowed to cheat or to domineer over him, or that he will be
speeded up to such an extent that while his work will increase for
one day, the next day his work will fall down because of the effect
of the fatigue of the day before.
The field of the contests is widened, as separating of the work
of the individual not only allows for competition between
individuals, but for the competition of the individual with his own
records. This competition is not only a great, constant and helpful
incentive to every worker, but it is also an excellent means of
developing individuality.
ADVANTAGES TO MANAGERS OF SEPARATING OUTPUT.--The advantages to
the managers of separating the work are that there is a chance to
know exactly who is making the high output, and that the spirit of
competition which prevails when men compare their outputs to their
own former records or others, leads to increased effort.
ADVANTAGES TO WORKERS OF SEPARATING OUTPUT.--As for advantages
to the men:
By separation of the individual work, not only is the man's work
itself shown, but at the same time the work of all other people is
separated, cut away and put aside, and he can locate the man who is
delaying him by, for example, not keeping him supplied with
materials. The man has not only an opportunity to concentrate, but
every possible incentive to exercise his will and his desire to do
things. His attention is concentrated on the fact that he as an
individual is expected to do his very best. He has the moral
stimulus of responsibility. He has the emotional stimulus of
competition. He has the mental stimulus of definiteness. He has,
most valuable of all, a chance to be an entity rather than one of an
undiscriminated gang. This chance to be an individual, or
personality, is in great contradistinction to the popular opinion of
Scientific Management, which thinks it turns men into machines. A
very simple example of the effect of the worker's seeing his output
show up separately in response to and in proportion to his effort
and skill is that of boys in the lumber producing districts chopping
edgings for fire wood. Here the chopping is so comparatively light
that the output increased very rapidly, and the boy delights to "see
his pile of fire wood grow."
With the separation of the work comes not only the opportunity
for the men to see their own work, but also to see that of others,
and there comes with this the spirit of imitation, or the spirit of
friendly opposition, either of which, while valuable in itself is
even more valuable as the by-product of being a life-giving thought,
and of putting life into the work such as there never could be when
the men were working together, more or less objectless, because they
could not see plainly either what they were doing themselves, or
what others were doing.
Separation of the output of the men gives them the greatest
opportunity to develop. It gives them a chance to concentrate their
attention at the work on which they are, because it is not necessary
for them to waste any time to find out what that work is. Their work
stands out by itself; they can put their whole minds to that work;
they can become interested in that work and its outcome, and they
can be positive that what they have done will be appreciated and
recognized, and that it will have a good effect, with no possibility
of evil effect, upon their chance for work and their chance for pay
and promotion in the future. Definiteness of the boundaries, then,
is not only good management in that it shows up the work and that it
allows each man to see, and each man over him, or observing him to
see exactly what has been done,--it has also an excellent effect
upon the worker's mind.
INDIVIDUALITY DEVELOPED BY RECORDING OUTPUT SEPARATELY.--The
spirit of individuality is brought out still more clearly by the
fact that under Scientific Management, output is recorded
separately. This recording of the outputs separately is, usually,
and very successfully, one of the first features installed in
Transitory Management, and a feature very seldom introduced, even
unconscious of its worth, in day work under Traditional Management.
It is one of the great disadvantages of many kinds of work,
especially in this day, that the worker does only a small part of
the finished article and that he has a feeling that what he does is
not identified permanently with the success of the completed whole.
We may note that one of the great unsatisfying features to such arts
as acting and music, is that no matter how wonderful the performer's
efforts, there was no permanent record of them; that the work of the
day dies with the day. He can expect to live only in the minds and
hearts of the hearers, in the accounts of spectators, or in
histories of the stage.
It is, therefore, not strange that the world's best actors and
singers are now grasping the opportunity to make their best efforts
permanent through the instrumentality of the motion picture films
and the talking machine records. This same feeling, minus the glow
of enthusiasm that at least attends the actor during the work, is
present in more or less degree in the mind of the worker.
RECORDS MAKE WORK SEEM WORTH WHILE.--With the feeling that his
work is recorded comes the feeling that the work is really worth
while, for even if the work itself does not last, the records of it
are such as can go on.
RECORDS GIVE INDIVIDUALS A FEELING OF PERMANENCE.--With recorded
individual output comes also the feeling of permanence, of credit
for good performance. This desire for permanence shows itself all
through the work of men in Traditional Management, for example--in
the stone cutter's art where the man who had successfully dressed
the stone from the rough block was delighted to put his own
individual mark on it, even though he knew that that mark probably
would seldom, if ever, be noticed again by anyone after the stone
was set in the wall. It is an underlying trait of the human mind
to desire this permanence of record of successful effort, and
fulfilling and utilizing this desire is a great gain of Scientific
Management.
MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF WORKER THROUGH RECORDS.--It is not only
for his satisfaction that the worker should see his records and
realize that his work has permanence, but also for comparison of his
work not only with his own record, but with the work of others. The
value of these comparisons, not only to the management but to the
worker himself, must not be underestimated. The worker gains mental
development and physical skill by studying these comparisons.
ADVANTAGES TO WORKER OF MAKING HIS OWN RECORDS.--These
possibilities of mental development are still further increased when
the man makes his own records. This leads to closer attention, to
more interest in the work, and to a realization of the man as to
what the record really means, and what value it represents. Though
even a record that is made for him and is posted where he can see it
will probably result in a difference in his pay envelope, no such
progress is likely to occur as when the man makes his own record,
and must be conscious every moment of the time exactly where he
stands.
POSSIBILITIES OF MAKING INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.--Records of
individual efficiency are comparatively easy to make when output is
separated. But even when work must be done by gangs or teams of men,
there is provision made in Scientific Management for recording this
gang work in such a way that either the output or the efficiency, or
both, of each man shows up separately. This may be done in several
ways, such as, for example, by recording the total time of delays
avoidable and unavoidable, caused by each man, and from this
computing individual records. This method of recording is
psychologically right, because the recording of the delay will serve
as a warning to the man, and as a spur to him not to cause delay to
others again.
The forcefulness of the "don't" and the "never" have been
investigated by education. Undoubtedly the "do" is far stronger, but
in this particular case the command deduced from the records of
delay to others is, necessarily, in the negative form, and a study
of the psychological results proves most instructive.
BENEFITS TO MANAGERS OF INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.--The value of the
training to the foremen, to the superintendents and to the managers
higher up, who study these records, as well as to the timekeepers,
recorders and clerks in the Time and Cost Department who make the
records, is obvious. There is not only the possibility of
appreciating and rewarding the worker, and thus stimulating him to
further activity, there is also, especially in the Transitory stage,
when men are to be chosen on whom to make Time Study observations,
an excellent chance to compare various methods of doing work and
their results.
INCENTIVES WITH INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.--The greatest value of
recorded outputs is in the appreciation of the work of the
individual that becomes possible. First of all, appreciation by the
management, which to the worker must be the most important of all,
as it means to him a greater chance for promotion and for more pay.
This promotion and additional pay are amply provided for by
Scientific Management, as will be shown later in discussing
Incentives and Welfare.
Not only is the work appreciated by the management and by the
man himself, but also the work becomes possible of appreciation by
others. The form of the record as used in Scientific Management, and
as introduced early in the transitory stage, makes it possible for
many beside those working on the job, if they take the pains to
consult the records, which are best posted in a conspicuous place on
the work, to know and appreciate what the worker is doing. This can
be best illustrated, perhaps, by various methods of recording output
on contracting work,--out-of-door work.
The flag flown by the successful contestants in the athletic
contests, showing which gang or which individual has made the
largest output during the day previous, allows everyone who passes
to appreciate the attainment of that particular worker, or that
group of workers. The photographs of the "high priced men," copies
of which may be given to the workers themselves, allow the worker to
carry home a record and thus impress his family with what he has
done. Too often the family is unable by themselves to understand the
value of the worker's work, or to appreciate the effect of his home
life, food, and rest conditions upon his life work, and this entire
strong element of interest of the worker's family in his work is
often lost.
RELATION OF INDIVIDUAL RECORDS TO SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT IN
GENERAL.--Any study of Records of an individual's work again makes
clear that no one topic of Scientific Management can be properly
noted without a consideration of all other elements. The fact that
under Scientific Management the record with which the man most
surely and constantly competes is his own, as provided for by the
individual instruction card and the individual task; the fact that
under Scientific Management the man need be in no fear of losing his
job if he does his best; the fact that Scientific Management is
founded on the "square deal";--all of these facts must be kept
constantly in mind when considering the advantages of recording
individual output, for they all have a strong psychological effect
on the man's mind. It is important to remember that not only does
Scientific Management provide for certain directions and thoughts
entering the man's mind, but that it also eliminates other thoughts
which would surely have a tendency to retard his work. The result is
output far exceeding what is usually possible under Traditional
Management, because drawbacks are removed and impetuses added.
The outcome of the records, and their related elements in other
branches of Scientific Management, is to arouse interest. Interest
arouses abnormally concentrated attention, and this in turn is the
cause of genius. This again answers the argument of those who claim
that Scientific Management kills individuality and turns the worker
into a machine.
INDIVIDUAL TASK UNDER SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--Individuality is
also taken into consideration when preparing the task. This task
would always be for an individual, even in the case of the gang
instruction card. It usually recognizes individuality, in that,--
1. It is prepared for one individual only, when possible.
2. It is prepared for the particular individual who is
to do it.
The working time, as will be shown later, is based upon time
study observations on a standard man, but when a task is assigned
for a certain individual, that proportion of the work of the
standard or first class man is assigned to that particular given man
who is actually to do it, which he is able to do. It is fundamental
that the task must be such that the man who is actually put at it,
when he obeys orders and works steadily, can do it; that is, the
task must be achievable, and achievable without such effort as would
do mental or physical injury to the worker. This not only gives the
individual the proper amount of work to do, recognizes his
particular capabilities and is particularly adapted to him, but it
also eliminates all dread on the score of his not being appreciated,
in that the worker knows that if he achieves or exceeds his task he
will not only receive the wage for it, but will continue to receive
that wage, or more, for like achievement. The rate is not cut. Under
the "three-rate with increased rate system," which experience has
shown to be a most advanced plan for compensating workmen, the
worker receives one bonus for exactness as to methods, that is, he
receives one bonus if he does the task exactly as he is instructed
to do it as to methods; and a second bonus, or extra bonus, if he
completes his task in the allotted time. This not only assures
adequate pay to the man who is slow, but a good imitator, but also
to the man who, perhaps, is not such a good imitator, and must put
attention on the quality rather than the quantity of his performance.
INDIVIDUALITY EMPHASIZED BY INSTRUCTION CARD.--This individual
task is embodied in an individual instruction card.
In all work where it is possible to do so, the worker is given
an individual instruction card, even though his operations and rest
periods are also determined by a gang instruction card. This card
not only tells the man what he is to do, how he can best do it, and
the time that it is supposed to take him to do it,--but it bears
also the signature of the man who made it. This in order that if the
worker cannot fulfill the requirements of the card he may lose no
time in determining who is to give him the necessary instructions or
help that will result in his earning his large wages. More than
this, he must call for help from his assigned teachers, as is stated
in large type on a typical Instruction Card as follows: "When
instructions cannot be carried out, foreman must at once report to
man who signed this card."
The signature of the man who made the card not only develops his
sense of individuality and responsibility, but helps create a
feeling of inter-responsibility between the workers in various parts
of the organization.
THE GANG INSTRUCTION CARD.--A gang instruction card is used for
such work only as must be done by a group of men all engaged at the
work at once, or who are working at a dependent sequence of
operations, or both. This card contains but those portions of the
instructions for each man which refer to those elements which must
be completed before a following element, to be done by the next man
in the sequence, can be completed. Because of the nature of the
work, the gang instruction card must be put in the hands of a
leader, or foreman, whether or not it is also in the hands of each
of the individuals. The amount of work which can be required as a
set task for each individual member of the gang, the allowance for
rest for overcoming fatigue, the time that the rest periods must
occur, and the proper pay, are fully stated on the Individual
Instruction Cards.
METHODS OF TEACHING FOSTER INDIVIDUALITY.--As will be shown at
length in the Chapter on Teaching, under Scientific Management
teaching is not only general, by "Systems," "Standing Orders," or
"Standard Practice," but also specific. Specialized teachers,
called, unfortunately for the emphasis desired to be put on
teaching, "functional foremen," help the individual worker to
overcome his peculiar difficulties.
This teaching not only allows every worker to supplement his
deficiencies of disposition or experience, but the teachers' places
give opportunities for those who have a talent for imparting
knowledge to utilize and develop it.
INDIVIDUAL INCENTIVE AND WELFARE.--Finally, individual incentive
and individual welfare are not only both present, but interdependent.
Desire for individual success, which might lead a worker to respond
to the incentive till he held back perhaps the work of others,
is held in balance by interdependence of bonuses. This will be
explained in full in the Chapters on Incentives and Welfare.
SUMMARY
RESULT OF IDEA OF INDIVIDUALITY UPON WORK.--To recapitulate;--
Under Traditional Management, because of its frequent neglect of the
idea of individuality, work is often unsystematized, and high output
is usually the result of "speeding up" only, with constant danger of
a falling off in quality overbalancing men and injury to men and
machinery.
Under Transitory Management, as outputs are separated,
separately recorded, and as the idea of Individuality is embodied in
selecting men, setting tasks, the instruction cards, periods of
rest, teaching, incentives and welfare, output increases without
undue pressure on the worker.
Under Scientific Management--with various elements which embody
individuality fully developed, output increases, to the welfare
of worker, manager, employer and consumer and with no falling off
in quality.
EFFECT UPON THE WORKER.--The question of the effect upon the
worker of emphasis laid upon individuality, can perhaps best be
answered by asking and answering the following questions:--
1. When, where, how, and how much is individuality
considered?
2. What consideration is given to the relation of the mind to
the body of the individual?
3. What is the relative emphasis on consideration of
individual and class?
4. In how far is the individual the unit?
5. What consideration is given to idiosyncrasies?
6. What is the effect toward causing or bringing about
development, that is, broadening, deepening and making
the individual more progressive?
EXTENT OF CONSIDERATION OF INDIVIDUALITY.--1. Under Traditional
Management consideration of individuality is seldom present, but
those best forms of Traditional Management that are successful are
so because it is present. This is not usually recognized, but
investigation shows that the successful manager, or foreman, or
boss, or superintendent succeeds either because of his own
individuality or because he brings out to good advantage the
individual possibilities of his men. The most successful workers
under Traditional Management are those who are allowed to be
individuals and to follow out their individual bents of greatest
efficiency, instead of being crowded down to become mere members of
gangs, with no chance to think, to do, or to be anything but parts
of the gang.
Under Transitory Management, and most fully under Scientific
Management, the spirit of individuality, far from being crowded out,
is a basic principle, and everything possible is done to encourage
the desire to be a personality.
RELATION OF MIND TO BODY.--Under Traditional Management, where
men worked in the same employ for a long time, much consideration
was given to the relation of the mind to the body. It was realized
that men must not be speeded up beyond what they could do
healthfully; they must have good sleeping quarters and good, savory
and appetizing food to eat and not be fatigued unnecessarily, if
they were to become successful workers. More than this,
philanthropic employers often attempted to supply many kinds of
comfort and amusement.
Under Transitory Management the physical and mental welfare are
provided for more systematically.
Under Scientific Management consideration of the mind and body
of the workman, and his health, and all that that includes, is a
subject for scientific study and for scientific administration. As
shown later, it eliminates all discussion and troubles of so-called
"welfare work," because the interests of the employer and the worker
become identical and everything that is done becomes the concern
of both.
Scientific Management realizes that the condition of the body
effects every possible mental process. It is one of the great
advantages of a study of the psychology of management that the
subject absolutely demands from the start, and insists in every
stage of the work, on this relationship of the body to the mind, and
of the surroundings, equipment, etc., of the worker to his work.
It is almost impossible, in management, to separate the subject
of the worker from that of his work, or to think of the worker as
not working except in such a sense as "ceasing-from-work,"
"about-to-work," "resting to overcome fatigue of work," or "resting
during periods of unavoidable delays." The relation of the worker to
his work is constantly in the mind of the manager. It is for this
reason that not only does management owe much to psychology, but
that psychology, as applied to any line of study, will, ultimately,
be recognized as owing much to the science of management.
RELATIVE EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL AND CLASS.--Under Traditional
Management the gang, or the class, usually receives the chief
emphasis. If the individual developed, as he undoubtedly did, in
many kinds of mechanical work, especially in small organizations, it
was more or less because it was not possible for the managers to
organize the various individuals into classes or gangs. In the
transitory stage the emphasis is shifting. Under Scientific
Management the emphasis is most decidedly and emphatically upon the
individual as the unit to be managed, as has been shown.
INDIVIDUAL AS THE UNIT.--Under Traditional Management the
individual was seldom the unit. Under Transitory Management the
individual is the unit, but there is not much emphasis in the early
stages placed upon his peculiarities and personalities. Under
Scientific Management the unit is always the individual, and the
utilizing and strengthening of his personal traits, special ability
and skill is a dominating feature.
EMPHASIS ON IDIOSYNCRASIES.--Under Traditional Management there
is either no consideration given to idiosyncrasies, or too wide a
latitude is allowed. In cases where no consideration is given, there
is often either a pride in the managers in "treating all men alike,"
though they might respond better to different handling, or else the
individual is undirected and his personality manifests itself in all
sorts of unguided directions, many of which must necessarily be
wasteful, unproductive, or incomplete in development. Under
Scientific Management, functionalization, as will be shown, provides
for the utilization of all idiosyncrasies and efficient deviations
from class, and promotion is so planned that a man may develop along
the line of his chief ability. Thus initiative is encouraged and
developed constantly.
DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALITY.--The development of individuality
is more sure under Scientific Management than it is under either of
the other two forms of management, (a) because this development is
recognized to be a benefit to the worker and to the employer and (b)
because this development as a part of a definite plan is provided
for and perfected scientifically.
CHAPTER II FOOTNOTES: ==============================================
1. William James, _Psychology, Briefer Course_, p. 1.
2. Hugo Münsterberg, _American Problems_, p. 34.
3. Mary Whiton Calkins, _A First Book in Psychology_, p. 1.
4. James Sully, _Teacher's Handbook of Psychology_, p. 14.
5. James Sully, _Teacher's Handbook of Psychology_, p. 577.
6. H.L. Gantt, _Work, Wages and Profits_, p. 52.
7. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, p. 25. (Harper & Bros.)
8. F.B. Gilbreth, _Motion Study_, p. 7.
9. L.B. Blan, _A Special Study of the Incidence of Retardation_,
p. 89.
10. Hugo Münsterberg, _American Problems_, pp. 38-39.
11. F.B. Gilbreth, _Cost Reducing System_, Chap. III.
====================================================================
CHAPTER III
FUNCTIONALIZATION
DEFINITION OF FUNCTIONALIZATION.--A function, says the Century
Dictionary, is--"The fulfilment or discharge of a set duty or
requirement, exercise of a faculty or office, or power of acting,
faculty,--that power of acting in a specific way which appertains to
a thing by virtue of its special constitution; that mode of action
or operation which is proper to any organ, faculty, office
structure, etc. (This is the most usual signification of the term)."
"Functionalization" is not given in the Century Dictionary. The
nearest to it to be found there is "Functionality," which is defined
as--"The state of having or being a function." Functionalization as
here used means--the state of being divided into functions, or being
functionalized. "Functionalize" is given in the Century Dictionary,
defined as "to assign some office or function to"--the note being
made that it is rare. "Functionalize" may not be the best word that
could be used in this connection, but there seems to be no other
word in the English language which contains its full meaning,
therefore we will use the word here in the sense of assigning work
according to capacity or faculty. A faculty means--"A specific
power, mental or physical; a special capacity for any particular
kind of action or affection; natural capability."
PSYCHOLOGICAL USE OF FUNCTIONALIZATION.--The word "Function" is
in constant use by modern psychologists, especially by those who
believe that--"Psychology is the science of the self in relation to
environment,"[1] or that "Psychology is a scientific account of our
mental processes."[2] Sully defines a function as "a psychologically
simple process,"[3] and compares its elementariness to a muscular
contraction as an element of a step in walking.
In investigating the principle of Functionalization as embodied
in various forms of Management, we must note that, while Management
can, and does under Scientific Management, attempt to functionalize
_work_ as far as possible, it will be impossible to come to ultimate
results until a psychological study of the requirement of the
work _from_ the worker, and results of the work _on_ the worker
is made.[4]
FUNCTIONALIZATION IN MANAGEMENT.--"Functional Management"
consists, to quote Dr. Taylor, "in so directing the work of
management that each man from the assistant superintendent down
shall have as few functions as possible to perform. If practicable,
the work of each man in the management should be confined to the
performance of a single leading function."[5]
A study of functionalization as applied to management must
answer the following questions:
1. How is the work divided?
2. How are the workers assigned to the work?
3. What are the results to the work?
4. What are the results to the worker?
TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT SELDOM FUNCTIONALIZES.--Under Traditional
Management the principle of Functionalization was seldom applied or
understood. Even when the manager tried to separate planning from
performing, or so to divide the work that each worker could utilize
his special ability, there were no permanently beneficial results,
because there was no standard method of division.
THE WORK OF THE FOREMAN NOT PROPERLY DIVIDED.--The work of a
foreman was not divided, but the well rounded man, as Dr. Taylor
says,[6] was supposed to have
1. Brain
2. Education
3. Special or technical knowledge, manual dexterity or strength
4. Tact
5. Energy
6. Grit
7. Honesty
8. Judgment, or common sense
9. Good health.
Dr. Taylor says--"Plenty of men who possess only three of the
above qualities can be hired at any time for laborer's wages. Add
four of these qualities together, and you get a higher priced man.
The man combining five of these qualities begins to be hard to find,
and those with 6, 7 and 8 are almost impossible to get."
Yet, under Traditional Management these general qualities and
many points of specific training were demanded of the foreman. Dr.
Taylor has enumerated the qualifications or the duties of a gang
boss in charge of lathes or planers.[7] Careful reading of this
enumeration will show most plainly that the demands made were almost
impossible of fulfillment.[8]
Another list which is interesting is found in "Cost Reducing
System," a long list of the duties of the Ideal Superintendent or
foreman in construction work.[9]
QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF
FIRST CLASS FOREMAN
A first class foreman must have:
bodily
strength
brains
common sense
education
energy
good health
good judgment
grit
manual dexterity
special knowledge
tact
technical knowledge.
He must be:
able to concentrate his mind upon small things
able to read drawings readily
able to visualize the work at every stage of its progress,
and even before it begins
a master of detail
honest
master of at least one trade.
His duties consist of:
considering broad policies.
considering new applicants for important positions.
considering the character and fitness of the men.
determining a proper day's work.
determining costs.
determining the method of compensation.
determining the sequence of events for the best results.
disciplining the men.
dividing the men into gangs for speed contests.
fixing piece and day rates.
getting rid of inferior men.
handling relations with the unions.
hiring good men.
installing such methods and devices as will detect dishonesty.
instructing the workman.
keeping the time and disciplining those who are late or absent.
laying out work.
looking ahead to see that there are men enough for future work.
looking ahead to see that there is enough future work for the men.
making profits.
measuring each man's effort fairly.
obtaining good results in quality.
paying the men on days when they are discharged.
paying the men on pay day.
preventing soldiering.
readjusting wages.
retaining good men.
seeing that all men are honest.
seeing that men are shifted promptly when breakdowns occur.
seeing that repairs are made promptly before breakdowns occur,
seeing that repairs are made promptly after breakdowns occur.
seeing that the most suitable man is allotted to each part
of the work.
seeing that the work is not slighted.
setting piece work prices.
setting rates.
setting tasks.
supervising timekeeping.
teaching the apprentices.
teaching the improvers.
teaching the learners.
In studying these lists we note--
1. That the position will be best filled by a very high and
rare type of man.
2. That the man is forced to use every atom of all of his
powers and at the same time to waste his energies in doing much
unimportant pay reducing routine work, some of which could be
done by clerks.
3. That in many cases the work assigned for him to do calls
for qualifications which are diametrically opposed to each other.
4. That psychology tells us that a man fitted to perform some
of these duties would probably be mentally ill fitted for
performing others in the best possible way that they could be
performed.
WORK NOT WELL DONE.--Not only does the foreman under Traditional
Management do a great deal of work which can be done by cheaper men,
but he also wastes his time on clerical work in which he is not a
specialist, and, therefore, which he does not do as well as the work
can be done by a cheaper man, and this takes more of his time than
he ought to devote to it. The result is that the work is not done as
well as it can and should be done.
A most perfect illustration of a common form of Traditional
Management is the old story of the foreman, who, in making his
rounds of the various parts of the work, comes to the deep hole
being excavated for a foundation pier and says hurriedly--"How many
of yez is there in the hole?" "Seven." "The half of yez come up."
The theoretical defects of the old type of management often seen
before the advent of the trained engineer on the work include:--
1. lack of planning ahead.
2. an overworked foreman.
3. no functionalizing of the work.
4. no standards of individual efficiency.
5. unmeasured individual outputs.
6. no standard methods.
7. no attempt at teaching.
8. inaccurate directions.
9. lack of athletic contests.
10. no high pay for extra efficiency.
11. poor investigation of workers' special capabilities.
In spite of the fact that under unfunctionalized management the
foreman has far more to do than he can expect to do well, the
average foreman thinks that he belongs to a class above his
position. This is partly because the position is so unstandardized
that it arouses a sense of unrest, and partly because he has to
spend much of his time at low priced functions.
Under the feeling of enmity, or at least, of opposition, which
often exists, openly or secretly, between the average Traditional
Management and men, the foreman must ally himself with one side or
the other. If he joins with the men, he must countenance the
soldiering, which they find necessary in order to maintain their
rates of wages. Thus the output of the shop will seldom increase and
his chance for appreciation and promotion by the management will
probably be slight and slow. His position as boss, combined with
that of ally of the men, is awkward.
If he allies himself to the management, he must usually become a
driver of the men, if he wishes to increase output. This condition
will never be agreeable to him unless he has an oversupply of brute
instincts.
THE WORKERS NOT BEST UTILIZED.--Under the best types of
Traditional Management we do find more or less spasmodic attempts at
the functionalization of the worker. When there was any particular
kind of work to be done, the worker who seemed to the manager to be
the best fitted, was set at that kind of work. For example--if there
was a particularly heavy piece of work he might say--"Let A do it
because he is strong." If there was a particularly fine piece of
work to be done he might say--"Let B do it because he is specially
skilled." If there was a piece of work to be done which required
originality, he might say--"Let C do it for the reason that he is
inventive and resourceful;" but, in most cases, when the particular
job on hand was finished, the worker selected to do it returned to
other classes of work, and such special fitness or capability as he
had, was seldom systematically utilized, or automatically assigned
to his special function, neither was such experience as he had
gained systematically conserved. Moreover, no such study of the work
to be done had been made as would prove that the assignment of that
particular worker to the work was right. The psychology of this was
entirely wrong,--not only had no such study of the general and
particular characteristics, traits, faculties, and talents of the
man been made as would prove that he was the right man to be
assigned, but the mere fact that he possessed one quality necessary
for the work, if he really did possess it, was no sign that the
other qualities which he possessed might not make him the wrong man
to be chosen. Even if the man did happen to be assigned to work for
which he was particularly suited, unless provision were made to keep
him at such work only, to keep him well supplied with work, to allow
time for rest, and to provide proper pay, he could not utilize his
capabilities to the fullest extent.
TRANSITORY MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONALIZES.--Under Transitory
Management, management becomes gradually more and more functionalized.
With separated outputs and separate records, the worker's
capabilities become apparent, and he can be assigned to the
standardized positions which gradually evolve. Every recognition of
individuality carries with it a corresponding functionalization of
men and work.
FUNCTIONALIZATION A FUNDAMENTAL OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--With
Scientific Management comes the realization that with close study
and with functionalization only, can that provision and assignment
of the work which is best for both work and worker be obtained. The
principle is applied to every part of management, and results in
1. separating the planning from the performing.
2. functionalizing foremen.
3. functionalizing workers.
4. assigning competent workers to fitting work.
SEPARATING THE PLANNING FROM THE PERFORMING.--The emphasis on
separating the planning from the performing in Scientific Management
cannot be over-estimated. It is a part of Dr. Taylor's fourth
principle of Scientific Management, "Almost equal division of the
work and the responsibility between the management and the
workmen."[10] The greatest outputs can be achieved to the greatest
benefit to managers and men when the work is divided, the management
undertaking that part of the work that it is best fitted to do, the
workmen performing that part which they are best fitted to do.
THE WORK OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.--It has been determined by
actual experience that the line of division most agreeable to the
managers and the workmen and most productive of coöperation by both,
as well as most efficient in producing low costs, is that which
separates the planning from the performing. Under Scientific
Management the Planning Department relieves the man of determining--
1. what work is to be done.
2. sequence in which it is to be done.
3. method by which it shall be done.
4. where it shall be done.
5. which men shall do it.
6. time that it shall take.
7. exact quality of product.
8. quantity of additional pay that shall be given for doing it.
WORK OF THE WORKERS.--The men are simply given standard tasks to
do, with teachers to help them, and a standard wage according to
performance as a reward. There are but three things expected
of them:--
1. coöperation with the management in obtaining the prescribed
work, method and quality.
2. the exercise of their ingenuity in making improvements
after they have learned the standard prescribed practice.
3. the fitting of themselves for higher pay and promotion.
FUNCTIONALIZED FOREMANSHIP.--The work that, under Scientific
Management, is usually done by one man, the Foreman, is subdivided
into eight or more functions. These functions are assigned to the
following functional foremen:[11]
Planning Department
1. Order of work and route man
2. Instruction card man
3. Cost and time clerk
4. Disciplinarian
Performing Department
5. Gang boss
6. Speed boss
7. Repair boss
8. Inspector
Each of the above functions may be in charge of a separate man,
or one man may be in charge of several functions, or several men may
do the work of one function; the work being divided between them in
some cases by further functionalizing it,--and in others by
separating it into similar parts. Which of these conditions is most
effective depends on the size of the job, or the nature of the job
to be done. The important question is, not the number of men doing
the planning, but the fact that every foreman, so far as is
possible, is assigned to the special kind of work that he is best
fitted to do with the greatest elimination of unnecessary waste.
CHANGES IN THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FOREMAN.--A Foreman, under
Scientific Management, must have three qualifications. He must be
1. a specialist at the work that he is to do.
2. a good observer, able to note minute variations of method,
work, and efficiency.
3. a good teacher.
A comparison of these qualifications with those of the foreman
under Traditional Management, will show as important changes,--
1. the particular place in the field of knowledge in which
the foreman must specialize.
2. the change in the type of criticism expected from the
foreman.
3. the far greater emphasis placed on duties as a teacher.
IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHING FEATURE IN FUNCTIONAL FOREMANSHIP.--
The teaching feature of management,--the most important feature of
Scientific Management,--will be discussed in the Chapter on
Teaching. Only so much is included here as shows its derivation from
the principle of functionalization, and its underlying importance.
Functionalization means specialization. This results in
coöperation between foremen, between foremen and workers, and
between workers. By "co-operate" is here meant not only "to work
together," but also "to work together to promote the object." This
coöperation persists not only because it is demanded by the work,
but also because it is insured by the inter-dependent bonuses.
Functionalization under Scientific Management separates planning
from performing. This means that the specialists who plan must teach
the specialist who performs, this being the way in which they
co-operate to the greatest personal advantage to all.
BASIS OF DIVISION INTO FUNCTIONS.--Under Scientific Management
divisions are made on the basis of underlying ideas. Functions are
not classified as they are embodied in particular men, but men are
classified as they embody particular functions. This allows of
standardization, through which alone can progress and evolution come
quickest. It is comparatively easy and simple to standardize a
function. Being a "set duty," it can be fixed, studied and
simplified. It is extremely difficult and complex to standardize an
individual. This standardizing of the function, however, in no wise
stunts individuality. On the contrary, it gives each individual a
chance to utilize his particular faculty for obtaining the greatest
efficiency, pleasure and profit. This is well illustrated in the
case of specialization in baseball, for excellence as a pitcher does
not stunt the player as a catcher.
Functions may be subdivided as far as the nature of the work
demands. Note here, again, that it is the relative complexity or
simplicity of the nature of the work that is to be done that
determines the degree of its functionalization, not the number of
men employed at the work.
Note, also, that with every subdivision of functions comes
greater opportunity for specialization, hence for individual
development.
PLACE OF OPERATION OF THE FUNCTIONS.--Four functions of the
eight find their place in the planning department. The other four
are out on the work. That is to say,--the men who represent four
functions work almost entirely in the planning room, while the men
who represent the other four functions work mostly among the
workers. This division is, however, largely a matter of convenience.
Three of the first four groups of men communicate with the workers
mostly in writing and are seldom engaged as observers, except in
obtaining data for the creation of standards, while the fourth is
often in the planning room. The last four usually communicate with
the men orally, and must observe and teach the worker constantly.
In the descriptions that follow, each function is represented
as embodied in one man, this aiding simplicity and clearness in
description.
THE ORDER OF WORK AND ROUTE CLERK.--The Order of Work and Route
Clerk lays out the exact path of each piece of work, and determines
the sequence of events of moving and a general outline of
performance.[12] With the requirements of the work in mind, the most
efficient day's work for each worker is determined. The paths and
sequences of transportation are outlined by means of route charts
and route sheets showing graphical and detailed directions, which
are the means by which the foremen of the other functions are
enabled to coöperate with other foremen and with the workers.
The work of this function requires a practical man, of the
successful foreman type, experienced in the class of work to be
executed, who is also familiar with the theories of Scientific
Management in general, and the work of the other foremen in
particular, and who has the faculty of visualization and well
developed constructive imagination. He must also have at his command
in systematic form, and available for immediate use, records of
previous experience.
THE INSTRUCTION CARD CLERK.--The Instruction Card Clerk prepares
written directions for the workers as to what methods should be used
in doing the work, the sequence of performance of the elements of
the method, the speeds and action of the accompanying machinery, the
time that each element should take for its performance, the time
allowed for rest for overcoming fatigue caused by its performance,
and the total elapsed time allowed for performing all of the work on
the instruction card in order to obtain the unusually high
additional wages as a reward for his skill and coöperation.
The work of this function requires the best available (but not
necessarily the fastest), practical experienced man in the trade
described, who also has had sufficient experience in motion study
and time study to enable him to write down the best known method for
doing the work described, and also prophesying the correct time that
the work and rest from its resulting fatigue will take. He must
supplement the instruction card with such sketches, drawings and
photographs as will best assist the worker to visualize his work
before and during its performance.
FUNCTION OF TIME AND COST CLERK.--The work done by the Time and
Cost Clerk calls for accuracy and a love of statistical detail. It
will help him if he knows the trades with which he is coöperating,
but such knowledge is not absolutely essential. He will be promoted
fastest who has a knowledge of the theory of management, coupled
with the theory and practice of statistics and accountancy, for the
true costs must include knowledge of costs of materials, and the
distribution of the overhead burden of running expenses and selling.
FUNCTION OF THE DISCIPLINARIAN.--The function of the
Disciplinarian must be discussed at length, both because of the
psychological effect upon the men of the manner of the discipline
and of the disciplinarian, and because of the fact that the
disciplinarian is the functional foreman of the four in the planning
department who comes in most personal contact with the workers, as
well as all of the other foremen, and the Superintendent.
It is important to note, in the discussion that is to follow,
not only how disciplining is transformed as management develops
progressively, but also that the intimate acquaintance of
discipliner with disciplined is not done away with, but rather
supplemented by the standardizing which is the outcome of Scientific
Management.
The defects of methods of disciplining under Traditional
Management are remedied, but here, as always, Scientific Management
retains and develops that which is good. This because the good in
the older forms conformed, unconsciously, to the underlying laws.
DEFECTS OF DISCIPLINING UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--Under
Traditional Management, the disciplining is done by the foreman;
that is, the punishment is meted out by the man who has charge of
all activities of the men under him. This is actually, in practice
and in theory, psychologically wrong. If there is one man who should
be in a state of mind that would enable him to judge dispassionately,
it is the disciplinarian. The man to be disciplined is usually
guilty of one of six offenses:
1. an offense against an employé of a grade above him.
2. an offense against an employé of the same grade.
3. an offense against an employé of a grade below him.
4. falling short in the quality of his work.
5. falling short in the quantity of his work.
6. an offense against the system (disobeying orders), falling
down on schedule, or intentionally not coöperating.
The employé over him, or the foreman, to whom he is supposed to
have done some injustice, would be in no state of mind to judge as
to the man's culpability. In the case of an offense against an
employé of the same grade, the best that the injured employé could
do would be to appeal to his foreman, who oftentimes is not an
unprejudiced judge, and the multiplicity of whose duties give him
little time to give attention to the subject of disciplining.
If the offense is against quantity or quality of work, again the
old fashioned foreman, for lack of time, and for lack of training
and proper standards of measurement, will find it almost impossible
to know how guilty the man is, and what form of punishment and
what amount of punishment or loss of opportunity for progress will
be appropriate.
CHANGES IN DISCIPLINARIAN'S FUNCTION UNDER SCIENTIFIC
MANAGEMENT.--All this is changed under Scientific Management. The
disciplinarian is a specially appointed functional foreman, and has
few other duties except those that are directly or indirectly
connected with disciplining. He is in touch with the requirements of
the work, because he is in the Planning Department; he is in touch
with the employment bureau, and knows which men should be employed;
he has a determining voice in deciding elementary rate fixing and
should always be consulted before wages are changed or a
reassignment of duties is determined. All of these are great
advantages to him in deciding justly and appropriately punishments
and promotion, not for the workers alone but also for the foremen
and the managers.
DUTIES OF THE DISCIPLINARIAN.--The Disciplinarian keeps a record
of each man's virtues and defects; he is in position to know all
about the man; where he comes from; what his natural and acquired
qualifications are; what his good points, possibilities and special
fitness are; what his wages are, and his need for them. All that it
is possible for the managers to know of the men is to be
concentrated in this disciplinarian. He is, in practice, more the
counsel and advocate of the worker than an unsympathetic judge, as
is indicated by the fact that his chief function is that of
"diplomat" and "peacemaker." His greatest duty is to see that the
"square deal" is meted out without fear or favor to employer or
to employé.
IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN DISCIPLINING.--Not only does the
position of disciplinarian under Scientific Management answer the
psychological requirements for such a function, but also the holder
of the position of disciplinarian must understand psychology and
apply, at least unconsciously, and preferably consciously, the known
laws of psychology, if he wishes to be successful.
The disciplinarian must consider not only what the man has done
and the relation of this act of his to his other acts; he must also
investigate the cause and the motive of the act, for on the cause
and motive, in reality, depends more than on the act itself. He must
probe into the physical condition of the man, as related to his
mental acts. He must note the effect of the same kind of discipline
under different conditions; for example, he must note that, on
certain types of people, disciplining in the presence of other
people has a most derogatory effect, just as rewards before people
may have a most advantageous effect. Upon others, discipline that is
meted out in the presence of other people is the only sort of
discipline which has the desired effect. The sensitiveness of the
person to be disciplined, the necessity for sharp discipline, and
for that particular sort of discipline which may require the element
of shame in it, must all be considered. He must be able to discover
and note whether the discipline should be meted out to a ringleader,
and whether the other employés, supposed to be blameworthy, are
really only guilty in acquiescing, or in failing to report one who
has really furnished the initiative. He must differentiate acts
which are the result of following a ringleader blindly from the
concerted acts of disobedience of a crowd, for the "mob spirit" is
always an element to be estimated and separately handled.
INADEQUACY OF TERMS IN DISCIPLINING.--The words "disciplinarian"
and "punishment" are most unfortunate. The "Disciplinarian" would be
far better called the "peacemaker," and the "punishment" by some
such word as the "adjustment." It is _not_ the duty of the
disciplinarian to "take out anybody's grudge" against a man; it _is_
his duty to adjust disagreements. He must remember constantly that
his discipline must be of such a nature that the result will be for
the permanent best interests of the one disciplined, his co-workers,
his associates and his family.