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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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