Functionalization

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 cooeperation 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. cooeperation 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 cooeperation 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 cooeperation 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 cooeperate 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 cooeperation.

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 cooeperating, 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 employe of a grade above him. 2. an offense against an employe of the same grade. 3. an offense against an employe 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 cooeperating.

The employe 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 employe of the same grade, the best that the injured employe 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 employe.

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 employes, 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.

The aim is, not to put the man down, but to keep him up to his standard, as will be shown later in a chapter on Incentives. If the punishment is in the form of a fine, it must not in any way return to the coffers of the management. The fines collected--even those fines collected from the individuals composing the management, should go in some form to the benefit of the men themselves, such, for example, as contributions to a workman's sick benefit fund or to general entertainment at the annual outing of employes. In practice, the disciplinarian is rather the friend of the worker than of the employer, if the two interests can possibly be separated. Again "penalty" is a bad word to use. Any words used in this connection should preferably have had taken from them any feeling that personal prejudice affects the discipline. It is the nature of the offense itself which should prescribe what the outcome of it shall be.

The position of disciplinarian requires a man who has a keen sense of justice, who has had such experience as to enable him to smooth out difficulties until all are in a frame of mind where they can look upon their own acts and the acts of others calmly. He must be able so to administer his duties that each decision inspires the realization that he acted to the best of his knowledge and belief. He must be one who is fearless, and has no tendency to have favorites. He must have a clear knowledge of the theories and principles of Scientific Management, in order that he can fill the position of enforcer of its laws.

THE GANG BOSS.--The duties of The Gang Boss are to see that the worker has plenty of work ahead, to see that everything that he will need with which to do the work is at hand, and to see that the work is actually "set," or placed and performed correctly. This position calls for a practical demonstrator, who must himself be able and willing actually to prepare and help on the work. It calls particularly for a man with teaching ability, with special emphasis on ability to teach, with great exactness, the prescribed method and to follow the orders of the planning department implicitly.

THE SPEED BOSS.--The speed boss is responsible for the methods of doing work with machinery. He has charge of overseeing the work, and teaching the worker, during the entire time that the work is being done. He must be prepared constantly to demonstrate at any time not only _how_ the work is done, but also that it can be done in the specified time called for in order to earn the bonus. This position calls for a man who is able, personally, to carry out the detailed written orders of the instruction card in regard to speeds, feeds, cuts, methods of operation, quality and quantity.

He must be proficient at the art of imparting his knowledge to other workmen, and at the same time be able to secure the prescribed outputs and quantities. He need not be the fastest worker in the shop, but he should be one of the most intelligent workers and best teachers, with a keen desire to cooeperate, both with the workers and with the other foremen.

THE REPAIR BOSS.--The repair boss has charge of the plant and its maintenance. He must have a natural love of order and of cleanliness, and a systematic type of mind. This position calls for a man with an experience that will enable him to detect liability of breakdowns before they actually occur. He must be resourceful in repairing unexpected breakdowns in an emergency, and be able at all times to carry out literally the directions given on the instruction cards of the Planning Department for cleaning, maintaining, and repairing the machines.

THE INSPECTOR.--The function of inspector under scientific or the Taylor plan of management is most important, especially in connection with the "first inspection." During the manufacture of the first piece and after it is finished the inspector passes and reports upon it before the worker proceeds with the other pieces. Here the worker gets a return in person for each successive act on the first piece he makes under a new instruction card, or, if he is a new worker, under an old instruction card. Ambiguity of instructions, if present, is thus eliminated, and wrong actions or results are corrected before much damage to material has been done and before much time and effort are wasted. The first erroneous cycles of work are not repeated, and the worker is promptly shown exactly how efficiently he has succeeded in determining the requirements of his instructions.

The inspector is responsible for the quality of the work. He fulfills the requirements of Schloss, who says, in speaking of the danger, under some managements, that the foreman will sacrifice quality to speed, if he gets a bonus for quantity of output,--"The best safeguard against this serious danger would be found in the appointment of a distinct staff of inspectors whose duty it should be to ascertain, as the work proceeds, that the stipulated standards of excellence are at all times scrupulously maintained." This position of inspector requires an observant man who naturally is inclined to give constructive rather than destructive-criticism. He should be a man who can cooeperate with the workman and foreman to rescue condemned or damaged material with the least expenditure of time, effort and expense.

FUNCTIONALIZING THE WORKER.--Under Scientific Management, the worker as well as the foreman, is a specialist. This he becomes by being relieved of everything that he is not best fitted to do, and allowed to concentrate upon doing, according to exact and scientifically derived methods, that work at which he is an expert.[13]

RELIEVING THE WORKER OF THE PLANNING.--The planning is taken away from the worker, not because it is something too choice, sacred or entertaining for him to do, or something which the managers desire to do themselves, but because it is best, for the workers themselves as well as the work, that the planning be done by specialists at planning. If he is expert enough to plan, the worker will be promoted to the planning department. In the meantime, he is working under the best plan that experts can devise.

MASTER PLANNING A LIFE STUDY.--The best planner is he who,-- other things being equal,--is the most ingenious, the most experienced and the best observer. It is an art to observe; it requires persistent attention. The longer and the more the observer observes, the more details, and variables affecting details, he observes. The untrained observer could not expect to compete with one of special natural talent who has also been trained. It is not every man who is fitted by nature to observe closely, hence to plan. To observe is a condition precedent to visualizing. Practice in visualizing makes for increasing the faculty of constructive imagination. He with the best constructive imagination is the master planner.

The art of observing is founded on a study of fundamental elements. In order that planning may be done best, previous to starting work, the entire sequence of operations must be laid out, so that the ideas of value of every element of every subdivision of the process of working may be corrected to act most efficiently in relation with each and all of the subsequent parts and events that are to follow. This planning forwards and backwards demands an equipment of time study, motion study and micro-motion study records such as can be used economically only when all the planning is done in one place, with one set of records. The planner must be able to see and control the whole problem in all of its aspects.

For example,--the use that is to be made of the work after it is completed may entirely change the methods best used in doing it. Thus, the face of a brick wall that is to be plastered does not require and should not have the usual excellence of nicely ruled joints required on a face that is not to be plastered. In fact, the roughest, raggedest joints will be that quality of wall that will make the plaster adhere the best.

As an example of professional observation and investigation with which no untrained observer could compete, we cite the epoch making work of Dr. Taylor in determining the most efficient speeds, feeds, cuts and shape of tools to use for the least wastefulness in cutting metals.[14]

Dr. Taylor, an unusually brilliant man, at the end of twenty-six years, working with the best scientists, engineers, experimenters, and workmen, after an expenditure of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, was able to determine and write down a method for cutting metals many times less wasteful in time than was ever known before; but the data from the experiments was so complex and involved that a considerable knowledge of higher mathematics had to be used to apply the data. Furthermore, the data was in such form that it took longer to use the knowledge contained therein than it did to do the work on any given piece of metal cutting. After gathering this knowledge, Dr. Taylor, with his assistants, first Mr. Gantt and finally Mr. Barth, reduced it to such a form that now it can be used in a matter of a few seconds or minutes. This was done by making slide rules.[15] Today workers have this knowledge in a form that any machinist can use with a little instruction. As a result, Dr. Taylor's observations have revolutionized the design of metal cutting machinery and the metal cutting industry, and the data he collected is used in every metal cutting planning department.

Furthermore, as a by-product to his observations and investigations, he discovered the Taylor-White process of making high speed steel, which revolutionized the steel tool industry. No untrained workman could expect ever to compete with such work as this in obtaining results for most efficient planning and at the same time perform his ordinary work.

WASTEFULNESS OF INDIVIDUAL PLANNING.--Even if it were possible so to arrange the work of every worker that he could be in close proximity to the equipment for planning and could be given the training needed, individual planning for "small lots" with no systematized standardization of planning-results would be an economic waste that would cause an unnecessary hardship on the worker, the employer and the ultimate consumer. Individual planning could not fit the broad scheme of planning, and at best would cause delays and confusion, and make an incentive to plan for the individual self, instead of planning for the greatest good of the greatest number.

Again, even if it were possible to plan best by individual planning, there is a further waste in changing from one kind of work to another. This waste is so great and so obvious that it was noticed and recognized by the earliest manufacturers and economists.

HARDSHIP TO THE WORKER OF INDIVIDUAL PLANNING.--To obtain the most wages and profits there must be the most savings to divide. These cannot be obtained when each man plans for himself (except in the home trades), because all large modern operations have the quantity of output dependent upon the amount of blockades, stoppages and interferences caused by dependent sequences. It is not, therefore, possible to obtain the most profit or most wages by individual planning. Planning is a general function, and the only way to obtain the best results is by organized planning, and by seeing that no planning is done for one worker without proper consideration of its bearing and effect upon any or all the other men's outputs.

THE MAN WHO DESIRES TO BE A PLANNER CAN BE ONE.--If the worker is the sort of a man who can observe and plan, or who desires to plan, even though he is not at first employed in the planning department, he is sure to get there finally, as the system provides that each man shall go where he is best fitted. Positions in planning departments are hard to fill, because of the scarcity of men equipped to do this work. The difficulty of teaching men to become highly efficient planners is one of the reasons for the slow advance of the general adoption of Scientific Management.

THE MAN WHO DISLIKES PLANNING CAN BE RELIEVED.--It must not be forgotten that many people dislike the planning responsibility in connection with their work. For such, relief from planning makes the performance of the planned work more interesting and desirable.

PROVISION FOR PLANNING BY ALL UNDER SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--Much has been said about the worker's "God-given rights to think," and about the necessity for providing every worker with an opportunity to think.

Scientific Management provides the fullest opportunities for every man to think, to exercise his mental faculties, and to plan

1. in doing the work itself, as will be shown at length in chapters that follow. 2. outside of the regular working hours, but in connection with promotion in his regular work.

Scientific Management provides always, and most emphatically, that the man shall have hours free from his work in such a state that he will not be too fatigued to do anything. Furthermore, if he work as directed, his number of working hours per day will be so reduced that he will have more time each day for his chosen form of mental stimulus and improvement.

Our friend John Brashear is a most excellent example of what one can do in after hours away from his work. He was a laborer in a steel mill. His duties were not such as resemble in any way planning or research work, yet he became one of the world's most prominent astronomical thinkers and an Honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, because he had the desire to be a student. Under Scientific Management such a desire receives added impetus from the method of attack provided for through its teaching.

FUNCTIONALIZING THE WORK ITSELF.--The work of each part of the planning and performing departments may be functionalized, or subdivided, as the result of motion study and time study. The elementary timed units are combined or synthesized into tasks, made to fit the capabilities of specialized workers. It is then necessary to:--

1. List the duties and requirements of the work. 2. Decide whether the place can be best handled as one, or subdivided into several further subdivisions, or functions, or even sub-functions, for two or more function specialists.

For the sake of analysis, all work may be considered as of one of two classes:--

1. the short time job. 2. the long time job.

These two divisions are handled differently, as follows:

THE SHORT TIME JOB.--On the short time job that probably will never be repeated, there is little opportunity and no economic reason for specially training a man for its performance. The available man best suited to do the work with little or no help should be chosen to do it. The suitability of the man for the work should be determined only by applying simple tests, or, if even these will cause costly delay or more expense than the work warrants, the man who appears suitable and who most desires the opportunity to do the work can be assigned to it.

If the job is connected with a new art, a man whose habits will help him can be chosen.

For example:--in selecting a man to fly, it has been found advantageous to give a trick bicycle rider the preference.

There is no other reason why the man for the short job should not be fitted as well to his work as the man for the long job, except the all-important reason of cost for special preparation. Any expense for study of the workers must be borne ultimately both by worker and management, and it is undesirable to both that expense should be incurred which will not be ultimately repaid.

THE LONG TIME JOB.--The long time job allows of teaching, therefore applicants for it may be carefully studied. Usually that man should be chosen who, with all the natural qualifications and capabilities for the job, except practical skill, requires the most teaching to raise him from the lower plane to that highest mental and manual plane which he is able to fill successfully continuously. In this way each man will be developed into a worker of great value to the management and to himself.

The man who is capable and already skilled at some work is thus available for a still higher job, for which he can be taught. Thus the long job affords the greatest opportunity for promotion. The long job justifies the expenditure of money, effort and time by management and men, and is the ideal field for the application of scientific selection and functionalization.

SUMMARY

EFFECT OF FUNCTIONALIZATION UPON THE WORK.--Under Traditional Management, there was little or no definite functionalization. If the quantity of output did increase, as the result of putting a man at that work for which he seemed best fitted, there was seldom provision made for seeing that the quality of product was maintained by a method of constructive inspection that prevented downward deviations from standard quality, instead of condemning large quantities of the finished product.

Under Transitory Management, the Department of Inspection is one of the first Functions installed. This assures maintained quality, and provides that all increase in output shall be actual gain.

Under Scientific Management, functionalization results in increased quantity of output,[16] with maintained and usually increased quality.[17] This results in decreased cost. The cost is sufficiently lower to allow of increased wages to the employes, a further profit to the employer, and a maintained, or lowered, selling price. This means a benefit to the consumer.

It may be objected that costs cannot be lowered, because of the number of so-called "non-producers" provided for by Scientific Management.

In answer to this it may be said that there are no non-producers under Scientific Management. Corresponding work that, under Scientific Management, is done in the planning department must all be done somewhere, in a less systematic manner, even under Traditional Management.[18] The planning department, simply does this work more efficiently,--with less waste. Moreover, much work of the planning department, being founded on elementary units, is available for constant use. Here results an enormous saving by the conservation and utilization of planning effort.

Also, standard methods are more apt to result in standard quality, and with less occasion for rejecting output that is below the requisite standards than is the case under Traditional Management.

EFFECT OF FUNCTIONALIZATION UPON THE WORKER.--Under Traditional Management, even if the worker often becomes functionalized, he seldom has assurance that he will be able to reap the harvest from remaining so, and even so, neither data nor teaching are provided to enable him to fulfill his function most successfully.

Under Transitory Management the worker becomes more and more functionalized, as the results of motion study and time study make clear the advantages of specializing the worker.

EFFECTS UPON THE SCIENTIFICALLY MANAGED WORKER.--Under Scientific Management the effects of Functionalization are so universal and so far reaching that it is necessary to enumerate them in detail.

WORKER RELIEVED OF EVERYTHING BUT HIS SPECIAL FUNCTIONS.-- Functionalization, in providing that every man is assigned a special function, also provides that he be called upon to do work in that function only, relieving him of all other work and responsibility. Realization of this elimination has a psychological effect on action and habits of thinking.[19]

PLACES ARE PROVIDED FOR SPECIALISTS.--Functionalization utilizes men with decided bents, and allows each man to occupy that place for which he is fitted.[20] Assignment to functions is done according to the capabilities and desires of those who are to fill them.

SPECIALIZING IS ENCOURAGED.--It is most important to remember that the man with any special talent or talents, individuality or special fitness is much more likely, under Scientific Management, to obtain and retain the place that he is fitted for than he ever could have been under Traditional Management, for, while many fairly efficient men can be found who can fill a general position, a man with the marked desirable trait necessary to fill a distinct position requiring that trait, will be one of few, and will have his place waiting for him.

ONE-TALENT MEN UTILIZED--.With Functionalization, men who lack qualifications for the position which they may, at the start, endeavor to fill, may be transferred to other positions, where the qualities they lack are not required. If a man has one talent, Scientific Management provides a place where that can be utilized.

For example:--

Men who cannot produce the prescribed output constantly, are placed on other work. The slow, unskilled worker who has difficulty to learn, may be put upon work requiring less skill, or where speed is not required so much as watchfulness and faithfulness. The worker who is slow, but exceptionally skilled, has the opportunity to rise to the position of the functional foreman, especially in the planning department, where knowledge, experience and resourcefulness, and especially ability to teach, are much more desired than speed and endurance. Thus there are places provided, below and above, that can utilize all kinds of abilities.

"ALL ROUND" MEN ARE UTILIZED.--The exceptional man who possesses executive ability in all lines, and balance between them all, is the ideal man for a manager, and his special "all round" ability would be wasted in any position below that of a manager.

STABILITY PROVIDED FOR.--Every man is maintained in his place by his interresponsibility with other men. If he is a worker, every man's work is held to standard quality by the inspector, while the requirements and rewards of his function are kept before him by the instruction card man, rate fixer and the disciplinarian.

PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT PROVIDED FOR.--Functionalization provides for promotion by showing every man not only the clearly circumscribed place where he is to work, but also by showing him the definite place above him to which he may be promoted and its path, and by teaching him how he can fill it. This allows him to develop the possibilities of his best self by using and specially training those talents which are most marked in him.

Functional Foremanship allows many more people, to become foremen, and to develop the will and judgment which foremanship implies.

MEN IN THE ORGANIZATION PREFERRED TO OUTSIDERS.--Men in the organization are preferable to outsiders as functional foremen and for promotion. Not only does a worker's knowledge of his work help him to become more efficient when he is promoted to the position of foreman,--but his efficiency as a teacher is also increased by the fact that he knows and understands the workers whom he is there to teach.

ALL MEN ARE PUSHED UP.--Scientific Management raises every man as high as he is capable of being raised. It does not speed him up, but pushes him up to the highest notch which he can fill. Actual practice has shown that there is a greater demand for efficient men in the planning department than there is supply; also, that men in the planning department who fit themselves for higher work can be readily promoted to positions of greater responsibility, either inside or outside the organization.

YEARS OF PRODUCTIVITY PROLONGED.--Under Functionalization the number of years of productivity of all, workers and foremen alike, are increased. The specialty to which the man is assigned is his natural specialty, thus his possible and profitable working years are prolonged, because he is at that work for which he is naturally fitted.

Moreover, the work of teaching is one at which the teacher becomes more clever and more valuable as time goes on, the functional foreman has that much more chance to become valuable as years go by.

CHANGE IN THE WORKER'S MENTAL ATTITUDE.--The work under functionalization is such as to arouse the worker's attention and to hold his interest.[21] But the most important and valuable change in the worker's feelings is the change in his attitude towards the foremen and the employer. From "natural enemies" as sometimes considered under typical Traditional Management, these all now become friends, with the common aim, cooeperation, for the purpose of increasing output and wages, and lowering costs. This change of feeling results in an appreciation of the value of teaching, and also in promoting industrial peace.

CHAPTER III FOOTNOTES: =============================================

1. Mary Whiton Calkins, _A First Book in Psychology_, p. 273. 2. Sully, _The Teacher's Handbook of Psychology_, p. 1. 3. _Ibid._, p. 54. 4. Hugo Muensterberg, _American Problems_, p. 35. 5. Gillette and Dana, _Cost Keeping and Management Engineering_, p. 1. 6. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 221. Harper Ed., p. 96. 7. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 221-231. Harper Ed., pp. 96-98. 8. Compare H.L. Gantt, No. 1002, A.S.M.E., para. 9. 9. Compare H.P. Gillette, _Cost Analysis Engineering_, pp. 1-2. 10. F.W. Taylor, _Principles of Scientific Management_, p. 37. 11. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 245. Harper Ed., p. 104. 12. For excellent example of special routing see: Charles Day, _Industrial Plants_, chap. VII. 13. C. Babbage, _Economy of Manufacturers_. p. 172. "The constant repetition of the same process necessarily produces in the workman a degree of excellence and rapidity in his particular department, which is never possessed by a person who is obliged to execute many different processes." 14. F.W. Taylor, _On the Art of Cutting Metals_, Paper No. 1119, A.S.M.E. 15. C.G. Barth, _Slide Rules for Machine Shops and Taylor System_. Paper No. 1010, A.S.M.E. 16. H.L. Gantt, _Work, Wages and Profits_, p. 19. 17. Adam Smith, _Wealth of Nations_, p. 2. "The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labor, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment, with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labor." Also p. 4. 18. H.K. Hathaway, _The Value of "Non-Producers" in Manufacturing Plants. Machinery_, Nov., 1906, p. 134. 19. Gillette and Dana, _Cost Keeping and Management Engineering_, p. 11. 20. Morris Llewellyn Cooke, _Bulletin No. 5, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching_, p. 15. 21. H.L. Gantt, _Work, Wages and Profits_, p. 120.

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