Shop Management

FOREWORD 9 present time. The work of Mr. Taylor and his associates has lifted it at once from the plane of empiricism and tradition to the high level of modem science, and apparently has gone far to reduce it almost to an exact science. In no other field of original research, that I can recall, has investigation, starting from so low a point, attained so high a level as the result of a single continued effort.” The investigations on which the report last referred to was based extended over a period of twenty-six years and involved the expenditure of some $200,000, the funds being contributed by ten industrial cor- porations. No other argument is needed to demon- strate Dr. Taylor’s thoroughness and inexhaustible patience than the simple fact that he pursued these investigations continuously through that long period before deciding that he was ready and prepared to make known to the world his conclusions. The conclusions embodied in Dr. Taylor’s “Shop Management” constitute in effect the foundations for a new science — “The Science of Industrial Man- agement.” As in the case of constructive work the ideal engineer is he who does the best work at the lowest cost, so also, in the case of industrial opera- tions, the best manager is he who so organizes the forces under his control that each individual shall work at his best efficiency and shall be compensated accordingly. Dr. Taylor has demonstrated con- clusively that, to accomplish this, it is essential to segregate the planning of work from its execution; to employ for the former trained experts possessing the right mental equipment, and for the latter men