Shop Management

SHOP MANAGEMENT 195 I have a profound respect for the workmen of the United States; they are in the main sensible men — not all of them, of course, but they are just as sensi- ble as are those on the side of the management. There are some fools among them; so there are among the men who manage industrial plants. They are in many respects misguided men, and they require a great deal of information that they have not got. So do most managers. All that most workmen need to make them do what is right is a series of proper object lessons. When they are convinced that a system is offered them which will yield them larger returns than the union provides for, they will promptly acquiesce. The necessary object lessons can best be given by centering the efforts of the management upon one spot. The mistake that ninety-nine men out of a hundred make is that they have attempted to in- fluence a large body of men at once instead of taking one man at a time. Another important factor is the question of time. If any one expects large results in six months or a year in a very large works he is looking for the impossible. If any one expects to convert union men to a higher rate of production, coupled with high wages, in six months or a year, he is expecting next to an impossibility. But if he is patient enough to wait for two or three years, he can go among almost any set of workmen in the country and get results. Some method of disciplining the men is unfortu- nately a necessary element of all systems of manage-