Shop Management

SHOP MANAGEMENT 21 system and the differential rate; and he will find a very much larger number of instances of bad man- agement under these systems containing as they do the elements which lead to discord and ultimate loss and trouble for both sides. If neither the prosperity of the company nor any particular type or system furnishes an index to proper management, what then is the touchstone which in- dicates good or bad management? The art of management has been defined, “as knowing exactly what you want men to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.” No concise definition can fully describe an art, but the relations between employers and men form with- out question the most important part of this art. In considering the subject, therefore, until this part of the problem has been fully discussed, the other phases of the art may be left in the background. The progress of many types of management is punctuated by a series of disputes, disagreements and compromises between employers and men, and each side spends more than a considerable portion of its time thinking and talking over the injustice which it receives at the hands of the other. All such types are out of the question, and need not be considered. It is safe to say that no system or scheme of man- agement should be considered which does not in the long run give satisfaction to both employer and em- ployé, which does not make it apparent that their best interests are mutual, and which does not bring about such thorough and hearty cooperation that they can pull together instead of apart. It cannot