Shop Management

SHOP MANAGEMENT 29 turn out the maximum amount of work which a first-rate man of his class can do and thrive. (c) That each workman, when he works at the best pace of a first-class man, should be paid from 30 per cent, to 100 per cent, according to the nature of the work which he does, beyond the average of his class. And this means high wages and a low labor cost. These conditions not only serve the best interests of the employer, but they tend to raise each workman to the highest level which he is fitted to attain by making him use his best faculties, forcing him to become and remain ambitious and energetic, and giving him sufficient pay to live better than in the past. Under these conditions the writer has seen many first-class men developed who otherwise would have remained second or third class all of their lives. Is not the presence or absence of these conditions the best indication that any system of management is either well or badly applied? And in considering the relative merits of different types of management, is not that system the best which will establish these conditions with the greatest certainty, precision, and speed? In comparing the management of manufacturing and engineering companies by this standard, it is surprising to see how far they fall short. Few of those which are best organized have attained even approximately the maximum output of first-class men. Many of them are paying much higher prices per piece than are required to secure the maximum prod-