Shop Management

42 SHOP MANAGEMENT uncertainty both as to the final result which will be attained and as to how long it will take to reach this end, is in marked contrast to the distinct goal which is always kept in plain sight of both parties under task management, and the clear-cut directions which leave no doubt as to the means which are to be employed nor the time in which the work must be done; and these elements constitute the fundamental difference between the two systems. Mr. Halsey, in objecting to the use of the word “drifting” as describing his system, has referred to the use of his system in England in connection with a “rate-fix- ing” or planning department, and quotes as follows from his paper to show that he contemplated con- trol of the speed of the work by the management: “On contract work undertaken for the first time the method is the same except that the premium is based on the estimated time for the execution of the work.” In making this claim Mr. Halsey appears to have entirely lost sight of the real essence of the two plans. It is task management which is in use in England, not the Towne-Halsey system; and in the above quotation Mr. Halsey describes not his system but a type of task management, in which the men are paid a premium for carrying out the directions given them by the management. There is no doubt that there is more or less con- fusion in the minds of many of those who have read about the task management and the Towne-Halsey system. This extends also to those who are actually using and working under these systems. This is