Efficiency Methods
An Introduction to Scientific Management

EFFICIENCY METHODS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION At the present time no apology is needed for bringing to the notice of English business men some brief epitomized account of certain methods recently suggested for increasing efficiency in industry. Every article or essay dealing with the situation which will follow immediately after the war begins by raising this cry: Improve efficiency, increase output, make the very most of men, materials and equipment in industrial organization. The two things considered essential are increase of pro- duction and elimination of waste. There is a surmise in many people’s minds that the American organizers, often known as Efficiency Engineers, have something to tell us which will contribute to the solution of our problem. Their suggestions on these very essentials have brought them to the front in business affairs across the Atlantic, and most countries in Europe are beginning to find the ideas interesting. But it has not been easy to discover precisely what the new ideas are ; and what assistance they 1 B