Efficiency Methods
An Introduction to Scientific Management

TRADES UNIONS 175 There are two main ways in which it can do so. It can make use of his skill and full co-operation in investigating and completing a standard method, (during which process it must give him some extra pay) ; and it can put him in a superior position as instructor or demonstrator of the new methods. All Taylor’s functional foremen should certainly be skilled workers. So far the efficiency manager seems able to conciliate the craftsman, but he has still to meet certain general objections. Will there still be room in his works for men of all-round training, or will all the workmen become highly specialized ? Will it prove to a workman’s advantage to transfer his craft or special skill to the management, who will make it the basis of a method to be imparted to the workers in general ? We have seen already that employers themselves are not always convinced that the scientific ideal, pooling all expert knowledge for common use and benefit, is to be preferred to the keeping of trade secrets. The same hesitation is natural to the workman. Will not work on incessantly running machines, where everything is provided without a hitch at the exact time needed, prove infinitely more monotonous and tiring than the old form of work ? It is quite possible for a manager to administer the new methods so that these questions are answered in a satisfactory way. Mr. Hoxie, able critic as he is, has practically admitted the possibility, in more than one context. But everything depends on the administration. The “ system ” will do nothing if