Efficiency Methods
An Introduction to Scientific Management

CHAPTER XVII THE INSTALLATION OF EFFICIENCY METHODS It has been said that since the war the “ business man ”—if by that expression is meant he who com- mands and directs some large organization of industry—has at last been respectfully treated by the governing class in Great Britain; that his counsel has been valued and followed in national crises, and that he has had proper opportunity to prove, not only his devotion to his country, but his capacity to serve her. And it is naturally assumed by the public, if not by the business men them- selves, that now they have been called upon, and have responded so vigorously and satisfactorily, they will remain props of the state in peace-time. It is, indeed, to be hoped that this will be true, for no set of men in the Empire will have a more onerous and important task in rebuilding than the men who have to reconstruct industry. It will be better to speak of these as managers rather than as employers. For whether the head of an industry takes a primary personal interest in dividends, or whether he himself is employed at a salary to produce dividends, the nature of his 197