Shop Management

Shop Management

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shop Management, by Frederick
Winslow Taylor #2 in our series by Frederick Winslow Taylor
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Title: Shop Management
Author: Frederick Winslow Taylor
Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6464] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 17,
2002]
Edition: 10

Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHOP
MANAGEMENT ***

Transcribed by Charles E. Nichols

Shop Management
By
Frederick Winslow Taylor
1911

Through his business in changing the methods of shop management,
the writer has been brought into intimate contact over a period of years
with the organization of manufacturing and industrial establishments,
covering a large variety and range of product, and employing workmen
in many of the leading trades.
In taking a broad view of the field of management, the two facts which
appear most noteworthy are:
(a) What may be called the great unevenness, or lack of uniformity
shown, even in our best run works, in the development of the several
elements, which together constitute what is called the management.
(b) The lack of apparent relation between good shop management and
the payment of dividends.
Although the day of trusts is here, still practically each of the
component companies of the trusts was developed and built up largely
through the energies and especial ability of some one or two men who
were the master spirits in directing its growth. As a rule, this leader
rose from a more or less humble position in one of the departments, say
in the commercial or the manufacturing department, until he became
the head of his particular section. Having shown especial ability in his
line, he was for that reason made manager of the whole establishment.
In examining the organization of works of this class, it will frequently
be found that the management of the particular department in which

this master spirit has grown up towers to a high point of excellence, his
success having been due to a thorough knowledge of all of the smallest
requirements of his section, obtained through personal contact, and the
gradual training of the men under him to their maximum efficiency.
The remaining departments, in which this man has had but little
personal experience, will often present equally glaring examples of
inefficiency. And this, mainly because management is not yet looked
upon as an art, with laws as exact, and as clearly defined, for instance,
as the fundamental principles of engineering, which demand long and
careful thought and study. Management is still looked upon as a
question of men, the old view being that if you have the right man the
methods can be safely left to him.
The following, while rather an extreme case, may still be considered as
a fairly typical illustration of the unevenness of management. It became
desirable to combine two rival manufactories of chemicals. The great
obstacle to this combination, however, and one which for several years
had proved insurmountable was that the two men, each of whom
occupied the position of owner and manager of his company,
thoroughly despised one another. One of these men had risen to the top
of his works through the office at the commercial end, and the other
had come up from a workman in the factory. Each one was sure that the
other was a fool, if not worse. When they were finally combined it was
found that each was right in his judgment of the other in a certain way.
A comparison of their books showed that the manufacturer was
producing his chemicals more than forty per cent cheaper than his rival,
while the business man made up the difference by insisting on
maintaining the highest quality, and by his superiority in selling,
buying, and the management of the commercial side of the business. A
combination of the two, however, finally resulted in mutual respect,
and saving