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Read Ebook: The Psychology of Management The Function of the Mind in Determining Teaching and Installing Methods of Least Waste by Gilbreth Lillian Moller
Font size: Background color: Text color: Add to tbrJar First Page Next PageEbook has 1039 lines and 100074 words, and 21 pagesDESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT ............................................. 1 Definition of Psychology of Management--Importance of the Subject--Purpose of this Book--Definition of Management--The Three Types of Management--Possible Psychological Studies of Management--Plan of Psychological Study Here Used--Underlying Ideas or Divisions of Scientific Management--Outline of Method of Investigation--Conclusions to be Reached. INDIVIDUALITY ............................................... 21 Definition of Individuality--Place of Individuality in Psychology--Individuality Under Traditional Management--Individuality Under Transitory Management--Individuality Under Scientific Management--Selection of Workers--Separating Output--Recording Output Separately--Individual Tasks--Individual Instruction Cards--Individual Teaching--Individual Incentives--Individual Welfare--Summary: Effect of Individuality upon Work; Effect of Individuality upon Worker. FUNCTIONALIZATION ........................................... 52 Definition of Functionalization--Psychological Use of Functionalization--Functionalization in Traditional Management--Functionalization Under Transitory Management--Functionalization Under Scientific Management--Separating the Planning From the Performing--Functionalized Foremanship--The Function of Order of Work and Route Clerk--The Function of Instruction Card Clerk--The Function of Time and Cost Clerk--The Function of Disciplinarian--The Function of Gang Boss--The Function of Speed Boss--The Function of Repair Boss--The Function of Inspector--Functionalizing the Worker--Functionalizing the Work Itself--Summary: Effect of Functionalization upon the Work; Effect of Functionalization upon the Worker. MEASUREMENT ................................................. 90 Definition of Measurement--Importance of Measurement in Psychology--Relation of Measurement in Psychology to Measurement in Management--Importance of Measurement in Management--Measurement in Traditional Management--Measurement in Transitory Management--Measurement in Scientific Management--Qualifications of the Observer--Methods of Observation--Definitions of Motion Study and Time Study--Methods of Motion Study and Time Study--Summary: Effect of Measurement on the Work; Effect of Measurement on the Worker; Future Results to be Expected; First Step Toward Obtaining These Results. ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS ...................................... 123 Definition of Analysis--Definition of Synthesis--Use of Analysis and Synthesis by Psychology--Importance of Analysis and Synthesis in Management--Place in Traditional Management--Place in Transitory Management--Place in Scientific Management--The Work of the Analyst--Determining Factor in Amount of Analysis--Field of Psychology in Analysis--Qualifications of an Analyst--Worker's Interest in Analysis--The Work of the Synthesist--Results of Synthesist's Work--The Task--Discussion of the Name "Task"--Definition of "Task" in Scientific Management--Field of Application of the Task Idea--Qualifications of the Synthesist--Summary: Effect of Analysis and Synthesis on the Work; Effect of Analysis and Synthesis on the Worker. STANDARDIZATION ............................................. 139 Definition of Standardization--Relation of the Standard to the Task and the Incentive--Relation of the Standard to Psychology--Purpose of Standardization--Standardization Under Traditional Management--Standardization Under Transitory Management--Value of Systems--Standardization Under Scientific Management--Relation of Standard to Measurement--Scope of Standardization Under Scientific Management--Permanence of Results--Needs of Standardization Likened to Needs in Field of Spelling--Standard Nomenclature--Advantages of Mnemonic Symbols--Standard Phraseology--The Standard Man--Standard Means of Conveying Information--Definition of the Instruction Card--Detailed Description of the Instruction Card--Value of Standard Surroundings--Necessity for Proper Placing of the Worker--Standard Equipment--Standard Tools and Devices--Standard Clothing--Standard Methods--Rest from Fatigue--Standardization of Work with Animals--Standard Quality--Standard "Method of Attack"--Summary: Effect of Standardization on the Work; Effect of Standardization on the Worker; Progress of Standardization Assured. RECORDS AND PROGRAMMES ...................................... 183 TEACHING .................................................... 208 Definition of Teaching--Teaching Under Traditional Management--Faults Due to Lack of Standards--Teaching Under Transitory Management--Teaching Under Scientific Management--Importance of Teaching--Conforming of Teaching to Psychological Laws--Conservation of Valuable Elements of Traditional and Transitory Management--Scope of Teaching--Source of Teaching--Methods of Teaching--Instruction Cards as Teachers--Systems as Teachers--Drawings, Charts, Plans and Photographs--Functional Foremen as Teachers--Object Lessons as Teachers--Training the Senses--Forming Good Habits--Importance of Teaching Right Motions First--Stimulating Attention--Forming Associations--Educating the Memory--Cultivating the Imagination--Developing the Judgment--Utilizing Suggestion--Utilizing Native Reactions--Developing the Will--Adaptability of Teaching--Provision of Places for Teaching--Measurement of Teaching--Relation of Teaching to Academic Training and Vocational Guidance--Summary: Result of Teaching in the Work; Result of Teaching to the Worker; Results to be Expected in the Future. INCENTIVES .................................................. 271 Definition of Incentive--Importance of Incentives--Direct and Indirect Incentives--Definition of Reward--Definition of Punishment--Nature of Direct Incentives--The Reward Under Traditional Management--The Punishment Under Traditional Management--The Direct Incentive Under Traditional Management--Incentives Under Transitory Management--Rewards Under Scientific Management--Promotion and Pay--Relation of Wages and Bonus--Day Work--Piece Work--Task Wage--Gain Sharing--Premium Plan--Profit Sharing--Differential Rate Piece--Task Work with a Bonus--Differential Bonus--Three Rate--Three Rate with Increased Rate--Other Rewards--Negative and Positive Punishments--Fines and Their Disposal--Assignment to Less Pleasant Work--Discharge and Its Elimination--Use of Direct Incentives--Summary: Effect of Incentives upon the Work; Effect of Incentives upon the Worker. WELFARE ..................................................... 311 Definition of Welfare--"Welfare" and "Welfare Work"--Welfare Under Traditional Management--Welfare Work Under Traditional Management--Welfare Under Transitory Management--Welfare Work Under Transitory Management--Welfare Under Scientific Management--Physical Improvement--Mental Development--Moral Development--Interrelation of Physical, Mental and Moral Development--Welfare Work Under Scientific Management--Summary: Result of Welfare to the Work; Result of Welfare to the Worker. INDEX ....................................................... 333 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT.--The Psychology of Management, as here used, means,--the effect of the mind that is directing work upon that work which is directed, and the effect of this undirected and directed work upon the mind of the worker. IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.--Before defining the terms that will be used more in detail, and outlining the method of treatment to be followed, it is well to consider the importance of the subject matter of this book, for upon the reader's interest in the subject, and his desire, from the outset, to follow what is said, and to respond to it, rests a large part of the value of this book. VALUE OF PSYCHOLOGY.--First of all, then, what is there in the subject of psychology to demand the attention of the manager? Psychology, in the popular phrase, is "the study of the mind." It has for years been included in the training of all teachers, and has been one of the first steps for the student of philosophy; but it has not, usually, been included among the studies of the young scientific or engineering student, or of any students in other lines than Philosophy and Education. This, not because its value as a "culture subject" was not understood, but because the course of the average student is so crowded with technical preparation necessary to his life work, and because the practical value of psychology has not been recognized. It is well recognized that the teacher must understand the working of the mind in order best to impart his information in that way that will enable the student to grasp it most readily. It was not recognized that every man going out into the world needs all the knowledge that he can get as to the working of the human mind in order not only to give but to receive information with the least waste and expenditure of energy, nor was it recognized that in the industrial, as well as the academic world, almost every man is a teacher. VALUE OF MANAGEMENT.--The second question demanding attention is;--Of what value is the study of management? The study of management has been omitted from the student's training until comparatively recently, for a very different reason than was psychology. It was never doubted that a knowledge of management would be of great value to anyone and everyone, and many were the queer schemes for obtaining that knowledge after graduation. It was doubted that management could be studied otherwise than by observation and practice. Few teachers, if any, believed in the existence, or possibility, of a teaching science of management. Management was assumed by many to be an art, by even more it was thought to be a divinely bestowed gift or talent, rather than an acquired accomplishment. It was common belief that one could learn to manage only by going out on the work and watching other managers, or by trying to manage, and not by studying about management in a class room or in a text book; that watching a good manager might help one, but no one could hope really to succeed who had not "the knack born in him." With the advent of "Scientific Management," and its demonstration that the best management is founded on laws that have been determined, and can be taught, the study of management in the class room as well as on the work became possible and actual. VALUE OF PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT.--Third, we must consider the value of the study of the psychology of management. FIVE INDICATIONS OF THIS VALUE.--In order to realize the importance of the psychology of management it is necessary to consider the following five points:-- PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK.--It is scarcely necessary to mention that this book can hope to do little more than arouse an interest in the subject and point the way to the detailed books where such an interest can be more deeply aroused and more fully satisfied. WHAT THIS BOOK WILL DO.--This book aims not so much to instruct as to arouse an interest in its subject, and to point the way whence instruction comes. If it can serve as an introduction to psychology and to management, can suggest the relation of these two fields of inquiries and can ultimately enroll its readers as investigators in a resultant great field of inquiry, it will have accomplished its aim. DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT.--To discuss this subject more in detail-- First: What is "Management"? INADEQUACY OF THE TERMS USED.--It is unfortunate that the English language is so poor in synonyms in this field that the same word must have two such different and conflicting meanings, for, though the new definition of management be accepted, the "Fringe" of associations that belong to the old are apt to remain. The thoughts of "knack, aptitude, tact, adroitness,"--not to speak of the less desirable "Brute Force," "shrewdness, subtlety, cunning, artifice, deceit, duplicity," of the older idea of management remain in the background of the mind and make it difficult, even when one is convinced that management is a science, to think and act as if it were. It must be noticed and constantly remembered that one of the greatest difficulties to overcome in studying management and its development is the meaning of the terms used. It is most unfortunate that the new ideas have been forced to content themselves with old forms as best they may. We may divide all management into three types-- Traditional Transitory Scientific, or measured functional. Traditional Management, the first, has been variously called "Military," "Driver," the "Marquis of Queensberry type," "Initiative and Incentive Management," as well as "Traditional" management. DEFINITION OF THE FIRST TYPE.--In the first type, the power of managing lies, theoretically at least, in the hands of one man, a capable "all-around" manager. The line of authority and of responsibility is clear, fixed and single. Each man comes in direct contact with but one man above him. A man may or may not manage more than one man beneath him, but, however this may be, he is managed by but one man above him. PREFERABLE NAME FOR THE FIRST TYPE.--The names "Traditional," or "Initiative and Incentive," are the preferable titles for this form of management. It is true they lack in specificness, but the other names, while aiming to be descriptive, really emphasize one feature only, and in some cases with unfortunate results. THE NAME "MILITARY" INADVISABLE.--The direct line of authority suggested the name "Military," and at the time of the adoption of that name it was probably appropriate as well as complimentary. Appropriate in the respect referred to only, for the old type of management varied so widely in its manifestations that the comparison to the procedure of the Army was most inaccurate. "Military" has always been a synonym for "systematized", "orderly," "definite," while the old type of management was more often quite the opposite of the meaning of all these terms. The term "Military Management" though often used in an uncomplimentary sense would, today, if understood, be more complimentary than ever it was in the past. The introduction of various features of Scientific Management into the Army and Navy,--and such features are being incorporated steadily and constantly,--is raising the standard of management there to a high degree. This but renders the name "Military" Management for the old type more inaccurate and misleading. It is plain that the stirring associations of the word "military" make its use for the old type, by advocates of the old type, a weapon against Scientific Management that only the careful thinker can turn aside. THE NAMES "DRIVER" AND "MARQUIS OF QUEENSBERRY" UNFORTUNATE.--The name "Driver" suggests an opposition between the managers and the men, an opposition which the term "Marquis of Queensberry" emphasizes. This term "Marquis of Queensberry" has been given to that management which is thought of as a mental and physical contest, waged "according to the rules of the game." These two names are most valuable pictorially, or in furnishing oratorical material. They are constant reminders of the constant desire of the managers to get all the work that is possible out of the men, but they are scarcely descriptive in any satisfactory sense, and the visions they summon, while they are perhaps definite, are certainly, for the inexperienced in management, inaccurate. In other words, they usually lead to imagination rather than to perception. It is not necessary to make more definite here the content of this oldest type of management, rather being satisfied with the extent, and accepting for working use the name "Traditional" with the generally accepted definition of that name. DEFINITION OF THE SECOND TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The second type of management is called "Interim" or "Transitory" management. It includes all management that is consciously passing into Scientific Management and embraces all stages, from management that has incorporated one scientifically derived principle, to management that has adopted all but one such principle. PREFERABLE NAME FOR SECOND TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--Perhaps the name "Transitory" is slightly preferable in that, though the element of temporariness is present in both words, it is more strongly emphasized in the latter. The usual habit of associating with it the ideas of "fleeting, evanescent, ephemeral, momentary, short-lived," may have an influence on hastening the completion of the installing of Scientific Management. DEFINITION OF THE THIRD TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The third form of management is called "Ultimate," "measured Functional," or "Scientific," management, and might also be called,--but for the objection of Dr. Taylor, the "Taylor Plan of Management." This differs from the first two types mentioned in that it is a definite plan of management synthesized from scientific analysis of the data of management. In other words, Scientific Management is that management which is a science, i.e., which operates according to known, formulated, and applied laws. PREFERABLE NAME OF THE THIRD TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.--The name "Ultimate" has, especially to the person operating under the transitory stage, all the charm and inspiration of a goal. It has all the incentives to accomplishment of a clearly circumscribed task. Its very definiteness makes it seem possible of attainment. It is a great satisfaction to one who, during a lifetime of managing effort, has tried one offered improvement after another to be convinced that he has found the right road at last. The name is, perhaps, of greatest value in attracting the attention of the uninformed and, as the possibilities of the subject can fulfill the most exacting demands, the attention once secured can be held. The name "measured functional" is the most descriptive, but demands the most explanation. The principle of functionalization is one of the underlying, fundamental principles of Scientific Management. It is not as necessary to stop to define it here, as it is necessary to discuss the definition, the principle, and the underlying psychology, at length later. The name "scientific" while in some respects not as appropriate as are any of the other names, has already received the stamp of popular approval. In derivation it is beyond criticism. It also describes exactly, as has been said, the difference between the older forms of management and the new. Even its "fringe" of association is, or at least was when first used, all that could be desired; but the name is, unfortunately, occasionally used indiscriminately for any sort of system and for schemes of operation that are not based on time study. It has gradually become identified more or less closely with Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page |
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