The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ing, ventilation and other environ- ment factors—and planning and man- aging the organization in accordance with the basic principles concerned. Conversely, productivity is decreased in several different ways, excessive caustic criticism, slave driving tactics, unfairness in wage and Salary adjust- ments and dismissals without ade- quate cause. Wage incentive or bonus plans have been discussed previously. The value of such plans in increasing the produc- tivity is indisputable when the facts are known. The same basic idea should be considered in the relations with contracting stevedores. Payment on a basis of fixed rates does not give sufficient incentive. If the stevedore knew that a reduction in ‘costs would not be made a reason for browbeating tactics to force rates down and get all the savings for the steamship line, he would have more incentive for trying to cut costs. Good Relations With Stevedores Relationships with contracting steve- dores may be bungled with loss to the steamship line or such relation- ships may be handled with intelligent selfishness to the line’s profit. Ex- pecting the stevedore to shift cargo back and forth from pier to pier with- out any additional cost is not unfair provided the line had the additional piers when the contract was made. The stevedore presumably made his rates on basis of the conditions of the operation of the company’s terminals at the time the contract was signed. However, if these conditions are changed so that the contractor’s costs are increased materially, then he is entitled to adequate additional com- pensation. On the other hand, if the company so changes conditions that the stevedore’s costs are reduced ma- terially, the contract rates should be reduced. If, for example, the opera- tions are shifted from a small badly congested terminal to a large termi- nal with space adequate for an eCo- nomical and speedy operation, the con- tract stevedore’s costs are reduced and the rates should be reduced pro- portionately. Men’s productive efforts can be in- creased by developing a sense of craftsmanship. Good lighting in offices is profitable because it reduces eye strain and reduces work by making figures, writ- ing and printing stand out clearly. On the terminal proper correct light- ing reduces accidents and improves the work of the men. Ventilation is another factor that cannot be safely ignored. If it does not actually reduce a person’s efficiency by physical reactions, it causes, it cer- tainly reduces efficiency by the psycho- logical reactions resulting. Productivity of the organization is increased by planning and organizing it in accordance with the basic princi- ples concerned. One of the most important princi- ples is the delegation of work and authority. My experience has made me certain that in the long run an organization gains most by delegating work and authority, even if the men to whom delegated, are not of the high- est quality, because more is gained from a man by this method than by minute checking up. Authority and responsibility are in- separable and they are essential to effective results. Giving a man responsibility without authority is the same as asking him to construct a house without proper tools; the results are not satisfactory. It may be a house but the roof leaks, the doors jam, and many other sources. of annoyance and loss are encoun- tered. The most profitable point of view of management is that of being con- stantly on the alert for new ideas. Most organizations are lacking in some re- spect in their “new idea facilities.” IJn- stead of being on the alert for new ideas which would reduce costs and in- crease revenues, a wall of resistance has been built to such opportunities for additional profit. This condition is largely due to the lack of a scientific point of view which has gained wide acceptance in manufacturing indus- tries and in marine engineering and naval architecture, but very little recognition in the other parts of the industry. If a man finds a new type of sling for handling canned goods which re- duces damage to cargo or speeds han- dling, he creates in effect a fund out of which he can be paid and out of which profit can be obtained. The basis of paying the man a part of the © saving is not that it is fair, but rather that it is intelligent management to do so because it gives the man an in. centive to save more money. Once the value of adequate new idea facilities is recognized, employ- ment of consultants naturally follows. A Real Consultant Some shipping men are bitterly op- posed to consultants because of their experience with “efficiency experts’; they are justified in this opposition. However, a real consultant is not an efficiency expert. Consultants must be employed with great care because not every one who makes claim is en- titled to the term. W. H. Leffingwell states that: “There is, however, one infallible test by which the actual scientific man- agement consultant can be differen- tiated from those who make a false pretense to be so considered. In al- most every case, the latter has a pana- cea, a scheme, or system, which he claims will at once cure all the ills of the office, and all he desires is an opportunity to “install” this system. The real expert pays his way, but he does not do it by bringing in, from the outside, a cut and dried method, which MARINE REview—April, 1934 is applied to the office on the same principle that a porous plaster is ap- plied to the back of a quack’s patient. His work is profitable because of the teaching and guidance he gives the or- ganization in helping it solve its own difficulties and assisting in the de- velopment of a method of. scientific control especially adapted to its par- ticular conditions.” Fear of criticism, particularly petty criticism, and fear of discharge will get more work out of some people, but these people are not the best people for an organization. They should be eliminated as rapidly as practical. One steamship line prides itself on the efficiency of its cargo handling operations with respect to mechanical equipment. Much has been accom- plished but the personnel policy of this company with the longshoremen is so utterly out of tune with the best mod- ern practices that opportunity for ad- ditional profits are lost. The men are cheated on time, brow beaten and slave-driven, and when the foreman is not around, how they do soldier! If a foreman has a new idea, it has little chance of becoming profitable to the company because the stevedore is hot big enough mentally to grasp it, and if he goes to the pier super- intendent he will lose his job because he went over the stevedore’s head. Outward Acquiescence An executive is only fooling himself when he obtains outward acquiescence in his plans and ideas by brow-beating methods. His assistants “yes” him and keep constantly in mind the necessity of avoiding criticism so that the em- phasis in their work is shifted from profit to the company to self-preserva- tion. The assistant keeps out of trouble for the most part, and the company loses profits. In my experi- ence I have seen an organization al- most entirely paralyzed with respect. to the initiative of its members by rea- son of such management methods. A feeling of resentment stirred up by an injustice on the part of a “boss” can exert an influence on a man’s: mind strong enough to nullify the benefits of economic motives. Good management in dealing with subordinates is a great lubricant in an. organization which does much to re- duce friction and accomplish profit- able results. The management methods described in this article are based upon intelli- gent selfishness. Industrial history shows conclusively that these methods are intelligently selfish. These facts of history cannot be dismissed with a mere statement that “I don’t agree’ or “I don’t think so.” If these conclusions were based upon the author’s own opinion, he would be hesitant in expressing them be- cause, within reasonable limits, one man’s opinion is aS good as another’s. But these conclusions are not based upon opinion, but upon facts. 49