Scientific Management in Europe

The period of the World War with its accompanying demand for unprecedented outputs of munitions and other products called into prominence any and every method which might help the na tions of Europe in the industrial aspects of the struggle. At the same time considerations of national emergency did much to break down the trade union opposition to changes of method. Following on the strong attack against the Taylor system initiated by the American Federation of Labour, opposition had already assumed considerable dimensions in Europe. Throughout the war years, however, and during the period of reconstruction and boom conditions which followed the Armistice, Governments and industrialists co-operated in the study and application of scientific management. In France a number of professional soldiers placed in charge of munition factories contributed much constructive thought to the application of Taylor's principles, reinforced by their experience of the military services. In Great Britain the report of the Committee on the Health of Munition Workers (1916) and the foundation of the welfare department of the Min istry of Munitions (1917) emphasized the importance of the scientific approach in dealing with the personnel of industry. There followed the foundation of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board and the National Institute of Industrial Psychology and Physiology. Applications of the exact sciences were covered by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which organized research associations in various industries. The British Engineering Standards Association expanded its well-established activities in the direction of simplification and standardization. One of the pamphlets of the short-lived Ministry of Reconstruc tion officially recommended the adoption of scientific methods of industrial management. The trade union opposition was, how ever, still very strong and was reinforced by the demand for the restoration of pre-war union conditions.

In Germany also the period was marked by an increased inter est in psycho-technology, and much research was undertaken on fatigue, selection of workers and allied subjects.

After the War.

The severe depression and the period of uncertainty in national finances which followed, delayed develop ments in the older countries. But in Eastern Europe the new countries which had been established by the Treaty of Versailles made a determined effort to build up their national economy on the most modern lines. The lead was taken by Czechoslovakia. The foundation of the National Academy of Labour at Prague was strongly supported by the Government. It was devoted to the study of scientific management in every aspect. On the initiative of Czechoslovakia a congress was called in 1924, with the active help of Mr. Hoover and the American Engineering council. The greater proportion of the time of this first congress was taken up with a general account of the state of the scien tific management movement in the United States. it was there fore more in the nature of a lesson for Europeans than of an international exchange of views. It was attended by representa tives from Italy, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Russia. As a result of this congress an International Com

mittee for Scientific Management was established. A further congress took place at Brussels in 1926 in which Belgium, Spain and France also co-operated.

Meanwhile most important developments had been taking place in Germany. An institution was set up under the title of Reichskuratorium fur Wirtschaftlichkeit (National Council for Scientific Management) which was subsidized by the central Gov ernment. It was entrusted with the task of co-ordinating and exercising a general control over a number of national bodies of a technical and scientific character engaged in the study of vari ous applications of science to industry. In this capacity it was given complete authority to distribute all grants for this purpose whether emanating from the Government or from large indus trial organizations, grants which amounted in 1926 to more than a million marks. In addition it acts as a propagandist body throughout the whole country, calling attention to the results of scientific investigation by means of the press, special publications, congresses and exhibitions.

Parallel with this movement, the great German industrialists, faced with difficulties following on the stabilization of the mark, were compelled to give close attention to the more logical or ganization of the whole of their national industry. Their desire to eliminate inefficient plants and to escape from the worst effects of unregulated competition issued in a strong movement in favour of a deliberate attack on their problem by means of amalgama tions on a national and international scale. This movement has been given the general title of "rationalization," a term which is at present used alternatively in a wider and a narrower sense. By a great many persons it is taken to imply merely the general tendency to a larger grouping of industrial units in cartels, trusts or combines which has been such a marked feature of industrial life in all European countries since the War. To others, among whom must be included the members of the World Economic Conference, the word connotes the whole of the changed attitude towards economics which looks to a deliberate and scientific con trol of the processes of production and distribution, whether in the individual works, within a national industry or on an interna tional scale.

During this period encouragement of scientific management on a national scale took place in many other European coun tries. In Russia the Central Council for Scientific Management was established in Moscow and linked up with a wide range of local institutions established throughout the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. In Italy the Ente Nazionale Italiano per l'Or ganizzazione Scientifica del Lavoro (Italian National Union for Scientific Management) greatly extended its activities with the full support of the Government. It thus became one of the most important instruments of the Fascist Administration in carrying through its programme of national reconstruction. Similar or ganizations were started in Austria, Belgium, France and Poland.