8. Function III: Development of standardiza tion.—The part that standardization plays in modern business administration is considered in Chapter XIV. We limit its application in the office to the methods, materials and equipment used. One of the chief in fluences which made a careful study of standardiza tion in the office a necessity, is the need of utilizing space more efficiently. Accordingly, filing cabinets, book and card records, stationery, etc., have gradually grown smaller, with the attendant necessity of short ening phraseology, of the development of symbols, and arranging printed matter to meet the space con ditions. A planning department, by keeping on file samples of all the forms used thruout the organiza tion, could give valuable suggestions and could direct with intelligence the development of a policy which would work toward a general standardization of forms and equipment thruout the office.
With respect to the development of standardized equipment, the planning department can play a very important part. In the factory, the planning depart ment contains a testing division whose duty it is to examine machines, product and materials in accord ance with standard specifications of quality, etc. The office today, thru its use of mechanical aids, is un dergoing a like development. The purchasing de partment may provide men who are experts in buy ing according to specifications of quality, etc. ; their work needs to be supplemented, however, by the judg ment of experts upon the utilization of the machines and materials. The planning department of the office should, therefore, act as judge in such matters. Take the choice of a desk as one example. The plan ning department, by its study of the uses to which the desk is to be put, can decide between the flat-top, the standing desk and the "tub" type, with better results than a purchasing department, which judges pur chases on the basis of prices. Desk standardization brings many economies, such as savings in the station ery and desk supplies ; and if we consider its impor tance in the dispatching of work, as, for instance, in the case of the National Cloak and Suit Company offices, a very wide range of activities is opened up for the consideration of the planning department.
If we carry this function of the department a step further, we find that it also naturally embraces the study of the equipment market in order to keep the home office informed as to all new and meritorious labor-saving devices. Its representatives should blow what is offered thru the latest circulars and catalogs, and should keep in touch with "business shows," expositions and the experiences of their com petitors.
9. Function IV: Development of betterment plans.—Just as the function of discipline in the shop
is taken away from the shop boss and placed under the planning department head, so in the matter of handling office employes, the selection, training and guiding is intrusted to the office planning department. Many concerns which never before thought of a plan ning department have already developed good sys tems for handling their employes. Generally these functions are connected with an employment bureau, where adequate records of present and prospective employes are kept, and all the office positions are listed and analyzed as to qualifications necessary for their incumbent. There are, however, many reasons why these functions should be consolidated with those of the planning department. They are all activities which affect the organization as a whole, and by bring ing them within the compass of one department, the same advantages will result as in the case of the fac tory where the draftsmen are in close proximity to the store clerk in the planning department. They both have a common interest in the "bill-of-materials schedule." The development of efficiency records in the office goes hand in hand with salary standardiza tion, while the grading of work is closely associated with promotion plans. If the keeping of records of service and other qualifications are to be functions of tbe planning department, the question of superan nuation, and pension and wage systems should like wise be in close association with those activities which must be factors of more or less importance in the de termination of general welfare policies.
10. Organization of the planning department.—In large commercial organizations where the greater part of the work falls upon the office, the function of planning is gradually becoming specialized. But the small office organization must meet many of the same problems that the larger one does. If its re sources will not allow of a special department, with its necessary complement of executives and clerks, the study of the methods used by a large planning de partment will prove of inestimable value in enabling the office manager to classify his office activities and in at least permitting him to schedule his own efforts with a clearer' vision and with better results. Here he shall find that the main work of an office con sists of the following elements: organization routine and equipment layout, wo* processes to be studied, standards created and checked by continual improve ment, daily operations in dispatching orders thru the office, and the cultivation of cooperation and loyalty among the workers by carefully selecting and caring for them, and by planning for their scientific training and guidance.