STANDARDIZATION-MATERIALS AND EQUIP.MENT 1. Correct standards the basis of administrative judgment.—A sound judgment is the prime mental attribute of a good manager. When a manager fails he is criticized for not using good judgMent. But to accuse a manager of exercising poor judgment is only to say that he has used wrong standards in draw / ing his conclusions. Judgments are the results of comparisons. When comparisons are made we con sciously or unconsciously use one thing as a standard by which the other things are measured. When the full moon rises from behind the hills we say it is as large as a wagon wheel. When it is overhead then we say it is as large .as a plate. In these cases we have unconsciously compared the moon with certain objects and as the moon moves from one position to another our judgment varies.
2. Management a series of measurements.—A great economist once said that all economic activity in its last analysis resolves itself into the simple proc ess of moving matter. It might with truth also be said that the problem of management resolves itself into a series of measurements. Every manager has some standard. The difference between a progres sive and a nonprogressive manager is largely deter mined by their attitudes toward the standards which they use. The one, having decided that a certain type of machine or a certain kind of man or method for performing an operation, is the correct one, rests con tented with using these units as standards year after year; the other is continually on the lookout for im provements in his machines, men and methods, and frequently changes his standards in order that he may judge his efficiency under new conditions.
3. New standards changed plane of competition.— VVhen the Carnegie Steel Company entered the com petitive fight which finally resulted in the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, it was truly a "battle of the standards." Air. Carnegie proved himself to be the most progressive manager of the day, in view of his attitude toward standardiza tion. While other companies were judging their efficiency by the capacity of old equipment, Air. Car
negie was equipping his plant with new and up-to date machinery. His standards were of the twentieth century, his competitors' standards were of the nineteenth. Since Mr. Carnegie's success few men have questioned the necessity of continually watching their machine standards in determining the efficiency of their output. The general acceptance of this prin ciple was a great step forward. Yet the problem connected with the,determination of machine stand ards is a comparati(rely simple one when compared with the determination of those standards which are connected with men, and which become the basis of judging labor efficiencies.
To establish rational work standards for men requires indeed motion-studies and time-studies of all operations, but it requires in addition all the skill of a planning manager, all the skill of the physician, of the humanitarian, of the psychol ogist, of the physiologist ; it requires infinite knowledge, directed, guided and restrained by hope, faith, and com passion.' 4. Standards of labor elliciency.—The difficulties of the problem, however, should not deter any man ager from beginning to study the conditions sur rounding his workingmen. The next great step for ward in the organization of our industry will be along the lines of finding and adopting the true standard conditions under which men shall labor. Perhaps when the next great competitive battle is fought the manager who can measure his fighting strength in terms of labor efficiency will inscribe his name higher on the list than that of any of the great captains of industry of the past. Such a man will have standard ized his conditions and will know that he will be wast ing less time, squandering less effort and spending less money than any of his competitors.
As before noted, every manager has standards of some kind. Evidences of these standards are seen in written specifications, in the purchase of materials, goods, etc. But as we approach the operations which the men perform and the conditions under which they Harrington Emerson, in "Twelve Principles of Efficiency," page 275.