SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF EFFICIENCY

By Dr.B.Thayumanavar Dr.P.Karthikeyan Rejy.K.Thariyan M.Sathish & K.Nachimuthu

Contributors
Carl

G.Barth Henry L. Gantt Frank Gilbreth Lillian Gilbreth Harrington Emerson Morris Cooke

Carl G.Barth (1860-1939)

Carl

Barth was a mathematician who helped Taylor with some metal-cutting experiments. He was probably a major influence in the writing of the official biography of Taylor. Assisted in installing scientific management in various companies. Barth created a logarithmic slide rule & a set of tables and found solution for feed & speed problems. After his advent, Franklin Motor car had low labour turnover, high production and as a result, increase in profits.

Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919)

Gantts

early work paralleled Taylors in his belief about worker selection, incentives to reward performance, mutuality of interests, etc. Taylor and Gantt admired each others work. He influenced Taylor because Taylor believed Gantts plan was better.

Task and Bonus System

Implemented task work with a bonus system, to stimulate performance. When he discovered that this provided little incentive beyond meeting the standard, he modified the payment plan. Rewarded supervisors with bonus & extra bonus when their employees came up to standard. (Based on E. P. Earles work) Emphasized importance of morale, training, and development of employees. His work stands as an early landmark in the beginning of human behavioral thought. Social responsibility Gantts concern that business should not lose sight of its service role in the economy.

The Gantt Chart

The Gantt Chart steadily evolved into a valuable tool for planning and controlling work. His charts included the daily production balance, cost control, quantity of work per machine & worker, expense of idle machinery, etc, It became an international management technique. A forerunner of subsequent planning and controlling techniques such as major milestones, PERT & CPM.

Gantts Plan
Gantts graphic aids to management planning & controlling were revolutionary at that period. Gantts plan called for the scientific investigation of the task, analysis and study of movement and times, standardization of conditions and winning worker cooperation.

Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924) &Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)

Worked in the construction trades and called his job design motion study. Independent of, but influenced by, Taylor. Lillian submitted her thesis The Psychology Of Management and stood apart as our First Lady of Management and First Lady of Engineering for her accomplishments with her husband as well as after Franks death.
Frank

Frank Gilbreth
His

first job was apprentice brick layer wherein he improved methods which resulted in lowering costs & at .the same time fetch higher wages for workers. He was able to lay 2700 bricks per day compared to others who were laying an average of 1000 per day. Motions to lay a brick reduced to 4 from 18. Today, union rules only allow workers to lay between 900 and 1100 bricks per day.

Gilbreths Motion Study

Frank developed a list of seventeen basic movements to aid him in analyzing motion. Each movement was called a therblig. These fundamental movements, which could not be broken down into other motions, gave Frank a way to accurately analyze elements of any movement a worker may make.

Applied Motion Study

The Gilbreths also used lights and time-lapsed photography in their motion study. This use of light and photography was called the chronocyclegraph method of recording. This device recorded a path of motion a worker used to complete a job. The device consisted of a small electric light which was attached to a finger or another moving part of the body. The film was exposed during this time period and recorded each line of light.

Fatigue Studies
Through

proper rest breaks, fatigue could be reduced. Suggestions: Reduced working hours so that employees had sufficient time to recover and be prepared for the next working day. Longer lunch periods, coffee or tea breaks. To make rest breaks more attractive to employees, the Gilbreths suggested that organizations could provide proper reclining chairs, lunch rooms, rest rooms, or other entertainment.

Ergonomics
Gilbreth is often called the Father of Ergonomics. The Gilbreths pioneered the use of devices, such as adjustable chairs and improved workstations, to ease strain on the body and reduce injuries.
Frank

Harrington Emerson (1853-1931)

Efficiency through Organization:-

Waste

& inefficiency were the major problems due to Lack of proper organization. Emerson proposed the line-staff organization as a way of bringing staff knowledge to assist the line managers. His line-staff idea was similar to Taylors desire to use the knowledge of functional foreman, but an improvement since it did not split the chain of command.

Harrington Emersons Ideas

He took Taylors idea of setting performance standards and applied this to cost accounting. Standards should be established for what the costs should be, rather than estimating costs from previous records. Emerson provided 120% wages for 100% performance (the standard) and that increased if the worker produced more. He wrote Twelve Principles of Efficiency in 1913. Of Emersons numerous principles, clearly defined ideals (objectives), participative decision making, and the proper use of staff stand out as the more unique of his ideas.

Morris L. Cooke (1872-1960)

The Gospel in Non-industrial Organizations:Extended gospel of efficiency to education and government. Taylor sent Cooke on various consulting assignments: In education he felt that college administration was inefficient. In government Cooke became Director of Public Works for the City of Philadelphia and successfully implemented scientific management.

Conclusion

The most orthodox Carl Berth was a true executioner of Taylors ideas. The most unorthodox Henry Gantt, began under Taylors guidance and then developed some different notions. The Gilberths added motion study as a refinement to Taylors motion study, enlarged the study of fatigue & emphasized the psychology of scientific management. Emerson polished Taylors notions of efficiency. Cook, nurtured by Taylor, brought the system to academic & municipal undertakings.