The Psychology of Management · Part IV

"Functionalization" is not given in the Century Dictionary. The nearest to it to be found there is "Functionality," which is defined as--"The state of having or being a function." Functionalization as here used means--the state of being divided into functions, or being functionalized. "Functionalize" is given in the Century Dictionary, defined as "to assign some office or function to"--the note being made that it is rare. "Functionalize" may not be the best word that could be used in this connection, but there seems to be no other word in the English language which contains its full meaning, therefore we will use the word here in the sense of assigning work according to capacity or faculty. A faculty means--"A specific power, mental or physical; a special capacity for any particular kind of action or affection; natural capability."

PSYCHOLOGICAL USE OF FUNCTIONALIZATION.--The word "Function" is in constant use by modern psychologists, especially by those who believe that--"Psychology is the science of the self in relation to environment,"[1] or that "Psychology is a scientific account of our mental processes."[2] Sully defines a function as "a psychologically simple process,"[3] and compares its elementariness to a muscular contraction as an element of a step in walking.

In investigating the principle of Functionalization as embodied in various forms of Management, we must note that, while Management can, and does under Scientific Management, attempt to functionalize work as far as possible, it will be impossible to come to ultimate results until a psychological study of the requirement of the work from the worker, and results of the work on the worker is made.[4]

FUNCTIONALIZATION IN MANAGEMENT.--"Functional Management" consists, to quote Dr. Taylor, "in so directing the work of management that each man from the assistant superintendent down shall have as few functions as possible to perform. If practicable, the work of each man in the management should be confined to the performance of a single leading function."[5]

A study of functionalization as applied to management must answer the following questions:

1. How is the work divided? 2. How are the workers assigned to the work? 3. What are the results to the work? 4. What are the results to the worker?

TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT SELDOM FUNCTIONALIZES.--Under Traditional Management the principle of Functionalization was seldom applied or understood. Even when the manager tried to separate planning from performing, or so to divide the work that each worker could utilize his special ability, there were no permanently beneficial results, because there was no standard method of division.

THE WORK OF THE FOREMAN NOT PROPERLY DIVIDED.--The work of a foreman was not divided, but the well rounded man, as Dr. Taylor says,[6] was supposed to have

1. Brain 2. Education 3. Special or technical knowledge, manual dexterity or strength 4. Tact 5. Energy 6. Grit 7. Honesty 8. Judgment, or common sense 9. Good health.

Dr. Taylor says--"Plenty of men who possess only three of the above qualities can be hired at any time for laborer's wages. Add four of these qualities together, and you get a higher priced man. The man combining five of these qualities begins to be hard to find, and those with 6, 7 and 8 are almost impossible to get."

Yet, under Traditional Management these general qualities and many points of specific training were demanded of the foreman. Dr. Taylor has enumerated the qualifications or the duties of a gang boss in charge of lathes or planers.[7] Careful reading of this enumeration will show most plainly that the demands made were almost impossible of fulfillment.[8]

Another list which is interesting is found in "Cost Reducing System," a long list of the duties of the Ideal Superintendent or foreman in construction work.[9]

QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF FIRST CLASS FOREMAN

A first class foreman must have: bodily strength brains common sense education energy good health good judgment grit manual dexterity special knowledge tact technical knowledge.

He must be: able to concentrate his mind upon small things able to read drawings readily able to visualize the work at every stage of its progress, and even before it begins a master of detail honest master of at least one trade.

His duties consist of: considering broad policies. considering new applicants for important positions. considering the character and fitness of the men. determining a proper day's work. determining costs. determining the method of compensation. determining the sequence of events for the best results. disciplining the men. dividing the men into gangs for speed contests. fixing piece and day rates. getting rid of inferior men. handling relations with the unions. hiring good men. installing such methods and devices as will detect dishonesty. instructing the workman. keeping the time and disciplining those who are late or absent. laying out work. looking ahead to see that there are men enough for future work. looking ahead to see that there is enough future work for the men. making profits. measuring each man's effort fairly. obtaining good results in quality. paying the men on days when they are discharged. paying the men on pay day. preventing soldiering. readjusting wages. retaining good men. seeing that all men are honest. seeing that men are shifted promptly when breakdowns occur. seeing that repairs are made promptly before breakdowns occur, seeing that repairs are made promptly after breakdowns occur. seeing that the most suitable man is allotted to each part of the work. seeing that the work is not slighted. setting piece work prices. setting rates. setting tasks. supervising timekeeping. teaching the apprentices. teaching the improvers. teaching the learners.

In studying these lists we note--

1. That the position will be best filled by a very high and rare type of man. 2. That the man is forced to use every atom of all of his powers and at the same time to waste his energies in doing much unimportant pay reducing routine work, some of which could be done by clerks. 3. That in many cases the work assigned for him to do calls for qualifications which are diametrically opposed to each other. 4. That psychology tells us that a man fitted to perform some of these duties would probably be mentally ill fitted for performing others in the best possible way that they could be performed.

WORK NOT WELL DONE.--Not only does the foreman under Traditional Management do a great deal of work which can be done by cheaper men, but he also wastes his time on clerical work in which he is not a specialist, and, therefore, which he does not do as well as the work can be done by a cheaper man, and this takes more of his time than he ought to devote to it. The result is that the work is not done as well as it can and should be done.

A most perfect illustration of a common form of Traditional Management is the old story of the foreman, who, in making his rounds of the various parts of the work, comes to the deep hole being excavated for a foundation pier and says hurriedly--"How many of yez is there in the hole?" "Seven." "The half of yez come up."

The theoretical defects of the old type of management often seen before the advent of the trained engineer on the work include:--

1. lack of planning ahead. 2. an overworked foreman. 3. no functionalizing of the work. 4. no standards of individual efficiency. 5. unmeasured individual outputs. 6. no standard methods. 7. no attempt at teaching. 8. inaccurate directions. 9. lack of athletic contests. 10. no high pay for extra efficiency. 11. poor investigation of workers' special capabilities.

In spite of the fact that under unfunctionalized management the foreman has far more to do than he can expect to do well, the average foreman thinks that he belongs to a class above his position. This is partly because the position is so unstandardized that it arouses a sense of unrest, and partly because he has to spend much of his time at low priced functions.

Under the feeling of enmity, or at least, of opposition, which often exists, openly or secretly, between the average Traditional Management and men, the foreman must ally himself with one side or the other. If he joins with the men, he must countenance the soldiering, which they find necessary in order to maintain their rates of wages. Thus the output of the shop will seldom increase and his chance for appreciation and promotion by the management will probably be slight and slow. His position as boss, combined with that of ally of the men, is awkward.

If he allies himself to the management, he must usually become a driver of the men, if he wishes to increase output. This condition will never be agreeable to him unless he has an oversupply of brute instincts.

THE WORKERS NOT BEST UTILIZED.--Under the best types of Traditional Management we do find more or less spasmodic attempts at the functionalization of the worker. When there was any particular kind of work to be done, the worker who seemed to the manager to be the best fitted, was set at that kind of work. For example--if there was a particularly heavy piece of work he might say--"Let A do it because he is strong." If there was a particularly fine piece of work to be done he might say--"Let B do it because he is specially skilled." If there was a piece of work to be done which required originality, he might say--"Let C do it for the reason that he is inventive and resourceful;" but, in most cases, when the particular job on hand was finished, the worker selected to do it returned to other classes of work, and such special fitness or capability as he had, was seldom systematically utilized, or automatically assigned to his special function, neither was such experience as he had gained systematically conserved. Moreover, no such study of the work to be done had been made as would prove that the assignment of that particular worker to the work was right. The psychology of this was entirely wrong,--not only had no such study of the general and particular characteristics, traits, faculties, and talents of the man been made as would prove that he was the right man to be assigned, but the mere fact that he possessed one quality necessary for the work, if he really did possess it, was no sign that the other qualities which he possessed might not make him the wrong man to be chosen. Even if the man did happen to be assigned to work for which he was particularly suited, unless provision were made to keep him at such work only, to keep him well supplied with work, to allow time for rest, and to provide proper pay, he could not utilize his capabilities to the fullest extent.

TRANSITORY MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONALIZES.--Under Transitory Management, management becomes gradually more and more functionalized. With separated outputs and separate records, the worker's capabilities become apparent, and he can be assigned to the standardized positions which gradually evolve. Every recognition of individuality carries with it a corresponding functionalization of men and work.

FUNCTIONALIZATION A FUNDAMENTAL OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--With Scientific Management comes the realization that with close study and with functionalization only, can that provision and assignment of the work which is best for both work and worker be obtained. The principle is applied to every part of management, and results in

1. separating the planning from the performing. 2. functionalizing foremen. 3. functionalizing workers. 4. assigning competent workers to fitting work.

SEPARATING THE PLANNING FROM THE PERFORMING.--The emphasis on separating the planning from the performing in Scientific Management cannot be over-estimated. It is a part of Dr. Taylor's fourth principle of Scientific Management, "Almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen."[10] The greatest outputs can be achieved to the greatest benefit to managers and men when the work is divided, the management undertaking that part of the work that it is best fitted to do, the workmen performing that part which they are best fitted to do.

THE WORK OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.--It has been determined by actual experience that the line of division most agreeable to the managers and the workmen and most productive of coöperation by both, as well as most efficient in producing low costs, is that which separates the planning from the performing. Under Scientific Management the Planning Department relieves the man of determining--

1. what work is to be done. 2. sequence in which it is to be done. 3. method by which it shall be done. 4. where it shall be done. 5. which men shall do it. 6. time that it shall take. 7. exact quality of product. 8. quantity of additional pay that shall be given for doing it.

WORK OF THE WORKERS.--The men are simply given standard tasks to do, with teachers to help them, and a standard wage according to performance as a reward. There are but three things expected of them:--

1. coöperation with the management in obtaining the prescribed work, method and quality. 2. the exercise of their ingenuity in making improvements after they have learned the standard prescribed practice. 3. the fitting of themselves for higher pay and promotion.

FUNCTIONALIZED FOREMANSHIP.--The work that, under Scientific Management, is usually done by one man, the Foreman, is subdivided into eight or more functions. These functions are assigned to the following functional foremen:[11]

Planning Department 1. Order of work and route man 2. Instruction card man 3. Cost and time clerk 4. Disciplinarian

Performing Department 5. Gang boss 6. Speed boss 7. Repair boss 8. Inspector

Each of the above functions may be in charge of a separate man, or one man may be in charge of several functions, or several men may do the work of one function; the work being divided between them in some cases by further functionalizing it,--and in others by separating it into similar parts. Which of these conditions is most effective depends on the size of the job, or the nature of the job to be done. The important question is, not the number of men doing the planning, but the fact that every foreman, so far as is possible, is assigned to the special kind of work that he is best fitted to do with the greatest elimination of unnecessary waste.

CHANGES IN THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FOREMAN.--A Foreman, under Scientific Management, must have three qualifications. He must be

1. a specialist at the work that he is to do. 2. a good observer, able to note minute variations of method, work, and efficiency. 3. a good teacher.

A comparison of these qualifications with those of the foreman under Traditional Management, will show as important changes,--

1. the particular place in the field of knowledge in which the foreman must specialize. 2. the change in the type of criticism expected from the foreman. 3. the far greater emphasis placed on duties as a teacher.

IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHING FEATURE IN FUNCTIONAL FOREMANSHIP.-- The teaching feature of management,--the most important feature of Scientific Management,--will be discussed in the Chapter on Teaching. Only so much is included here as shows its derivation from the principle of functionalization, and its underlying importance.

Functionalization means specialization. This results in coöperation between foremen, between foremen and workers, and between workers. By "co-operate" is here meant not only "to work together," but also "to work together to promote the object." This coöperation persists not only because it is demanded by the work, but also because it is insured by the inter-dependent bonuses.

Functionalization under Scientific Management separates planning from performing. This means that the specialists who plan must teach the specialist who performs, this being the way in which they co-operate to the greatest personal advantage to all.

BASIS OF DIVISION INTO FUNCTIONS.--Under Scientific Management divisions are made on the basis of underlying ideas. Functions are not classified as they are embodied in particular men, but men are classified as they embody particular functions. This allows of standardization, through which alone can progress and evolution come quickest. It is comparatively easy and simple to standardize a function. Being a "set duty," it can be fixed, studied and simplified. It is extremely difficult and complex to standardize an individual. This standardizing of the function, however, in no wise stunts individuality. On the contrary, it gives each individual a chance to utilize his particular faculty for obtaining the greatest efficiency, pleasure and profit. This is well illustrated in the case of specialization in baseball, for excellence as a pitcher does not stunt the player as a catcher.

Functions may be subdivided as far as the nature of the work demands. Note here, again, that it is the relative complexity or simplicity of the nature of the work that is to be done that determines the degree of its functionalization, not the number of men employed at the work.

Note, also, that with every subdivision of functions comes greater opportunity for specialization, hence for individual development.

PLACE OF OPERATION OF THE FUNCTIONS.--Four functions of the eight find their place in the planning department. The other four are out on the work. That is to say,--the men who represent four functions work almost entirely in the planning room, while the men who represent the other four functions work mostly among the workers. This division is, however, largely a matter of convenience. Three of the first four groups of men communicate with the workers mostly in writing and are seldom engaged as observers, except in obtaining data for the creation of standards, while the fourth is often in the planning room. The last four usually communicate with the men orally, and must observe and teach the worker constantly.

In the descriptions that follow, each function is represented as embodied in one man, this aiding simplicity and clearness in description.

THE ORDER OF WORK AND ROUTE CLERK.--The Order of Work and Route Clerk lays out the exact path of each piece of work, and determines the sequence of events of moving and a general outline of performance.[12] With the requirements of the work in mind, the most efficient day's work for each worker is determined. The paths and sequences of transportation are outlined by means of route charts and route sheets showing graphical and detailed directions, which are the means by which the foremen of the other functions are enabled to coöperate with other foremen and with the workers.

The work of this function requires a practical man, of the successful foreman type, experienced in the class of work to be executed, who is also familiar with the theories of Scientific Management in general, and the work of the other foremen in particular, and who has the faculty of visualization and well developed constructive imagination. He must also have at his command in systematic form, and available for immediate use, records of previous experience.

THE INSTRUCTION CARD CLERK.--The Instruction Card Clerk prepares written directions for the workers as to what methods should be used in doing the work, the sequence of performance of the elements of the method, the speeds and action of the accompanying machinery, the time that each element should take for its performance, the time allowed for rest for overcoming fatigue caused by its performance, and the total elapsed time allowed for performing all of the work on the instruction card in order to obtain the unusually high additional wages as a reward for his skill and coöperation.

The work of this function requires the best available (but not necessarily the fastest), practical experienced man in the trade described, who also has had sufficient experience in motion study and time study to enable him to write down the best known method for doing the work described, and also prophesying the correct time that the work and rest from its resulting fatigue will take. He must supplement the instruction card with such sketches, drawings and photographs as will best assist the worker to visualize his work before and during its performance.

FUNCTION OF TIME AND COST CLERK.--The work done by the Time and Cost Clerk calls for accuracy and a love of statistical detail. It will help him if he knows the trades with which he is coöperating, but such knowledge is not absolutely essential. He will be promoted fastest who has a knowledge of the theory of management, coupled with the theory and practice of statistics and accountancy, for the true costs must include knowledge of costs of materials, and the distribution of the overhead burden of running expenses and selling.

FUNCTION OF THE DISCIPLINARIAN.--The function of the Disciplinarian must be discussed at length, both because of the psychological effect upon the men of the manner of the discipline and of the disciplinarian, and because of the fact that the disciplinarian is the functional foreman of the four in the planning department who comes in most personal contact with the workers, as well as all of the other foremen, and the Superintendent.

It is important to note, in the discussion that is to follow, not only how disciplining is transformed as management develops progressively, but also that the intimate acquaintance of discipliner with disciplined is not done away with, but rather supplemented by the standardizing which is the outcome of Scientific Management.

The defects of methods of disciplining under Traditional Management are remedied, but here, as always, Scientific Management retains and develops that which is good. This because the good in the older forms conformed, unconsciously, to the underlying laws.

DEFECTS OF DISCIPLINING UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.--Under Traditional Management, the disciplining is done by the foreman; that is, the punishment is meted out by the man who has charge of all activities of the men under him. This is actually, in practice and in theory, psychologically wrong. If there is one man who should be in a state of mind that would enable him to judge dispassionately, it is the disciplinarian. The man to be disciplined is usually guilty of one of six offenses:

1. an offense against an employé of a grade above him. 2. an offense against an employé of the same grade. 3. an offense against an employé of a grade below him. 4. falling short in the quality of his work. 5. falling short in the quantity of his work. 6. an offense against the system (disobeying orders), falling down on schedule, or intentionally not coöperating.

The employé over him, or the foreman, to whom he is supposed to have done some injustice, would be in no state of mind to judge as to the man's culpability. In the case of an offense against an employé of the same grade, the best that the injured employé could do would be to appeal to his foreman, who oftentimes is not an unprejudiced judge, and the multiplicity of whose duties give him little time to give attention to the subject of disciplining.

If the offense is against quantity or quality of work, again the old fashioned foreman, for lack of time, and for lack of training and proper standards of measurement, will find it almost impossible to know how guilty the man is, and what form of punishment and what amount of punishment or loss of opportunity for progress will be appropriate.

CHANGES IN DISCIPLINARIAN'S FUNCTION UNDER SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT.--All this is changed under Scientific Management. The disciplinarian is a specially appointed functional foreman, and has few other duties except those that are directly or indirectly connected with disciplining. He is in touch with the requirements of the work, because he is in the Planning Department; he is in touch with the employment bureau, and knows which men should be employed; he has a determining voice in deciding elementary rate fixing and should always be consulted before wages are changed or a reassignment of duties is determined. All of these are great advantages to him in deciding justly and appropriately punishments and promotion, not for the workers alone but also for the foremen and the managers.

DUTIES OF THE DISCIPLINARIAN.--The Disciplinarian keeps a record of each man's virtues and defects; he is in position to know all about the man; where he comes from; what his natural and acquired qualifications are; what his good points, possibilities and special fitness are; what his wages are, and his need for them. All that it is possible for the managers to know of the men is to be concentrated in this disciplinarian. He is, in practice, more the counsel and advocate of the worker than an unsympathetic judge, as is indicated by the fact that his chief function is that of "diplomat" and "peacemaker." His greatest duty is to see that the "square deal" is meted out without fear or favor to employer or to employé.