The Psychology of Management Part 12

13. President's Annual Address, Dec., 1906. Vol. 28, Transactions A.S.M.E.

14. _American Journal of Physiology_, 1904, XI, pp. 145-170.

15. R.T. Dana, For Construction Service Co., _Handbook of Steam Shovel Work_, p. 161. H.P. Gillette, Vol. I, p. 71, A.S.E.C.

16. F.W. Taylor, Vol. 28, A.S.M.E., Paper 1119, para. 68.

17. Hugo Munsterberg, _American Problems_, p. 37.

18. G.M. Stratton, _Experimental Psychology and Culture_, p. 59.

19. Henry Metcalfe, _Cost of Manufactures_.

20. F.W. Taylor, _Shop Management_, para. 46. Harper Ed., p. 30.

F.W. Taylor, _A Piece Rate System_, Paper 647, A.S.M.E., para. 22.

CHAPTER V

a.n.a.lYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

DEFINITION OF a.n.a.lYSIS.--"a.n.a.lysis," says the Century Dictionary is "the resolution or separation of anything which is compound, as a conception, a sentence, a material substance or an event, into its const.i.tuent elements or into its causes;" that is to say, a.n.a.lysis is the division of the thing under consideration into its definite cause, and into its definite parts or elements, and the explanation of the principle upon which such division is made.[1]

DEFINITION OF SYNTHESIS.--"Synthesis" is, "a putting of two or more things together; composition; specifically, the combination of separate elements of objects of thought into a whole, as of simple into compound or complex conceptions, and individual propositions into a system."

USE OF a.n.a.lYSIS AND SYNTHESIS BY PSYCHOLOGY.--a.n.a.lysis is defined by Sully as follows: "a.n.a.lysis" is "taking apart more complex processes in order to single out for special inspection their several const.i.tuent processes."

He divides elements of thought activity into two

"(a) a.n.a.lysis: abstraction (b) synthesis: comparison."

Speaking of the latter, he says, "The clear explicit detachment in thought of the common elements which comparison secures allows of a new reconstructive synthesis of things as made up of particular groupings of a number of general qualities."

PLACE OF a.n.a.lYSIS AND SYNTHESIS IN MANAGEMENT.--Any study of management which aims to prove that management may be, and under Scientific Management is, a science, must investigate its use of a.n.a.lysis and of synthesis.[2] Upon the degree and perfection of the a.n.a.lysis depends the permanent value and usefulness of the knowledge gained. Upon the synthesis, and what it includes and excludes, depends the efficiency of the results deduced.

LITTLE a.n.a.lYSIS OR SYNTHESIS UNDER TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT.-- Under Traditional Management a.n.a.lysis and synthesis are so seldom present as to be negligible. Success or failure are seldom if ever so studied and measured that the causes are well understood.

Therefore, no standards for future work that are of any value can be established. It need only be added that one reason why Traditional Management makes so little progress is because it makes no a.n.a.lyses that are of permanent value. What data it has are available for immediate use only. Practically every man who does the work must "start at the beginning," for himself. If this is often true of entire methods, it is even more true of elements of methods. As elements are not studied and recorded separately, they are not recognized when they appear again, and the resultant waste is appalling. This waste is inevitable with the lack of cooperation under Traditional Management and the fact that each worker plans the greater part of his work for himself.

a.n.a.lYSIS AND SYNTHESIS APPEAR LATE IN TRANSITORY MANAGEMENT.-- Division of output appears early in Transitory Management, but it is usually not until a late stage that motion study and time study are conducted so successfully that scientifically determined and timed elements can be constructed into standards. As everything that is attempted in the line of a.n.a.lysis and synthesis under Transitory Management is done scientifically under Scientific Management, we may avoid repet.i.tion by considering Scientific Management at once.

RELATION OF a.n.a.lYSIS AND SYNTHESIS IN SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDIZATION.--a.n.a.lysis considers the subject that is to be measured,--be it individual action or output of any kind,--and divides it into such a number of parts, and parts of such a nature, as will best suit the purpose for which the measurement is taken. When these subdivisions have been measured, synthesis combines them into a whole.[3] Under Scientific Management, through the measurements used, synthesis is a combination of those elements which are necessary only, and which have been proven to be most efficient. The result of the synthesis is standardized, and used until a more accurate standard displaces it.

Under Scientific Management a.n.a.lysis and synthesis are methods of determining standards from available knowledge. Measurement furnishes the means.

a.n.a.lYST'S WORK IS DIVISION.--It is the duty of the a.n.a.lyst to divide the work that he is set to study into the minutest divisions possible. What is possible is determined by the time and money that can be set aside for the investigation.

THE NATURE OF THE WORK MUST DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF a.n.a.lYSIS PRACTICABLE.--In determining the amount of time and money required, it is necessary to consider--

1. the cost of the work if done with no special study.

2. how many times the work is likely to be repeated.

3. how many elements that it contains are likely to be similar to elements in work that has already been studied.

4. how many new elements that it contains are likely to be available in subsequent work.

5. the probable cost of the work after it has been studied-- (a) the cost of doing it.

(b) the cost of the investigation.

6. The loss, if any, from delaying the work until after it has been studied.

7. the availability of trained observers and measurers, a.n.a.lysts and synthesists.

8. the available money for carrying on the investigations.

These questions at least must be answered before it is possible to decide whether study shall be made or not, and to what degree it can be carried.

COST THE DETERMINING FACTOR.--It is obvious that in all observation in the industrial world cost must be the princ.i.p.al determining feature. Once the cost can be estimated, and the amount of money that can be allowed for the investigation determined, it is possible at least to approximate satisfactory answers to the other questions. How closely the answers approximate depends largely on the skill and experience of the a.n.a.lyst.

The greater number of times the work is to be repeated, the less the ultimate cost. The more elements contained similar to elements already determined, the less the additional cost, and the less the time necessary. The more elements contained that can be used again, even in different work, the less the ultimate cost. The better trained the a.n.a.lyst, the less the immediate or additional cost and time.

Much depends on the amount of previous data at hand when the investigation is being made, and on the skill and speed of the a.n.a.lyst in using these data.

PROCESS OF DIVISION UNENDING.--In practice, the process of division continues as long as it can show itself to be a method for cost reducing. Work may be divided into processes: each process into subdivisions; each subdivision into cycles; each cycle into elements; each element into time units; each time unit into motions,--and so on, indefinitely, toward the "indivisible minimum."[4]

MEASURING MAY TAKE PLACE AT ANY STAGE.--At any of these stages of division the results may be taken as final for the purpose of the study,--and the operations, or final divisions of the work at that stage, may be measured.

To obtain results with the least expenditure of time, the operations must be subjected to motion study before they are timed as well as after. This motion study can be accurate and of permanent value only in so far as the divisions are final. The resulting improved operations are then ready to be timed.

ULTIMATE a.n.a.lYSIS THE FIELD OF PSYCHOLOGY.--When the a.n.a.lyst has proceeded as far as he can in dividing the work into prime factors the problem continues in the field of psychology. Here the opportunities for securing further data become almost limitless.

ULTIMATE a.n.a.lYSIS JUSTIFIABLE.--It is the justification for a.n.a.lysis to approach the ultimate as nearly as possible, that the smaller and more difficult of measurement the division is, the more often it will appear in various combinations of elements. The permanence and exactness of the result vary with the effort for obtaining it.

QUALIFICATIONS OF AN a.n.a.lYST.--To be most successful, an a.n.a.lyst should have ingenuity, patience, and that love of dividing a process into its component parts and studying each separate part that characterizes the a.n.a.lytic mind. The a.n.a.lyst must be capable of doing accurate work, and orderly work.

To get the most pleasure and profit from his work he should realize that his great, underlying purpose is to relieve the worker of unnecessary fatigue, to shorten his work period per day, and to increase the number of his days and years of higher earning power.

With this realization will come an added interest in his subject.

WORKER SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS OF a.n.a.lYSIS.--It is not enough that the worker should understand the methods of measurement.

He can get most from the resultant standards and will most efficiently cooperate if he understands the division into elements to be studied.

SCHOOLS SHOULD PROVIDE TRAINING.--Much of the training in a.n.a.lysis in the schools comes at such a late period of the course that the average industrial worker must miss a large part of it.

This is a defect in school training that should be remedied. Even very young children soon are capable of, and greatly enjoy, dividing a process into elements. If the worker be taught, in his preparations, and in the work itself, to divide what he does into its elements, he will not only enjoy a.n.a.lysis of his work, but will be able to follow the a.n.a.lysis in his own mind, and to cooperate better in the processes of measurement.

THE SYNTHESIST'S WORK IS SELECTION AND ADDITION.--The synthesist studies the individual results of the a.n.a.lyst's work, and their inter-relation, and determines which of these should be combined, and in what manner, for the most economic result. His duty is to construct that combination of the elements which will be most efficient.

IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION MUST BE EMPHASIZED.--If synthesis in Scientific Management were nothing more than combining all the elements that result from a.n.a.lysis into a whole, it would be valuable. Any process studied a.n.a.lytically will be performed more intelligently, even if there is no change in the method.

But the most important part of the synthesist's work is the actual elimination of elements which are useless, and the combination of the remaining elements in such a way, or sequence, or schedule, that a far better method than the one a.n.a.lyzed will result.

We may take an example from Bricklaying.[5] In "Stringing Mortar Method, on the Filling Tiers before the Days of the Pack-on-the-Wall-Method"--the division, which was into operations only, showed eighteen operations and eighteen motions for every brick that was laid. Study and synthesis of these elements resulted in a method that required only 1 3/4 motions to lay a brick. Over half the original motions were found to be useless, hence entirely omitted. In several other cases it was found possible to make one motion do work for two or four brick, with the same, or less, fatigue to the worker.

RESULT IS THE BASIS FOR THE TASK.--The result of synthesis is the basis for the task,--it becomes the standard that shows what has actually been done, and what can be expected to be repeated. It is important to note the relation between the task and synthesis.

When it becomes generally understood that the "Task," under Scientific Management is neither an ideal which exists simply in the imagination, nor an impossibly high estimate of what can be expected,--but is actually the sum of observed and timed operations, plus a definite and sufficient percentage of allowance for overcoming the fatigue,--then much objection to it will cease.

GENERAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE THE CHIEF CAUSE OF OBJECTION TO THE TASK.--As is the case with most objections to Scientific Management, or its elements, ignorance is the chief obstacle to the introduction and success of the Task Idea. This ignorance seems to be more or less prevalent everywhere among managers as well as workers.

Scientific Management can, and does, succeed even when the workers are ignorant of many of its fundamental principles, but it will never make the strides that it should until every man working under it, as well as all outside, understand _why_ it is doing as it does, as well as _what_ is done.