Part 4

There should be no absentee management. The men who manage must be in close touch with the work and the workers--not merely through written or oral reports, but by actual observation.

Travel, study and observation of other connections and work are necessary, but the home must be with the industrial plant and that must be the prime interest.

LIMITATIONS OF MAN'S PROGRESS.

It is not contemplated that all men will become managers or office men. Such positions are not of a kind that is satisfactory to many of our ablest men. Some are happiest in work in which they acquire great skill. They are disturbed and made uncomfortable when required to solve mental problems. Some of the greatest achievements have been wrought by such men, who have been highly honored in the past and such men will have more recognition as time goes on, for we are coming to understand the fact that we must depend on such men for special ability in the form of skill, whether it is in the surgery, mechanics, art or any other branch or division of work or the professions. Such men are not talkers and do not force themselves into spectacular positions. To say that there is no progress for the surgeon if he cannot become manager of the hospital, nor for the skilled worker if he cannot become manager of the industrial plant, would not be in keeping with facts for we know that such men have made the greatest contribution to the world's welfare.

This plan of individual progress should not be disturbing to the worker who has come to a standstill. It is the ideal toward which we must work. It can never be wholly attained, but such a policy will make a vast difference with the prospects of all workers and in the success of industrial organizations.

PROTECT THE INDUSTRIAL SPIRIT.

Industries and the workers should be protected from incompetent managers, investigators and impractical theorists.

Industries and the workers go forward by actual work, not on manipulation of stocks, bonds, laws and schemes to wreck or boost for temporary gain of some one interest.

In general it is safe to have faith in the honesty of the workers and those who cooperate with them--at least we can start with the assumption that honesty and square dealing are not monopolized by other professions.

If we will remember that an industry has a vitality the same as a man, that its life can be destroyed by an ignorant investigator with a probe poking into every nerve and muscle, we will make Vermont a more natural place for industrial development and progress.

The attitude of the workers and the general public should be cordial instead of antagonistic for every desirable industry is an asset of great value.

In theory and law an industry belongs to the stockholders, at least it is for the stockholders to elect the board of directors who through practical officers manage the business; but, as a matter of actual fact, to the man who has the best job in the world for himself right in that organization, the life of the organization is of greater importance than it is to any one of the stockholders. In the same sense the existence of the industry is of greater value to many others in the organization and in the community than it is to the stockholders.

Hence, anything that interferes with the success of the organization injures many people.

WHAT IS NOT AN INDUSTRY.

Perhaps it will be well to state first what does not constitute an industry. Power, transportation facilities, fine buildings, fine machinery and a group of skilled workmen, a complete office staff and an elaborate system of fad management do not constitute an industry. Such an aggregation might be likened to a cargo ship all ready for service excepting that it lacks a captain and navigating officer and some one to determine what kind of a cargo to take, where to go and how to get there.

The greatest value of an industrial plant that has everything but a work to do and a leader to determine its major policies, lies in the skilled workers and able executives in work and office. The buildings and machinery come next in value, but the whole thing is worthless without the idea and the vision.

"DEAD" ORGANIZATIONS.

In all cities we can see "dead" organizations. Many of these companies that are actually "dead" seem to have life in them because they continue to move, but in many instances the motion is only due to the momentum of a push that was given years ago.

A "dead" organization may show signs of life in its gradual growth in size, but its real character is to be seen in the extent to which it is departing from specialization or by the continued use of antiquated methods and buildings.

The departure from specialization is generally due to either lack of courage to discard obsolete designs or to an inclination to consider the business from the selling end only.

It takes courage to discard an old model and it also takes courage to refuse to build some new invention.

The indifferent management carries the old and takes on the new. This policy covering many years creates a condition that is far removed from the specialization plan.

The management that views everything from the selling side of the business is also inclined to go on indefinitely increasing the line of goods manufactured.

The drift away from specialization may not be disasters today or tomorrow, especially, if there are no competitors who are specialists, but the inevitable result will be the burial of the "dead" organization when a real competitor comes into the field.

The calamity of the existence of "dead" industrial organizations is something more than the ultimate loss to the stockholders, it is the deplorable stagnation in which the workers find themselves with their progress blocked by lifeless management.

SOME INDUSTRIAL HOWS, WHYS AND WHATS.

How groups of men achieve the highest results in expenditure of given energy.

What is necessary to establish such conditions.