Document Yr591mxZEoXE0OXLbKm08DqjE

FILE NAME: Household Contact (HC) DATE: 1921 DOC#: HC043 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Book Excerpt - Business Administration Business A dministration BY LION CARROLL MARSHALL \ I t h e u n i v e r s i t y of Chicago press CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Canmm in Br tm tlMmtmr o Ose* *0&.*feSrJ FkMMkI DeoMlxf 19 S*i tofwista Jtmurr iw 1>Wlmp*** S^taaberifn Foasthiasps*ki Jmmty igij TWCWto#n#** * amVa*v3o&r*tm PREFACE CdEkgiate training for business administration is now sso widely attempted that the time has arrived whim experiments should be conducted looking toward the organisation of the business curriculum into a coherent whole. Training in scattered " business subjects'-' was defensible enough in the earlier days of collegiate business training, bat such a method cannot be permanent It mast yield to a more compreboisiv organisation. p iere can be no doubt that many experiments will be conducted looking toward tMg goal; they are, indeed, already under way. This safes, " Materials for the Study of Business," marks one stage in such an experiment in the School of Commerce and Administration of the University of Chicago. . 14 appropriate that the hypotheses on winch this experiment is behsg conducted be set forth. la general terms the reasoning w tof the experiment rum as follows: The business executive administers his b asin under conditions imposed by his environment, both physical and social. The student should accordingly have an under standing of the physics! environment This justifies attention to the eanh^adeam. He should also have an understanding of the rodal environment ami must accordingly give attention to ernes, law, ecmomfcs, social psychology, and other branches of the social sciences. His knowledge of environment should not be too abstract in character. It should be given practical content, and should be closely related to Ms knowledge of the internal problems of management Thiamaybe accomplished through a range of courses dealing with b u rin admin istration wherein the student may become acquainted with w h m i . tea as the measuring aids of control, the communicating aids of canted, organisation policies and methods; the manager's relation to production, to labor, to finance, to technology, to risk-bearing, to the market, to sodal control, etc. Business is, after all, a p r im arily organised scheme of gratifying human wants, and, properly understood, M b little short of bring as broad, as inclusive, as life iisdf in its motives, aspirations, and soda! obligations. It falls fittle short of being as broad as all science in Its technique. Training t o the task of the badness administrator must haw breadth and depth comparable with those of the task. 50 vM PREFACE BM W ELEMENTS OF THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM 01 problems of adjustment to physical environment a} The earth sciences t The manager's rekoasWp to these Of problems of technology a) Physics through mechanics, basic, and other sciences as appropriate b) The manager's administra tion of production CONTEOl . Commuakating aids of control, for example a) English J) Forngn lar^juage a. Measuring aids of coatrol, for a) Mathematics ) Statistics and accounting 3. Standards aad practices of con trol a) Psychology b) Qrgamra&a policies and methods Of problems of finance a) The financial orpnk&tion of society b) The manager's adminis tration of finsmg-p Of problems ccmnectod with the market a) Market functions and mar ket structure b) The manager's administra tion of marketing (induding purchasing and traffic) Of problems of risk and risk bearing a) The risk aspects of modern industrial society b) The manager's admimstrathat of risk-bearing Of problems of personnel a) The position of the worker in modem industrial society b) The manager's administra tion of personnel Of problems of adjustment to social environment ) The historical background b) The socio-economic insti tutional life c) Business law and govern ment preface te Stating til* m atte m another way, the modem business admin istrator is essentially &solver of b asin probims-- problems of bas- 0 poifcy, of mganizatbn, and of operation. These problems, great in number ami broad in scope, divide themselves into certain type groups, and is each type group there are certain classes erf obstacles to be overcome, as well as certain aida, or materials of solution. M these problems are arranged (x) to show the significance of the organising and administrative, or control, activities of the modern reapom&ie manager, and (a) to indicate appropriate foM of train ing, the diagram on the opposite page (which disregards much over lapping and interacting) rsulta. It sets forth the present hypothesis of the School of Commerce and Administration concerning the dements of the business curriculum, covering both secondary school and collegiate work. In this curiicuhua the present volume is designed to serve part of a general introduction. It is used as the bask material fat & beginner's coarse in B urin Mministratioa. This course pr<n) another dealing with the physical environment of business and follows still another which considers social environment The throe courses thus constitute a survey of the physical and aocM environ* meats of b urin and a general analysis of the outstanding relation ships of the busin administrator. la its scheme of presentation I think of thfe volume as being op of four parts. Chapter I, a very brief first part, presents a general view of the field of study and a certain mental attitude toward the field. Because I have no better term for this mental attitude, I call it a functional approach to the study of b u rin administration. Chapter ii, a somewhat longer second part, examines a business pmbkm-- mt of p in t fixation-- a means of giving the student confidence ia the analysis of busin problems which is rin>*hvl rath- abstractly in the first chapter and as a means of iiyfiM-fag him to think of the outstanding relationships of the administrator as highly interdependent activits. Chapters ifi-te form a rather bulky third part of the book. Bara, one after another of the functions of the b u sin adminis trator is discussed, with particular reference to the of the problems Involved and to the control policies and devices of the manager. The read will find that the book is a " what and why" book rather than a " how" bock. It is not a manual of technical % PREFACE and devices in business. It k m attempt to see the prob- k s s of busings administration as as interrelated whole and to rndk&te the lines of study which will presumably lead to aotatioa of those problems. Chapter x, the brief fourth part, presents fa moderate detail a " business case" for the student to analyze. It is a sort of an add test of Ids earlier study. From the point of view of teaching technique, this study of business administration is worked out through what is called, again for lack of a better name, the discussion method. Questions, mob* teas, and cases are the tods of the discussion method and all are employed in this book. Some ways of using these tools may be illustrated as follows: If a class were given an ordinary textual reading oa plant location and the class meeting were conducted by asking such questions as, " What are the more important factors in cotton rail location?" it would fee possible, at least, to get a discussion started among maibra of the class, although it must be admitted that the a degenerate into formal routine questioning and answering. H, an the other hand, the class were given a M l account of the procedure followed by the Spiaweii Company fa determining 1 appropriate location for its new plant, we could readily have a discussion par ticipated fa by the students as a result of their analysis of flit material. Case study by students presumes a knowledge at the outeet of the main factor* to be considered, Tim questioning on the part of the instructor would almost necessarily go deeper fat the m atte than routine questioning and answering. The student wouM be almost certain to carry away a more vivid appreciation of thissues at stake, because fa the case method the mind a aroused to activity to pits* together related facte fa order to find new mean ing fa them. A third possible tool of the discussion method fa the problem, and this may be of almost any grade of severity and may of muse be combined with case material. If, for example, the Spiaweii Company case contained an analysts of several possible locations without reaching a conclusion oa more fa n one, the class discussion might weB analyze the correctness erf this iw wfoefan or wgh be directed toward listing fa order of preference the three most dwamhf* locations, giving reasons for the order chosen. This would probably be a problem of only moderate severity if the rase were well written I \ , - :r CKBPACE xi up. A more severe problem could be set by asking the class to deter mine whether a certain location, not mentioned in the case, would net have been still better than the one chosen. Now the ttd must presumably secure new data concerning this new location as their first step in solving the problem. This brings to of coarse a new opportunity for mental din^pline As the preamt book is designed for w e to an introductory course surveying the whole field of business administration, it does not include advanced problems. It embodies, none the less, a case and problem approach, and its emphasis is on the case and problem method, although as a transitional collection it has been thought wise to include enough material and questions of the more routine sort to enable the instructor to adapt his teaching method*to the stage of maturity and preparation of individual students and ** The final chapter--to my mind the most interesting bit of tecl*ng method in the book--Is a " case" of rather wide reach. Ith asbem my experience that Freshmen can and do handle this reasonably well at the dose of the course; a stimulatiag hint to the possibilities for more advanced courses. Perhaps it is worth adding that there is no question that these posmbflities can be realized. For more than a decade the group with wtskh I am so fortunate as to be working has bear developing a case-sad-proble presentation to economics and business subjects. We find the method particularly well adapted to our fatormedfato and advanced courses, and much of our instruction to fo* &H is now m the ease-and-problem basis. This to course does not mean that the lecture and the textbook do not have an appropriate place in instruction. It will be noticed that no effort; has been made to give exhaustive bibliographies. I t has seemed sufficient to an introductory survey, to suggest at the end to each chapter a few references for further study. The most modest library asmmeet the demand thus HdU. It Is hardly possible for me to give appropriate recognition of the assistance I lave received from many sources during the preparation of this material. I f has passed through three mimeographed editions, twopampMet editions, anda "preliminary'' edition to its present form. During this rather lengthy period to preparation eriietma and , have flowed in from almost every member of the group with which I am most closely associated as well as from many other collegiate tmtruetora. M y debt to authors and publish who i ,,1 v * a! PREFACE haw 0kindly consented to the use of their material is equally great I must mention particularly the assistance of W aite Smith, Ruth Reticker, Mildred Jaaovsky, May Freedman, and Dorothea k gathering material and the kindness ,of Professor C. 0 . Hardy k preparing the chapter on " The Administration of Risk-Bearing." A conscientious effort has been made to give credit where credit was due. I am quite certain, however, that many questions have been taken from sources whose origk has been forgotten in the long period of preparation. General acknowledgment of this indebtedness is here given. Vm nm ny or Chicago September i, tgat L. C. Maeshah. S j8 BWSIMESS ABMIKTSTRATIOH Possibility of preventing mddettis.-- Espmmce has shown feat k8* 5 Pr < t of it Industrial aoddmts are preventable. Twenty-two of fee foremost industrial concen of fee United States i^xirt an average redaction of 54 per cent in yearly aedcteats after fee introduction of organized safety work. The TnfartwSnf i Har- veste Company, fee Nasaah Paper Company, fee Blinofa Sted Ccfflpaay, and the Milwaukee Coke and Gas Company srqxwtrf a reduction of more than 80 per cent. In eighteen months fee Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company, la &plant employing taw em three and four hundred people, reduced accidents 56 per and a it down compensation costs. Safety dmees,~To accomplish these results m a y ingenious safety devices haw been developed to protect workmen, ra-- hoods catch fee fine steel splinters from fee emery wheel; goggles cover fee metal grinder's eyes; " congress shoes" wife atari plated foes protect fee molder from a scalding should he spill fee hot metal he is carrying; " safety nets" catch fee falling workmen, tools, or materials in coastraction work; automatically locking doe protect efevator shafts in office building and factory, etc. Importance of personal equation m tke rsdmiim of Mechanical appliances play an essential but comparatively mail part in accident prevention. By far fee largo- number of acrid is dependent on fee person or persons involved. This has been demonstrated repeatedly tj| studies of causes cf acdcknts and of methods of preventing than, "l i e experience at fee Illinois Sled Company, one of fee pioneer companies in safety work, has M to evaluate fee different methods Of attacking fee accident problem, Only per cent of the total reduction in aeddents is attributed to fee introduction of mechanical appliances, and another 8 par cent to improved lighting and dmniineas. Educatiag by means of kcturw, or bulletins, or instruction while a t work, was held accountable h r 30 per cent of fee reduction and fee organization of Safety Ctmrnnt- tM teaopareat- m q ^ k n cefa ^ a i ' fi. P R E V E N T p i OF OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE1 Prevalence of industrial km&k homris.-- Nowhere has these been sufficient appreciation of fee extent and variety of occupational disease. Hr. H&yhurst, after an extensive study, states that aimm ` Tates by penaisrion fawn I*. Ki F ra te i t e A tasteer M a t e , Tim Bmtm Bmkx m Industry, pp. 144-44. (Xhs M an. igaa) ra ABunmmAnm of fkrsonnh, m one fourth to ae third of the medical afflictions of trad, persons are due in the whole or in p eat p a t, to industrial health hazards" . i/mped mcmimg to hamds.-- In his study of Ohio industries Dr, Hayhurst classifies the industries a; (x) Thom using poisons as a chid hazard. * (a) Dusty industries. 3} Those in which fatigue and inactivity are the rfoVf hanrds. (4) Ihoae hi which heat, odd,moisture,or ifaaip^ predominate, (5) Those in which there is more than usual liability to con. trading communicable Hfawym_ (d) Industries having miscellaneous hazards not included above. H e hugest d a is probably the dusty industria It has been estimated that approximately 5,600,000, or ry per cent of American wage earners of both serai, work under conditions more or less injurie to health because of atmospheric impurities esim d by dust, femes, or gas. Professor Winslow has Mated some 54 tarad i which fine particles of bone, hair, metal, and mineral vegetable materials form a dust which it Is more or less Hnngmw to breathe, m i b y m means covers &l! the industries, processes, and occupations which give rise to dust; almost evw y manufacturing process may espose wmfcers to this hazard unless fweeautfons are taken. IVfMii/iliN mawwsi.---A large amount of the rich- aosm and premature deaths may be prevented with comparatively little effort or a t on the part of the emgfoyar.. Many occupational oisresea may be prevented by; (*) Securing the scientific ventilation of workrooms, especially by the installation of efficient local exhausts which remove dust at points of generation. In some industries, such as in mririg refimng,^ fountain-pea-point mamifecturiag, jewelry, etc., the dust created k valuable, and it has been found profitable to recover the valuable malarial foam the collected dust by means of a patented tectricfl predpitation procrea (3) Securing cleanliness by providing ample washing or bath ing facilities. Some plants provide separate lockers for street dothtog and working clothing, so arranged that worker must remow Ms working clothes*hang them up to dry or place than in the lockera, and must them pssi through the shower room before he can get to his locker containing street clothing. {3) Wearing of proper protective clothing, viz., respirators and goggle* in dusty processes'which cannot be taken care of by 140 BOSIHBSS MJMJMSTMllON ventilation, as is aand*bksting and emery-wheel grinding; boots and gloves in wet and chemical processes; special shoes for foundry workers; helmets for welders; water-cooled furnace doors for -hot- process workers; overalls, aprons, caps, etc. . (4) iwtrHming the working hoars (and, therefore, the period of exposure), allowing rest o r" spell" periods in fatiguing and exhaust ing work. (5) Requiring physiol examinations at entrance, to weed out flm r unfit for work and to place others where they are best suited physically; and periodically to ascertain whether workers are suffering from the effects of their occupations so that changes may be made and treatment or necessary advice given. (6) Providing medical care, including first aid and necessary subsequent treatment , (f) Giving health instruction and safety education. (8) Proper layout of plant and good housekeeping so that workers in one process are not unnecessarily exposed to the hazards of another adjacent process. . (9) Sanitation of plant to prevent the spreading of ammmr- diseases. This indudes adequate and proper toilet h a k im , mmtssy bubbling fountains, individual towels, spittoons, etc. y. THE M M m 'BMANCE OP PHYSICAL FITNESS* Various ways are rm^lnown by which fatigue can be dd without decreasing the output and even in some cases with a s Increase of it. When fatigue is caused by work inside factories, it is otwfomdy controlled more easily than when caused by the conditions of kving of the workers outside. . Tufrodwtin^ rmss pertods.--Om cf the common methods m redudag fatigue is by introducing recess or resting periods *m ng a working spell. During such periods, which, to Older to be effective, must be obligatory and not discretionary cm the part of rim worker^ they have an opportunity to rest, relax, move about, and engage to other rimtoa^ecreation. A little food or a cup of tea or cocoa taken at such o n e is often remarkably restorative. A very editing instance of the benefits of resting periods la s recently been published. " Two offices at the front recently, for a friendly wager, competed In making equal lengths of a certain trench, each with an m m t o * Reptmt 48*, UniUd SUM M ik *Mft (Government Printing Office, *91.) - r**-