9 



None of these methods is ' scientific ' enough for the advocates of 

 Scientific Management,and the three American leaders of the movement 

 Taylor, Gantt, and Emerson have all put forward methods of their 

 own. To these methods and to the various premium bonus systems 

 in operation in this country, we must now turn our attention. 



The Taylor system, now almost extinct in its pure form, is that of the 

 differential piece-rate. It is in fact a combination of task-work with a 

 double piece-rate. . First, on a basis of time-study, a task is fixed to 

 be accomplished in a given time say five ' pieces ' an hour. Two piece- 

 rates are then fixed, and all workers who fall below the standard task 

 are paid at the lower piece-rate, while all who reach or exceed the task 

 are paid for their whole product at the higher rate. It is thus a system 

 of rewards and punishments : the slack or the inefficient worker is 

 not paid any guaranteed time-rate, and is moreover penalised by a low 

 piece-rate. The quicker worker, on the other hand, is not merely paid 

 more in proportion to output, but is paid at a higher rate per piece. 

 The result is obvious. Between two workers of almost the same 

 capacity, a great gulf is fixed. The worker who is below the fixed 

 level of output is left with three possible alternatives : either to reach 

 by overdrive the standard output, or to leave the industry, or to 

 starve. The slow worker is either overdriven, or eliminated, or starved. 

 Taylor assumes that he or she is eliminated ; but under the conditions 

 of unorganised or sweated industry he or she is fully as likely to be 

 starved, especially in cases where overhead costs are light, and the 

 employer has no special motive for desiring a high level of output 

 from the individual worker. Indeed, it is the testimony of investigators 

 that this is what has actually happened in some so-called ' scientific 

 management ' shops. There is no semblance of justice in Taylor's 

 system, which does not even remunerate the worker according to 

 output. 



Gantt's system, known as the task and bonus system, has been far more 

 widely adopted. It is, in fact, an improved version of Taylor's. It 

 also begins by fixing a standard task say, again, five ' pieces ' an hour. 

 It then fixes a piece price (say 2d. a ' piece ') and an hourly rate 

 (2d. X 5=10d.). This hourly rate is guaranteed irrespective of output ; 

 but the worker who reaches or exceeds the standard task receives 

 a bonus (say of 30 per cent.) on the piece-price. The effect of this 

 system can be best set out by way of a table : 



NUMBER OF PIECES EARNINGS PRICE 



MADE PER HOUR. PER HOUR. PER PIECE. 



3 .. .. lOd 3.3d. 



4 .. .. 10d 2.5d. 



5 .. .. Is. Id 2.6d. 



6 . . . . Is. 3.6d 2.6d. 



7 Is. 6.2d 2.6d. 



This table clearly shows certain things which the system is so devised 

 as to conceal. In the first place, the price per piece is uniform for all 



