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F.W. Taylor's contribution to organizational
theory:
 This
required an organization theory similar for all practical purposes
to that advocated by those organizational theorists who followed.
These theorists developed principles of management which included
much of Taylor's philosophy.
His
framework for organization was:
- clear delineation of authority
- responsibility
- separation of planning from operations
- incentive schemes for workers
- management by exception
- task specialization
Some
problems:
However, there were problems！Taylor's papers were not always
well received, as many of his ideas were associated with bad practice,
such as rate-cutting by unscrupulous managers.
In 1911 and 1912 Taylor was questioned at length by a special
committee of the US House of Representatives. As a result laws were
passed banning the use of stop-watches by civil servants and it
was only in 1949 that this restriction was lifted.
Taylor's view of the motivations of workers have had a profound
influence throughout the century until the present day. His belief
that man was rational and would make economic choices based on the
degree of monetary reward led him to devise payment systems that
closely related the kind of effort he sought with the level of reward
offered.
Not surprisingly, there was strong criticism of this theory which
treats human beings like machines and assumes that workers are satisfied
by money alone.
Underlying
assumptions:
His views on motivation, management and organization all presupposed
certain conditions to be constant, which we now know they are not.
The
assumptions underlying his work were:
- The presence of a capitalist system and a money economy, where
companies in a free market have as their main objective the improvement
of efficiency and the maximization of profit;
- The Protestant work ethic, that assumes people will work hard
and behave rationally to maximize their own income, putting the
perceived requirements of their organization before their own
personal objectives and goals.
- That an increased size is desirable in order to obtain the
advantages of the division of labor and specialization of tasks.
Taylor's
impact has been so great because he developed a concept of work
design, work-measurement, production control and other functions,
that completely changed the nature of industry. Before scientific
management, such departments as work study, personnel, maintenance
and quality control did not exist. What was more his methods proved
to be very successful.
Address of President Roosevelt
by radio, delivered from the President's
Study in the White House on March 12, 1933 (First of his radio "fireside
chats")
I
want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States
about banking！with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics
of banking but more particularly with the overwhelming majority
who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks.
I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, why
it was done, and what the next steps are going to be. I recognize
that the many proclamations from State Capitols and from Washington,
the legislation, the Treasury regulations, etc., couched for the
most part in banking and legal terms should be explained for the
benefit of the average citizen. I owe this in particular because
of the fortitude and good temper with which everybody has accepted
the inconvenience and hardships of the banking holiday. I know that
when you understand what we in Washington have been about I shall
continue to have your cooperation as fully as I have had your sympathy
and help during the past week.
First
of all let me state the simple fact that when you deposit money
in a bank the bank does not put the money into a safe deposit vault.
It invests your money in many different forms of credit-bonds, commercial
paper, mortgages and many other kinds of loans. In other words,
the bank puts your money to work to keep the wheels of industry
and of agriculture turning around. A comparatively small part of
the money you put into the bank is kept in currency！an amount
which in normal times is wholly sufficient to cover the cash needs
of the average citizen. In other words the total amount of all the
currency in the country is only a small fraction of the total deposits
in all of the banks.
What,
then, happened during the last few days of February and the first
few days of March? Because of undermined confidence on the part
of the public, there was a general rush by a large portion of our
population to turn bank deposits into currency or gold.！A rush
so great that the soundest banks could not get enough currency to
meet the demand. The reason for this was that on the spur of the
moment it was, of course, impossible to sell perfectly sound assets
of a bank and convert them into cash except at panic prices far
below their real value.
By
the afternoon of March 3 scarcely a bank in the country was open
to do business. Proclamations temporarily closing them in whose
or in part had been issued by the Governors in almost all the states.
It
was then that I issued the proclamation providing for the nation-wide
bank holiday, and this was the first step in the Government's reconstruction
of our financial and economic fabric.
The
second step was the legislation promptly and patriotically passed
by the Congress confirming my proclamation and broadening my powers
so that it became possible in view of the requirement of time to
entend (sic) the holiday and lift the ban of that holiday gradually.
This law also gave authority to develop a program of rehabilitation
of our banking facilities. I want to tell our citizens in every
part of the Nation that the national Congress！Republicans and
Democrats alike！showed by this action a devotion to public welfare
and a realization of the emergency and the necessity for speed that
it is difficult to match in our history.
The
third stage has been the series of regulations permitting the banks
to continue their functions to take care of the distribution of
food and household necessities and the payment of payrolls.
This
bank holiday while resulting in many cases in great inconvenience
is affording us the opportunity to supply the currency necessary
to meet the situation. No sound bank is a dollar worse off than
it was when it closed its doors last Monday. Neither is any bank
which may turn out not to be in a position for immediate opening.
The new law allows the twelve Federal Reserve banks to issue additional
currency on good assets and thus the banks which reopen will be
able to meet every legitimate call. The new currency is being sent
out by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in large volume to every
part of the country. It is sound currency because it is backed by
actual, good assets.
As
a result we start tomorrow, Monday, with the opening of banks in
the twelve Federal Reserve bank cities！those banks which on first
examination by the Treasury have already been found to be all right.
This will be followed on Tuesday by the resumption of all their
functions by banks already found to be sound in cities where there
are recognized clearing houses. That means about 250 cities of the
United States.
On
Wednesday and succeeding days banks in smaller places all through
the country will resume business, subject, of course, to the Government's
physical ability to complete its survey. It is necessary that the
reopening of banks be extended over a period in order to permit
the banks to make applications for necessary loans, to obtain currency
needed to meet their requirements and to enable the Government to
make common sense checkups. Let me make it clear to you that if
your bank does not open the first day you are by no means justified
in believing that it will not open. A bank that opens on one of
the subsequent days is in exactly the same status as the bank that
opens tomorrow.
I
know that many people are worrying about State banks not members
of the Federal Reserve System. These banks can and will receive
assistance from members banks and from the reconstruction Finance
Corporation. These state banks are following the same course as
the national banks except that they get their licenses to resume
business from the state authorities, and these authorities have
been asked by the Secretary of the Treasury to permit their good
banks to open up on the same schedule as the national banks. I am
confident that the state banking departments will be as careful
as the National Government in the policy relating to the opening
of banks and will follow the same broad policy. It is possible that
when the banks resume a very few people who have not recovered from
their fear may again begin withdrawals. Let me make it clear that
the banks will take care of all needs！and it is my belief that
hoarding during the past week has become an exceedingly unfashionable
pastime. It needs no prophet to tell you that when the people find
that they can get their money！that they can get it when they
want it for all legitimate purposes！the phantom of fear will
soon be laid. People will again be glad to have their money where
it will be safely taken care of and where they can use it conveniently
at any time. I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money
in a reopened bank than under the mattress.
The
success of our whole great national program depends, of course,
upon the cooperation of the public！on its intelligent support
and use of a reliable system.
Remember
that the essential accomplishment of the new legislation is that
it makes it possible for banks more readily to convert their assets
into cash than was the case before. More liberal provision has been
made for banks to borrow on these assets at the Reserve Banks and
more liberal provision has also been made for issuing currency on
the security of those good assets. This currency is not fiat currency.
It is issued only on adequate security！and every good bank has
an abundance of such security.
One
more point before I close. There will be, of course, some banks
unable to reopen without being reorganized. The new law allows the
Government to assist in making these reorganizations quickly and
effectively and even allows the Government to subscribe to at least
a part of new capital which may be required.
I
hope you can see from this elemental recital of what your government
is doing that there is nothing complex, or radical in the process.
We
had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves
either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people's
funds. They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations
and unwise loans. This was of course not true in the vast majority
of our banks but it was true in enough of them to shock the people
for a time into a sense of insecurity and to put them into a frame
of mind where they did not differentiate, but seemed to assume that
the acts of a comparative few had tainted them all. It was the Government's
job to straighten out this situation and do it as quickly as possible！and the job is being performed.
I
do not promise you that every bank will be reopened or that individual
losses will not be suffered, but there will be no losses that possibly
could be avoided; and there would have been more and greater losses
had we continued to drift. I can even promise you salvation for
some at least of the sorely pressed banks. We shall be engaged not
merely in reopening sound banks but in the creation of sound banks
through reorganization. It has been wonderful to me to catch the
note of confidence from all over the country. I can never be sufficiently
grateful to the people for the loyal support they have given me
in their acceptance of the judgment that has dictated our course,
even though all of our processes may not have seemed clear to them.
After
all there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system
more important than currency, more important than gold, and that
is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the
essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must
have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let
us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore
our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.
It
is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.
Research Highlights！Ways Parents Can
Reduce Children's TV Viewing Time
No
TV in a child's bedroom associated with more time spent on homework
and reading For Immediate Release: Monday, September 24, 2001.
Boston,
MA-Access to television has a direct association with children's
hours of viewing and school-related activity, according to a study
from the Harvard School of Public Health. Children who do not have
a television set in their bedroom spend about forty minutes less
per day watching TV or playing video and computer games than children
who do and read or do homework about twenty minutes more per day
if their parents also set limits on television viewing. The study
results are published in the September/October issue of Ambulatory
Pediatrics.
The
study, which analyzed data from nearly 1,200 sixth and seventh graders
from 10 Boston-area middle schools, found that the students averaged
approximately three hours and 20 minutes per day of viewing time,
including playing computer/video games, and spent an average of
one hour and 36 minutes per day reading or doing homework.
More
than half (54 percent) of the respondents had a television set in
their bedroom and 42 percent reported that their parents did not
set limits on the amount of television they could watch. Students
who regularly had dinner with their family spent half an hour less
per day watching TV or playing computer/video games compared to
students who rarely dined daily with their family.
Jean
Wiecha, Deputy Director of the Harvard Prevention Research Center
on Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Harvard School of Public
Health, said: "The findings in our study show that access to
television increases use, and helps identify ways parents can reduce
the time their children spend in front of the television or playing
computer games. The study also supports American Academy of Pediatrics
recommendations to make a child's bedroom media-free. These findings
are important because high television use is associated with childhood
obesity, which is epidemic in the US today."
The
study was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes
of Health and from the Prevention Research Center's Cooperative
Agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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