Bontiac's 1973 Grand Prix.

Ami yixidxxight the days Stutz... Bugatti... Duesenberg... they're all museum pieces now. But each was great in its own way. Because. each was designed around a single principle. Compro­mise nothing, the driver is all-important.

Not all cars are built with the same dedication. The 1973 Grand Prix is an honest contender. Its body is new. But we've retained the classic look.

And it performs with exceptional toughness. The instrument panel is accented with real African

crossfire mahogany.

The new front bucket seats have deep contours for supreme comfort.

Small points, perhaps. But indicative of our feeling forGP.

There are imitators, of course. There always will be. But there's only one Grand Prix. We build it because we understand the pure pleasure one can derive from an extraordinary automobile.

Now the days of the great cars will live for you. Buckie up for safely.

T h e VVkfe-Track p e o p l e h a v e a w a y w i t h c a r s . /

A NATION'S DILEMMA... HOW TO RESTORE THE WILL TO WORK Absenteeism among our highest paid factory workers, the ever mounting work stoppages, gold bricking and goofing-off, rising rework and scrap, low productivity, shoddy.workmanship and poor service, "I don't give a damn" attitudes, increasing turnovers of our trained people is threatening to put our companies out of competition...and thus out of business.

The issue before the ASPI First Annual Conference is the survival of this country as a significant factor in the world's economy. The demand for better product quality and reliability, productivity and reasonable costs is of vital concern to all management people. And it is only through a resurgence of the spirit of work — self-pride in accomplishment — that American industry can retain the competitive edge.

Time is running out. The need to act is sadly apparent. The alternative to prompt and dramatic action now may be that before the next decade starts, the definitive term for "shoddy and unreliable" may well be — "Made in USA."

Through the conference, it is our intention to bring some of the issues and answers to the forefront by business leaders who are faced with these problems and charged with finding the solutions. Educators, government and industry executives detailing positive action we can take with "the new work force" in our own organizations to once again restore the will to work in America.

Get set for the most rewarding 52 hours of your life in Dallas, the Time of Your Life City. Just sign and return this registration form today. (Full refund if cancelled before March 1.)

r A.S.P.I. First Annual Conference Registration

HOW TO RESTORE THE WILL TO WORK American Society For Performance Improvement Wed.-Thurs.-Fri. Hil ton Inn, Dallas, Texas May 9-10-11,

1973. Name Title

Organization.

Address _City_ -Zip-

Please check one:

MEMBER

• $60 enclosed (Pre-registration before March 1)

• $70 enclosed (Registration after March 1)

NON-MEMBER

• $80 enclosed (Pre-registration before March 1)

• $90 enclosed (Registration after March 1)

• I would like to apply for membership now. I understand that my $12 annual dues are included In the Non-Member Conference Registration fee. A one-year subscription to PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE is also included at no oxtra charge.

All Conference registration fees include luncheons, workshop materials and the awards banquet.

P L E A S E MAIL THIS FORM AND PAYMENTS TO: A.S.P.I. , P. O. Box 1543, Grand Prairie, Texas 75050.

PERFORMANCE 3

E D I T O R I A L D I R E C T O R Bill Bailey

H I T C O Defense Products Div.

A S P I E D I T O R Mike Richardson

MS 8 E - 2 8 , P.O. B o x 3 9 9 9 T h e Boeing C o m p a n y Seatt le , Wash. 9 8 1 2 4 T e l : (206) 773 -1352

S A V E E D I T O R C m d r . Robert H. Rossman

Director Cost Reduct ion (09C) Naval Sh ip Sys tems C o m m a n d

Washington, D . C . 2 0 3 6 0 T e l : (202) 692 -3180

N A S S E D I T O R John S . Hollar

Director Cost Reduct ion C o m m o n w e a l t h of Pennsylvania

511 F inance Building Harrisburg, Perm. 17120

T e l : (717) 787-6026

W A S H I N G T O N C O R R E S P O N D E N T Morgan D. Roder ick T e l : (202) 692 -3180

E D I T O R I A L O F F I C E S

1600 W. 135th Street, Gardena, Calif . 9 0 2 4 9 T e l : (213) 321 -8080 ,

E D I T O R I A L A D V I S O R Y B O A R D

Kei th A d a m s Defense Supply Agency

Robert Bidwell D o D V E Services Off ice Richard Brengel U .S . Civi l Service Commiss ion

Al C h o p N A S A Chief of Motivational Programs David C r o s b y Idea Associates

Bill Dean Honeywel l , Inc.

George Duncan Eastman K o d a k C o m p a n y

Will iam Hambiey Department of the A r m y

Charles Hall

Department of the Navy

R u d y Kempter Of f ice of Asst . Secretary of Defense A n t h o n y T o c c o T R W Systems G r o u p

Robert V i n c e n t I T T Corporat ion

Subscriptions S I N G L E I S S U E : $1 .00

Y E A R L Y R A T E S : U . S . A . & Canada — $5 .00

Foreign — $ 6 . 0 0

Write F o r Organizational Bulk Rates. .

A R T D I R E C T O R Greg Pepper

A D V E R T I S I N G MANAGER Garry Cameron (714) 524-2160

PROMOTION D I R E C T O R Robert W. Tal lent

C I R C U L A T I O N MANAGER Josie Lancaster

BUSINESS O F F I C E 110 Ol inda Place,

Brea, Cal i fornia 92621 T e l : (714) 524 -2160

VOLUME 2 NUMBER 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1972

Official Magazine of the

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT and

SOCIETY OF AMERICAN VALUE ENGINEERS and

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SUGGESTION SYSTEMS

FEATURES

Is A.S.P.I. Really Necessary Gene Peretti 7 From Pharaoh to Function Michael L. Eby 12 The Evaluation Wallace H. Egbert 16 Management Concepts In Quality Assurance (Part 2) Glenn E. Hayes 19 Value Engineering and the Third Revoluation Tom Cook 22 Representing Today's Suggester James Parmakian 26 Deliver Them from Obsolescence Charles Albano 28 Idea Programs and Management Attitudes AmbyBair32 Value Design Concept Rand Creasy 36

DEPARTMENTS

If The Shoe Fits 5 Comment 8 Update 10 New Products 42

E D I T O R I A L P O L I C Y : PERFORMANCE Magazine umbrellas those per­formance factors which improve the competitive advantage and excellence of American Consumer/Defense products and services for the markets of the world . PERFORMANCE is dedicated to the effective exchange of innovative technology and ideas as they relate to quality, reliability, safety, maintain­abil i ty, cost reduction, value engineering, life cycle cost, management im­provement, cost-to-produce, standardization, cost engineering, integrated logistics support, defect prevention, suggestion systems, motivation and pro­ductivity.

Contributions in the form of articles, photos, letters to the editor, etc., are welcome. Editorial policy dictates the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. Views and comments of contributors do not necessarily constitute the endorsement or opinion of the American Society For Performance Improvement, the Society of American Value Engineers nor that of the National Association of Suggestion Systems.

PERFORMANCE Magazine is published bi-monthly at 110 Olinda Place, Brea, California 92621. Second class postage paid at Brea, California <>2<>21.

PERFORMANCE

If The Shoe FHs

ROBERT H ROSSMAN

• • •

COMMITMENT TO

EXCELLENCE During a recent visit to Japan, this

writer was again impressed by the commitment of Japanese industry and g o v e r n m e n t managers , and the Japanese worker, to continue to excel and expand their nation's markets. This commitment to excellence was apparent in every area viewed.

The Society of Japanese Value Engineers (SJVE) conducted their annual meeting at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building on October 23-24, 1972. The response f r o m indus t ry was overwhelming. A l m o s t 700 people were able to attend; many hopeful attendees had to

x be turned away due to lack of space.

Almost all of the Japanese indus­trial giants (and many of the smaller entities) were represented; not by one attendee, but by several f r o m each company. Companies which are now successfully competing in the world markets were not satisfied to rest on their laurels. Each of them partici­pated in the technical sessions in the hope of obtaining new and better ideas to improve the V A L U E of their pro­ducts and services. A l l were intent on at least maintaining their current share of the local and world market-places. Al l were ready to accept change in order to improve their product or service.

The Hallmark I t was interesting to note the high

percentage of value practitioners and value-trained personnel in each com­pany as compared to the total com­pany working force. Value Engineering has become a hallmark in Japan,

totally supported by management and government. This technique, which has been in existence in the United States fo r more than 25 years, has expanded to such a degree in Japan in the past 10 years, that our recent efforts in fostering the use of Value Engineer­ing/Value Analysis ( V E / V A ) in our country seem puny when compared to the total commitment for V A L U E found in Japan.

In a quest to determine the reasons for such a disparity of e f for t toward value in the two countries, several points become readily apparent: The entire Japanese industry and govern­ment are committed to economic excellence; the entire Japanese work­ing force has been motivated in the same direction, and is committed to this same goal; "change" is not viewed wi th horror in Japan but is, rather, welcomed as the means to achieve the e s t ab l i shed e c o n o m i c goals; the V E / V A techniques have been com­pletely accepted because their success has been proven (and need not be proven again before each individual project init iat ion).

Measuring Management The apparent complete acceptance

of V E / V A in Japan, more than any­thing else, may give us a measure by which we can compare the abilities or capabilities of our national manage­ment teams in the two nations. The ability of management to foster and nurture a tool which has consistently proven itself to be a profit-enhancer and problem-solver, and to accept it

for what it is — a systematic, question­ing attitude which occasionally makes mistakes — may spell the difference between success and failure in world economics. It seems obvious that Japan, as a nation, has achieved that success, at the present t ime. We can, in no way, claim that their success is due to V E / V A ; but we can certainly sur­mise that management which so readi­ly accepts and directs continuing V E / V A programs, even when those industries are "on t o p " in a competi­tive environment, is somehow differ­ent f r o m our own!

Search For Alternates Attendant to the expansion of

V E / V A in Japanese industry and government is the foregone conclusion t h a t the result of this e f for t is CHANGE — every time. Perhaps it is the ability of Japanese managers to readily accept change that marks their biggest difference wi th their American counterparts. And , perhaps it is this same overall open attitude that has brought Japan to the apex of the world economic pyramid.

The time has come when American industry and government managers must seek change rather than repel i t . We live in an era of constant change, and yet, seem unable to believe that change is in itself, not all bad. If pro­curement methods and business prac­tices which are in use today have not solved the dilemmas facing govern­ment and industry, why do we cling to the hope that they someday will?

Let's throw out our outmoded and unsuccessful practices and methods, and search for the alternate ways to accomplish the job. Let's be will ing — even anxious — to search for the CHANGES that wil l solve today's problems. This nation can no longer afford to protect empires (at home) and salve the wounded consciences of those who made the original, ill-fated decisions which have put us on the road to becoming second-class. New ideas should no longer be stifled because managers are loathe to change the "natural order" of things. In those cases where they cannot accept change, the managers must be replaced

Cointinued on page 41

( T h e opinion* and assertions contained herein are those of the author, and are not to bo comtrued as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department. )

PERFORMANCE 5

M O THIRD REVOLUTION

M a y 7 2 - 7 6 , 7 9 7 3

C h i c a g o Marriott

Annual SAVE Conference

VALUE TECHNOLOGY: THE THIRD REVOLUTION ranks with the struggles of the first two revolutions; the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century and the Industrial Management Revolution of the 19th Century. While these two revolutions had much in common, our revolution is different. It probes the sensitive area of man and his Values; it answers the "why" not the "how" questions. It's more than 20 years old, but it's the NOW revol ution. The Annual SAVE Conference wil l help you survive this revolution by being a little revolutionary too!

Key cost influencing managers in: • COMMERCIAL CONSUMER & INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING

• CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES

• SERVICE INDUSTRIES

• MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS

• STATE AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS

• FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND DEPARTMENTS

Through the media of Technical Papers presentations, Educational Workshops, Professional Exhibits that "show and tell", symposia with audience participation, and a counseling service with the experts you'll learn more about your role in the revolution. Exhibits of vendors offer­ing unique products and services for the key cost influ­encing manager will complement the Technical Program.

Will share their Value Technology experience in: • SALES/MARKETING

• PURCHASING

• ENGINEERING

• RESEARCH AND DESIGN

• MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT

• CONSULTING

• SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

Please register me for the 13th SAVE National Conference, to be held at

the Marriott Motor Hotel in Chicago, May 12-16,1973.

Name:

H O THRD REVOLUTION

Firm/Agency/Organizat ion:

(Attach list it registration It tor moro thin one)

Division: Street:

City: Sta te /Prov ince: Zip

Our organization is a Corporate member of S A V E : Y e s • No •

Number of years engaged in Value Work Number of S A V E Conferences Attended-

FULL REGISTRATION F E E : Includes all sessions, breakfast, lunch, banquet and social functions, Proceedings, conference materials.

LADIES PROGRAM: Includes gala reception, breakfasts, luncheons, banquet and social functions, tours, Special Conference sessions, and more.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION AFTER APRIL 1, 1973

• $ 90 S A V E Member • $100 SAVE Member • $130 Non-Member* • $140 Non-Member*

• $ 50 • $ 60

NOTE: ADVANCE REGISTRATION discount applicable only if registration is accompanied by payment or billing instructions.

REFUNDS will be made for Delegate's registration or Ladies Program ONLY if written cancellations are received prior to May 5, 1973.

Enclosed is check for $ (U.S. Funds) Please bill P.O. No!

*NON-MEMBER F E E : For those who join SAVE before May 17, 1973, the membership registration fee of $40 will be waived.

Complete this form and mail to: 1973 SAVE National Conference

2 5 5 0 H a r g r o v e Dr . L-205

S m y r n a , G e o r g i a 3 0 0 8 0

i

J

Complete and mail your registration

form now I

6 IM KI OKMANCE

GENE PERETTI is currently serving as president of the American Society For Performance Improvement (formerly ASZD - Zero Defects). He is em­ployed by The Boeing Company, Seattle, as their Aerospace Group Motivation Programs Manager.

T h e fol lowing headline recently appeared in a national trade journal: "Faced With Mounting Labor Turn­over and Absenteeism, The Two Lead­ing Swedish Automotive Manufac­turers, SAAB and VOLVO, Are Trying To Humanize The Production Process".

Most managers are keenly aware o f the need to develop techniques wi th in their organizations that wi l l improve the w o r k i n g environment, provide e m p l o y e e visibil i ty and somehow stimulate job satisfaction.

Volumes o f information relating to employee motivation programs are available in the f o r m o f textbooks, papers and illustrated manuals. The d i f f i cu l ty we all face is, how do we successfully apply these theories and techniques in our organizations. A n e x a m i n a t i o n o f various company p rog rams a i m e d at Performance I m p r o v e m e n t indicates an almost unlimited variety o f applications o f the basic principles of employee motivation. Many o f these programs are very successful. It's also wor th noting that the companies applying such techniques are among the most successful organizations in the business world .

T h e A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y f o r Performance Improvement is estab­lished to make this great wealth o f

IS A.S.P.I. REALLY

NECESSARY? BY GENE P E R E T T I

knowledge and experience available to interested managers everywhere.

I t is abundantly clear to those o f us w h o earn ou r livelihood in this business o f employee involvement and P e r f o r m a n c e I m p r o v e m e n t , that managers must have access to a resource such as ASPI to keep pace w i t h the rapidly changing people-related technology.

I have personally visited a number o f companies that tried to implement a Zero Defects Program, which failed miserably in the attempt. The reason was not bad management or bad employees, i t was simply a misapplica­t ion o f some very basic principles. We are a l l l e a r n i n g constant ly and i m p r o v e m e n t programs must be flexible enough to incorporate changes as they occur.

ASPI is an outgrowth o f ASZD. As a society we are growing up. In the beginning, Zero Defects Programs were aimed primarily at error prevention. We k n o w n o w that the original objective was too narrow. To be effec­tive we must consider the total mission of the whole organization. Success involves the thoughtful involvement o f every member o f the management team plus the cooperation and support o f the total work force.

The s o l u t i o n to Performance Improvement goes a lot deeper than banners, posters, a pat on the back and promises.

I f you want to make a simple test in your organization o f what I 'm saying about total involvement of. the whole organization t ry this: Ask your top boss to write down his primary objectives for the coming year, in a series o f simple statements. Now take that list and compare it w i th the criteria you have established for recog­n i t i o n and measurement in your Performance Improvement Program. I f you are providing recognition and visibility to people in your organiza­t ion in a manner that facilitates the accomplishment of your top boss's objectives, you w i l l automatically have his support and your program wi l l be a success.

This is only one example o f many techniques now in use by successful companies around the county. ASPI can help you learn about a wide range of program techniques in a variety o f industry applications.

ASPI is not simply ZD warmed-over , it's a forum for a rapidly advancing technology in better people management. I f you arc struggling with the same problems mentioned in the beginning ol ' this article, maybe ASPI can help. It's the only forum in the coun t ry made up of people directly involved wi th the management o f P e r f o r m a n c e I m p r o v e m e n t Programs. We welcome your ideas, and want to share our experiences wi th you. 0

PERFORMANCE 7

Comment

MORALE AND MOTIVATION Saul W. Gellerman Manager Personnel Research IBM World Trade Corporation

The first line o f defense for morale is the relationship o f the individual employee to his immediate supervisor. I f the supervisor is approachable, wil l ing to judge a problem on its merits and to champion the employee's cause i f he is con­vinced o f its rightness, morale wi l l tend to be high. I f the supervisor is aloof or preoccupied, regards employee requests as unreasonable or without merit, or i f he wi l l not risk the wrath o f his superiors in order to get satisfaction for his men, morale wi l l tend to be low.

Motivat ion, as we commonly use the term, is our specu­lation about someone else's purpose. We usually expect to find that purpose in some immediate and obvious goal such as money or security or prestige. Yet the particular goals that people seem to be striving for often turn out, on analysis, to be instruments for attaining another, more fundamental goal. Thus wealth, safety, status, and all the other kinds of goals that supposedly "cause" behavior are only paraphernalia for attaining the ultimate purpose o f any individual, which is to be himself.

The ultimate motivation is to make the self-concept real: to live in a manner that is appropriate to one's preferred role, to be treated in a manner that corresponds lo one's preferred rank, and to he rewarded in a manner thai reflects one's estimate of his own abilities. We ate all in perpetual pursuit o f whatever we regard as our deserved tolc, Hying to make our subjective ideas about outselves into objective truths. When our experiences seem to he conlliining those ideas, we are likely to feel that life is good and the world itself is just, but when wc arc denied the kinds of experi­ences to which we feel entitled, we are likely lo suspect that something is drastically wrong with the world.

THE "FOUR C S " TO QUALITY Rear Admiral Edward C. Waller Commander of Flight Air Wings — Pacific Naval Air Station, Moffett Field, Calif.

A point on a chart has become more important than the performance i t stands for . As we have grown larger and more complex wi th the ever-increasing bureaucratic pro­cedures that have attended that growth,' I am not sure we can ever 'get there f r o m here' anymore.

We have to watch everything in view o f its long-range effect. I f you are building one hundred airplanes and have been throwing away bolts that have been cracking and replacing them f r o m the same bin, sooner or later you're going to be out o f bolts. So you look up on the chart and see this marvelous performance record you have for the first ninety planes. But just wait unti l those last ten go out, that chart w i l l look awful funny. Now this is what I mean when I say we are letting a point on a chart become more important than performance itself.

My personal remedy is the "Four Cs" . They may not close the gap between what is and what could be, but they can minimize production mix-ups:

Concentration means that you must analyse all your available moves, narrow down what you intend to do, and concentrate on those few items which wi l l produce the biggest payoff. And there had better be just a few items on that list — many won' t work — a few w i l l .

Communication is a key. People at the operations-producer level must know what you want. What you are concentrating on must be said and said again even more clearly to them. Find out one-hundred ways to say i t to them. The people who work for you also have ideas. The other half o f communication is listening. Your people's feedback lets you know how much progress you are making. You must communicate to get feedback on your progress.

Concern is very important. By concern I mean real concern for your personnel. You can only improve per-fofiniincc through them - you can't do it all alone and you can't do it all with machines. Gain their creative energy. All you have to do is get to them personally and show them your concern about what they are doing.

Common sense is essential at every level o f management and supervision. Without i t , your message is going to get very distorted along the way. Look for that uncommon quality o f common sense in every supervisor along the chain o f command.

8 PERFORMANCE

"MOTIVATION AND THE HOURLY EMPLOYEE' David P. Shay Personnel Manager McCulloch Chain Saw Division

" M y job is just plain boring. My foreman thinks o f me as a machine, not a person."

One o f the salient points that we have to get across to the hourly worker is that boredom is part o f the game. That any great achievement, no matter what, at some stage of the game had boredom as a bedfellow. People who do no work at all f i n d life a lo t more boring than the production worker does.

A good supervisor knows that the key to Motivation is Involvement and Recognition.

The recognition need not be o f a monetary nature —; A simple, " thank you , " - "good day's work ," wi l l achieve wonders.

Most supervisors feel that a "thank y o u " is beneath them. That a worker is being paid to produce so why bother? Many supervisors feel workers are rather sub­human creatures anyway and the niceties o f l ife would be wasted on them. This conception wi l l practically guarantee a "Ho , h u m " attitude toward production.

The first requisite toward getting a Motivation program o f f the ground are weekly orientation meetings for all supervisors (every week o f the year). Crash courses won' t work. I t has to be pounded home over and over again that the production worker is a human being and that good supervision is based on psychology. That workers are people and not machines and that they do respond to courtesy and kindness. That they want to be involved. That they want to know how important their l i t t le component is to the entire product. They want to be asked for advice.

I t might amaze the supervisor to discover workers do have bright ideas and they can use their brains as well as their brawn. I f workers are allowed their voice in making decisions — they are bound to feel a sense of responsibility for the outcome. They are motivated.

Here is a classic example (and a true one) o f good and

bad supervision and o f a Motivator and a Frustrator. i T w o workers in the same department ran duplicate

machines doing identical operations. They were both good motivated workers and they liked their jobs. One o f their operations had an almost impossible standard (quota) to meet. In the l ifet ime o f this company the quota had never been met.

These two workers got together one day and decided that they would give i t everything they had and try to meet this frustrating standard. They both worked through their coffee breaks and part of their lunch hour and they both made i t — right at quit t ing time. They were elated!

There were two supervisors in this department. One employee went to one p f them to report the j o y f u l news and the other employee went to the other supervisor to report-

Employee number one's supervisor said; "Great work! It's never been done before — Congratulations and I want to thank y o u . "

Number two employee's supervisor said; "Really? Well, I think that it's about time that you made standard."

There is also a true ending to this story: Employee number one went on to greater things; more sophisticated machinery , re-classifications, pay increases and more responsibility. Employee number two worked a month longer and then terminated!

A l l employees do not respond to the same treatment, so it is up to the supervisor to make i t a point to know his workers. John Smith might enjoy a humorous remark while John Brown, who is devoid of humor might only look bleak. Before a supervisor can motivate he must know his people and their personalities and handle them accordingly.

A top-flight supervisor o f a highly motivated work group wi l l usually have the fol lowing characteristics. He:

Is fair.

Is a good disciplinarian. Lets the workers know what he expects of them. Gives credit where credit is due. Involves his workers and asks their advice. Is able to instruct workers without making them feel stupid. Is capable of making workers want to turn out good work for him.

People are Ihc greatest resources a company has, it is the supervisor's job to help develop that resource, not only for the advancement ol' the individual, hut, for the good of the company. People will grow if given a growing opportunity.

PERFORMANCE 9

PERFORMANCE UPDATE Performance subscribers are invited to contribute

UNION AND S T E E L INDUSTRY JOIN HANDS In an article in the defense management journal, October

19, 1972, I . W. Abel, President of the United Steel Workers of America, said, "Everyone in the nation has a stake in productivity improvement. The prices we pay and our standard of living are significantly influenced by produc­t iv i ty . If the steel industry is to continue to provide equit­able earnings and job security for our members, then the problems of the industry and their resolution wi l l be clearly recognized by everyone in the union."

Abel further noted that a stable and profitable steel industry is of vital importance to our economy, to the steel companies, and to their thousands of employees who are members of the union. The union is participating in a jo int endeavor wi th the industry to improve productivity, and this " w i l l be a critical test of the union's leadership," said Abel. In closing his article, Mr. Abel said "who wil l benefit f r o m these productivity gains? We w i l l , the union and its members, because increased productivity is the basis fo r future wage increases and continued job security.

"The steel industry benefits. An increase in productivity wil l help offset the gains in forced increases. This wi l l enable the steel industry to keep the prices of its products competitive. The result is a stronger steel industry that is able to provide steady employment and greater job security for our members.

"Last but not least, our country benefits. Rising produc­tivity is essential if American products are to remain com­petitive wi th those produced by foreign countries. Without It, we lace increasing d i f f i cu l ty in maintaining our envied standard of living, tho highest ever achieved in history."

SUGGESTION TAX R E L I E F ASKED NASS President Charles Foos has asked Congressman

Frank Horton to introduce legislation which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide exclusion f r o m gross income suggestion awards earned by employees. " A t the present t ime," Foos said, "there is special treatment only fo r those inventors and other creative individuals who process their ideas through the patent system. I believe that if the American economy is to remain progressive and healthy, those citizens who voluntarily contribute to our welfare should be given every possible encouragement." Foos called for a new initiative launched along the lines of a former bill (H.R. 12182) and stated that the complete membership of NASS would assist and support Congress­man Horton in making suggestion system awards exempt f r o m income taxes.

$700 MILLION LNG CONTRACT SIGNED The Government of Iran and International Systems and

Control Corporation, Houston, Texas, have signed a $700 mill ion contract for tankers to carry Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) f r o m the Persian Gulf to U.S., Japan, and South American markets. They wil l f o r m a new company, Kangan Liquified Natural Gas Company, and International Systems wil l share its 50% interest wi th U.S. gas transmission companies, Nissho-lwai Co. of Tokyo, and Halfdan Ditley Simonsen & Co., both of Oslo, Norway.

DETROIT CHALLENGED - DEALER PRAISED President Nixon's director of consumer affairs, Virginia

Knauer, has challenged Detroit industrialists to "bui ld the cars right and the tires right the first time around." Stating that a survey showed that automobile problems were a major source of consumer complaint in virtually every state, she said, "Clearly, there's a problem, and clearly, something has to be done about i t . For once and fo r all, let's see if we can cut down on the recalls and do the job right." Recently, Mrs. Knauer cited Roberts Buick in Dallas, Texas, for being the first car dealership in U.S. to be recognized by the American Society For Performance Improvement for its "genuine customer concern by all employees."

10 PERFORMANCE

FIRE SAFETY KITS AVAILABLE The NASA Safety Office has recently purchased two fire

safety kits on problem areas for distribution to contractors. The first ki t contains a 26-minute, color, sound, 16-mm f i l m entitled "The A, B, C, and D's of Portable Fire Extinguishers" and covers the step-by-step description of how to operate f ire extinguishers plus details of how they work. The second ki t describes the problem areas of cutting and welding operations. It contains a 13-minute f i l m entitled "Preventing Cutting and Welding Fires." The f i l m points out the hazards of cutting and welding, illustrates the precautions that must be taken to prevent fires f r o m the sparks and molten globules of metal while welding or cutting. Both kits are available f r o m the NASA Safety Office, Code DY, Washington, D.C. 20546.

STAMP OF APPROVAL BY EMPLOYEES Clark Equipment Company's Trailer Division, Michigan

City, Indiana, has started what they call "Project Thorough­bred," a workmenship program. Hallmark of the program is a large decal that wi l l be displayed on every Clark-built Brown trailer. To qualify fo r a Thoroughbred label, each trailer must be inspected and approved by a Thoroughbred Committee representative at each production stage. Com­mittee membership rotates to provide every employee an opportunity to pass judgment on his department's work quality.

SOVIET-AMERICAN TRADE AGREEMENT This agreement of 18 October 1972 contemplates a $1.5

billion level in the next three years in addition to the $1 billion in grain already purchased by Russia fo r delivery in the coming year. The Soviets agreed to pay $722 mill ion in World War II lend lease debts.

METRIC SYSTEM CONVERSION AID With the increased use of the SI system (Systeme Inter­

national d'Unites — better known as the "metric system") throughout the scientific community, our familiari ty wi th the terms and comparisons wi th the current system in use becomes essential.

A pocket card that translates the measurements f r o m yards to meters, ounces to grams, et cetera, can be obtained f r o m the Superintendent of Documents, Government Print­ing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The cost is 10 cents each or $6.25 per hundred.

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS ANALYZED The National Safety Council reports that almost half of

all compensable occupational injuries are due to falls or handling material. The latter caused 22.6%, and the cost averaged $1,470. This information comes f rom the council's "Accident Facts," an annual publication which also details occupational injuries by industry. It's available at $2.65 f r o m the council, 425 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60611. Ask fo r No. 021.52.

SCRAP CAN BE UPGRADED According to Prentice-Hall Inc.'s Executive Report, sell­

ing scrap shouldn't be a "take what we can get for i t " proposition. They cite the case of a steel fabricator which was selling primarily at a Grade 2 price. Reason: entire lots were being downgraded because a few pieces were longer than Grade 1 limitations. Now, longer pieces are cut to meet Grade 1 specifications, and the company has gained $15,000 a year.

Continued on page 45

A TOTAL POSTER SERVICE THAT REACHES OUT TO ALL EMPLOYEES. THREE SIZES FOR MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY.WRITE OR CALL FOR INFORMATION.

MORTON SUGGESTION COMPANY P.O. Box 76 • Mt. Prospect, III. 60056 • (312) 255-4770

PERFORMANCE 11

f r o m

P h a r a o h

l o

F u n c t i o n By Michael L. Eby

M I C H A E L L . E B Y , a Registered Professional Engineer, is the Director of Corporate Industrial Engineering for Trans-World Airlines, Incorporated. He previously held positions wi th General Motors, Bendix Aviation, Devoe and Reynolds, and the National Industrial Conference Board. He received his basic industrial engineering training f r o m Manhattan College, New York City, where he was awarded a Bachelors Degree in 1942. He has published papers on management, manufacturing cost control and indus­trial engineering.

The tomb o f Tutankhamen o f ancient Egypt was a treasure to those who despoiled i t . But the curse o f the mighty ruler transcended the centuries and they who pillaged and plundered the sacred sepulchre lived to rue the craven caper. A l l but one!

Out o f the grim, gray mausoleum I have usurped a gem. A gem o f an idea. A concept as invaluable to me as the Rosetta Stone to archaeologists. A precept so rich and resonant as to overturn my whole approach to Value Analysis.

A condition on my acquisition, to avoid calling evil down upon myself, is to share m y diamond wi th the Society of American Value Engineers. Keep in mind that i t is not presumption nor conceit, but fear o f old King Tut , that causes me to bring the quil l to the papyrus.

THE JOB PLAN My expedition to the land o f the

Pharaohs was a result o f a maddening dilemma. The results o f the Value Analysis Seminars we were conducting were good, but not great. To be great, Value Analysis must breed innovation. Without innovation, Value Analysis is nothing more than methods improve­ment and work simplification which, for the most part, was all we gener­ated.

My colleagues and I lived in the libraries o f the world poring over the available literature on Value Analysis and Value Engineering. There really isn't very much, you know, particular­ly in our chosen area o f business systems. We kept coming back to the Job Plan. We thought we were doing something wrong, because we just weren't coming up w i t h the big break­through, the conceptual explosion, a really novel solution. We intuitively knew the cause o f our dilemma was in the Job Plan, but we couldn't put our fingers on i t .

THE BACKGROUND Lest I lose you , let me review brief­

ly our V / A program so you can under­stand the background o f what I ' m t ry­ing to say. We sponsor one seminar each month w i t h four to eight four-man teams. The projects are desig­nated by men in our line management, who also select the teams f r o m the supervision roster.

A one-day orientation session is held six weeks prior to the five-day seminar. In the k ick-of f session, the teams are given an overview of V / A , an explanation o f Value, Cost and Func­t ion , and are then dismissed to gather informat ion, data and facts concerning their particular projects.

The teams arrive for the five-day seminar with flow charts, operations descriptions and cost analyses. Some examples of projects arc: Outbound Passenger Processing, Baggage and Ramp Handling, Lost and Found Procedures, Top-off Meals, Telemail

PERFORMANCE 13

Ticketing, etc. A t the five-day seminar they are stepped through in a team action, mode — funct ion evaluation; speculation and theorizing; analysis and selection; and finally presentation of recommendations.

A QUESTION I stress the fact that everything has

gone well inasmuch as we have not yet missed improving a given situation. We return to management about $20 in

cost reduction to every dollar spent in training. However, to date, we have seen only one radical and conceptual change, and we are not satisfied.

A l l right, this is our question: What are we doing wrong and/or what are we not doing?

Our answer, believe i t or not, came out o f a visit to Egypt and a tour o f the pyramids. I t was as though we posed the question to Pharaoh and he le f t his answer on a wi ld o f sand. I t said,

"Beware the Present Solution "

BUILDING A PYRAMID Really, i t wasn't that simple. What

actually happened was that while sip­ping coffee at a local oasis, we idly considered, f r o m a V / A standpoint, the probable construction o f the huge tombs.

Local lore and tourist guides say that i t took 100,000 people using nothing but brute strength and huge ramps to tortuously raise the struc­tures f r o m the desert f loor . Except for ramps, the brochures said, there were not even simple machines available. There were no pulleys, no derricks, no winches. So, how else could you erect a pile o f 2.3 mil l ion blocks weighing

f r o m 2.5 to 14 tons apiece to a height o f 480 feet? No way!

In our traditional V / A approach we would have analyzed this "present solution." I t would have been meas­u r e d , t i m e d , weighed, drawn-and-quartered, and we would have develop­ed a better way through clever organi­zation o f work and an improved ramp design. We would have obtained a better method through work simplif i­cation. Hurrah!

But again, there would be no con­ceptual changes.

PHAROAH'S ANSWER A n d t h e n the message f r o m

Pharoah. Fluttering like a chewing gum wrapper in a tenement canyon, lof t ing crazily on wisps o f hot desert ;

air caressing a pyramid, and sweeping to a landing at our feet was a yellowed parchment: A page f r o m the ubiqui­tous New York Times dated November 5,1970.

A n article on the page under John C. Devlin's byline carried the exciting t i t le, "Engineer Offers a New Theory on Construction o f Pyramids."

I t was an account o f the very thing we were talking about, a contempla­tive essay on how the pyramids were c o n s t r u c t e d . A retired structural engineer, Olaf Tellefsen by name, chal­lenged the prevailing theory. He partic­ularly disagreed w i t h the use o f ramps as the sole source o f getting the mas­sive blocks up the sides o f the pyra­mids on the thesis that the ramps would have had to be at least a mile in length, and their construction would have been a greater engineering feat than the construction o f the pyramids themselves.

He also challenged the quantity o f manpower. One hundred thousand workers were just not available, be-

FQOTIHC y-3

V-W-TZ

F/IOM. Sneer A-17

PERFORMANCE

cause most o f the population would have been busy tending farms and not available for building pyramids.

A SIMPLE TOOL And then he described the use o f a

simple tool that can still be observed in present day Egypt. A tool that was easily accessible to the ancients, and that does away w i t h the need for the ramp and all but a few thousand o f the postulated hordes o f workers.

I t was a machine that the group o f us remembered observing in use by the Nile. One that aroused our technical curiosity. A primitive timber weight bar, pivoted on a six-foot fu lc rum, had been observed in use by three men to move blocks as heavy as two ton's. One man would put a sling under the heavy stone and attach i t to the short end o f the bar. The other two would pile smaller stones in a sling at the other end o f the arm. Soon enough, the heavy l o a d was raised and then lowered on rollers.

The apparatus must have been based on an idea inherited f r o m the past. Hundreds o f such devices would have reduced the manpower require­ments dramatically.

AVOIDING THE PITFALL We were now flushed w i t h excite­

ment. Out of our own intellectual r a m b l i n g and avid study o f Mr. Tellefsen's theories we realized that the "present solut ion" is a p i t fa l l to be avoided. And the first step in the V / A job plan is the biggest inhibitor o f c r e a t i v i t y ; namely, developing the model o f the present system.

B a c k at our headquarters, we tackled the Job Plan, now accepting that the current solution is only one design among many that wi l l do the job at hand. In itself i t is not the prob­lem — we were treating i t as i f i t were. A deadly trap that was deterring us f r o m novel and elegant solutions.

BRIDGING THE GAP Suffice to know that i t is there. We

would no longer pick at i t to eliminate inefficiencies and inadequacies. Rather we would start w i t h a basic defini t ion of the problem and take a broad view, and simply show the input state or ini t ia l situation and pertinent criteria, the output state or desired f inal situa­t ion , and synthesize a superior solu­t ion to bridge the two.

I n this matter o f the Pyramid, we would now simply say we want to devise a means o f building a 480-foot high monument out o f more than two mi l l ion , three-foot square blocks o f stone without using any power other than human or animal strength. And , i f the building o f the Pyramid were the task o f a V / A team, under our new premise, the analysis would be shown as follows:

Input — A quantity o f stones. Output — A monument. Criteria — Indestructible, long l i fe .

Restrictions — Stones must be no less than 2.5 tons nor larger than 14 tons. Monument must have an eleva­t ion o f 480 feet. Construction must be performed wi th primitive devices avail­able. A l l power must be f rom human or animal resources.

N o t unti l the problem was so

formalized would the information-gathering phase begin. We would have the teams screen the facts and strip the problem down to the bare essentials by isolating the true limits wi th in which i t must work. Now they w i l l have determined what is given, what is fixed, and what "must be." I t is signif­icant that by this time the group wi l l have determined all that i t is free to specify. I t can now begin to observe phenomena, historical data, experi­mentation, sample human reactions and opinions, and similar forms o f in­formation collection.

FREE THINKING Because o f its very selection, the

V / A team already is, or soon wil l be famil iar with the present solution when the seminar starts. We hold that the members should avoid becoming any more involved with it than is necessary for the evaluation of their new proposal and for recognizing its worthwhile features. In this way, the V / A participants wi l l "free up" their thinking, wil l be able to see through the present solution, properly and accurately identify its functions — moving on to the outer limits o f their imagination and exploring new con­cepts. DEI

PERFORMANCE 15

WALLACE H. EGBERT is a Certified Suggestion System Administrator of the National Association Systems. He is a lecturer in Methods Improvement at the University of Evansville.

F r o m 1957 through 1964, Mr. Egbert was a National Director of N.A.S.S. and was elected president of the Association in 1964.

Mr. Egbert has published numerous papers on cost reduction programs, suggest ion programs, and creative thinking.

He also holds the distinguished "Founders Award" presented to him at the N.A.S.S. Conference in 1971.

M r . Egbert is Manager of the Suggestion Award Plans at Mead J o h n s o n & Company, Evansville, Indiana, whose program has been the recipient of the Overall Performance Award fo r six years and is rated as one of the best programs in industry.

Almost 2,000 years, ago a Roman governor said, " I f i nd no fault in H i m . " Yet he condemned H i m to death. In a way this may be reoccur-ring daily when good ideas are con­demned to their death.

I f there is any one area o f the sug­gestion system that should be thor­oughly researched, i t is the evaluation procedure.

This article is intended to be a beginning, and perhaps others w i l l add to these findings. I n gathering material for this study, literally hundreds o f suggestion administrators have been contacted. They were full- t ime admin­istrators and part-time administrators. They were f r o m California to New York ; f r o m Canada to Venezuela; to England and Germany. To all o f these go my heartfelt thanks for their assis­tance.

As could be expected my research found two approaches: (1) the evalua­t ion , and (2) the evaluator. Both o f these w i l l be discussed in this paper. The research study was conducted for the fol lowing purposes:

1. What are the weaknesses in current procedures?

2. What are the strong points in current procedures?

3. What significant trends could be seen in current procedures? 4. What recommendations could be established to aid all sugges­t ion administrators?

I f you w i l l jo in w i th me, we wi l l attempt to review the material as out­lined. Let us begin by examining "The Evaluation."

Our first step in this phase o f the study was to look at the evaluation f o r m . The format o f an evaluation f o r m can and did reveal a great deal. Here are some o f our observations. (375 forms were studied.)

1. No t w o forms were identical. 2. Some were very plain — just a blank sheet o f paper w i th a heading, evaluation f o r m and suggestion number, and a place for the evaluator's signature.

3. Some were very detailed — requiring the evaluator to answer many questions.

4. A few had guidelines or in­structions for the evaluator to fo l low. 5. Many had "negativism" built in to the f o r m . For example, terms were used w i t h a square in which the evaluator could check such as: [ ] too costly; [ ] not original; [ ] not enough usage; [ ] too much time to develop; [ ] no information available; [ ] not enough value to investigate.

6. Some were very positive. A l l negativism had been avoided. Examples o f positive questions: [ ] Wha t are the tangible values? [ ] What are the in­tangible values? [ ] What is the l ife expectency o f the idea? [ ] How soon can idea be imple­mented?

7. There were quite a few that had overcome the "old-thorn-in-the-side" originality by a state­ment or policy that read: "Do not decline an idea merely on the basis o f originality. I f an idea causes action to be taken, even though i t is not original, it is awardable."

8. A goodly number are using the evaluat ion fo rm as the answer to the employee. No l e t t e r d e c l i n i n g an idea is needed.

9. Quite a number had a policy statement as to how long an evaluation time was permissible. The general policy statements read:

" A l l suggestions are to be evalua­ted wi thin a period o f 30 days. Should you , as the evaluator, f ind more time is necessary, written report must be sent to the Suggestion Off ice . I t is necessary and required by a Management directive that an employee must be informed o f

PERFORMANCE 17

the status o f the suggestion wi th ­in 45 days f r o m the date the idea was received in the Sugges­t ion Of f i ce . "

10. I t was interesting to compare the forms used in a previous study dated 1969, compared to forms o f 1972, and see some definite changes. For example, in 1969, almost every f o r m was headed "Investigation"; today the forms were using the term "Evaluation". Other interesting terms were "Appraisal" or "Idea A n a l y s i s " or "Supervisors ' Opinion Form" .

1 1 . I t was also noted that tangible and intangible evalua­t ion forms could be put into two classes:

1. a separate f o r m for each type, and 2. a combined f o r m .

The rating systems were quite varied. Some used words to describe areas on which in­tangible values could be placed. Others used words w i t h points.

12. Several used folders in which the suggestion was placed, the folders were usually larger than 8 r i x 1 1 ; thus they could not be lost on the evaluator's desk. Some used colored stock fo r the evaluation f o r m .

13. There was a very decisive trend to have several levels of Management to sign or init ial evaluation reports.

14. Most evaluation forms were in triplicate: one copy for the evaluator and the other two to be used b y the Suggestion Off ice .

15. There were several interest­i n g notations on the forms. Some of them were:

" Y o u are a member o f Man­agement and your answer reflects the attitude o f Man­agement." " A suggestion is a contract and is a legal document. Your r e p l y is a legal document also."

"Your answer is a communica­tion w i th an employee and often you have daily personal contact w i th the employee. Let your answer reflect this personal relationship." "Be careful what you say, but

what you do say, say i t posi­t ively."

From these observations we drew some conclusions on the four points listed in the beginning:

1. Weaknesses observed on present forms or procedures.

a. Stil l too many negative terms.

b . Many too brief in giving instructions as to how an eva lua t i on should be con­ducted.

c. Some were detailed, making i t d i f f i cu l t fo r an evaluator to fo l low the steps in the evalua­t ion procedure.

d. Very few had any reference to the legal aspects.

2. Strong points observed on present forms or procedures.

a. More than one Management signature required.

b. Evaluation f o r m becomes the report to the employee. c. Intangible rating charts w i t h good guidelines for appraisal. d. Personal contact w i t h sug-gestor required by many.

e. Negativism seems to be lessening.

3. Trends observed on present forms.

a. Combining tangible and intangible into one f o r m .

b . L e g a l clause becomes noticeable.

c. Routing f rom top manage­ment down for evaluation and then returning same route for approval.

Example: Suggestion Office sends production suggestions to Works Manager who in turn rou te s t h e m through the superintendent down to a f o r e m a n . T h i s process is reversed when the evaluation is completed.

d. Check mark questions are becoming fewer and general guidelines or wri t ten instruc­tions are on the increase.

e. Verif icat ion o f all costs and savings by the Accounting or F i n a n c e Depa r tmen t s are becoming quite noticeable.

4. Recommendations 1. More complete instructions as t o w h a t an evaluation should include.

b. Legal clause informing the

evaluator that the evaluation is part o f the suggestion contract and could become involved in legal action.

c. More explicit guidelines on how to evaluate the intangible. d. Make the f o r m so that i t readily becomes a communica­t ion piece.

e. Review your present fo rm to be sure i t reflects a whole­some positive approach to all ideas.

f. Keep the f o r m simple, but adequate and factual.

THE EVALUATOR Part Two pertains to the evaluator.

E v a l u a t o r s f a l l into* two classes, namely: 1. Line or staff evaluators (supervisors); 2. Full or part-time analysts.

O f the 375 companies included in this study there were 91 companies who employed f u l l or part-time evalua­tors. The others were using supervisors to do the evaluation.

As in Part One, we approached this phase o f the research study in the same way, namely: weakness; strength; trends, and recommendations.

The fundamental weakness in all o f these systems surveyed was the fact that the suggestion administrator took for granted all that was required is simply to determine i f an idea is usable and what i t w i l l save or accomplish.

The general observations were most interesting and I would like to share them wi th you .

1. Li t t le or no criteria exist as to what type o f person should be the evaluator.

2. Budget restrictions prohibit e m p l o y i n g ful l - t ime analysts w h e n in essence, supervision costs to evaluate were far greater than had they employed an analyst.

3. Processing time was far greater when done by supervision than when done by analysts. This was arr ived at by comparing 50 programs wi th f u l l or part-time evaluators wi th 50 programs where supervisors are doing the evaluations. Also consideration was given to similar industry, number o f suggesters, number o f s u g g e s t i o n s , awards , and acceptance all being about equal.

Continued on page 40

18 PERFORMANCE

Part: 2 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS IN QUALITY ASSURANCE

GLENN E. HAYES is Associate Professor in the Industrial Technology Department at California State Univer­sity, Long Beach. He heads the Quality Assurance option of Industrial Tech­nology at the University where he is also advisor to the largest student chapter of ASQC in the United States.

Before joining the CSU, LB facul ty. Dr. Hayes was engaged in various engineering. Quality Assurance and Management positions in the electron­ics, steel, aluminum, aerospace and air­craft fields. He has been active as a consultant in Industrial Engineering and Quality Control.

Dr. Hayes is the author of numer­ous articles, the most recent of which is his textbook, "Quality Assurance in a Manufacturing Enterprise."

First Line Supervision E v e r y member of management

influences the quality o f employe per­f o r m a n c e and resul tant product integrity. The top managers' influence is revealed through the policies they establish and the support they render. The middle managers' influence is shown by the content clarity, and completeness o f directives and specifi­cations issued by them. The influence that the first line supervisor has on p e r f o r m a n c e q u a l i t y is revealed through the results o f his workers. Because the first line supervisor is in the bot tom position o f the manage­

ment hierarchy and is considered the 'leader o f the worker' , he is also the focal point o f much activity and is in a position to be subjected to criticism by both management and the worker.

The first line supervisor is also in a position that offers great potential for the improvement o f quality. I f suf­ficient information) were available to make a valid analysis, i t would prob­ably be revealed that the first line supervisor has more influence on quality than any other person in an organization's hierarchy.

Obligations of First Line Super­visors. The supervisor plays the key role in creating and maintaining uni ty among his subordinates. In today's production processes where jobs are specialized and narrow in scope, i t is frequently d i f f i cu l t for employes to understand the importance o f their own contributions to a company. The feelings o f workers that they 'belong' and that they contribute their share toward achieving major objectives are

requisites in meeting quality goals. The first line supervisor is looked

upon by the worker as the one who can solve the problems encountered on the j ob . He is considered the person who can obtain better working condi­tions and higher wages for the worker, and he is also usually regarded as the mos t capable one in the group, although there are instances where this is not true.

Because the first line supervisor represents 'management' to the work­er, his ability to convey the expecta­tions o f management is critical to good employe relations. As workers depend upon supervision for guidance and direction regarding their assignments, higher management depends upon first line supervision for guidance and direc­t ion regarding worker needs, depart­mental needs, and control informa­t ion. The accuracy and timeliness o f both wri t ten instructions issued to workers and the feedback information transmitted f r o m workers to manage-

PERFORMANCE 19

r

V A

\

P R E S C R I B E D S T A N D A R D S OF P E R F O R M A N C E

H IGHER Q U A L I T Y O U T P U T

E F F E C T I V E L E A D E R S H I P > - ( ^ I N C R E A S E D INNOVATION IN Q U A L I T Y O R G A N I Z A T I O N S

R E W A R D OUTSTANDING P E R F O R M A N C E

I N C R E A S E D M O T I V A T I O N

A P P R O P R I A T E O R G A N I Z A T I O N

G R E A T E R V A L U E IN P E R F O R M A N C E

A P P R O P R I A T E EQUIPMENT C A P A B I L I T Y

•c P R O P E R W O R K I N G E N V I R O N M E N T

H IGHER P R O D U C T A S S U R A N C E

G R E A T E R ENTHUSIASM AND C O O P E R A T I O N

>

J

Y

\

A

V

F I G U R E 3 E F F E C T I V E MANAGEMENT INDUCES HIGH PRODUCT Q U A L I T Y

ment are largely dependent upon the abilities o f first line supervision.

The supervisor in this ' l ine' position must be discerning and objective in making decisions. Any situation that p rec ludes accomplishment o f his mission in the direction and control cycles also detracts f r o m accomplish­ment o f quality objectives. Explicit instructions are imperative to many workers. I f , for any reason, workers cannot communicate freely w i th their supervisors or i f tasks have not been properly defined, the result can be misunders tanding and errors that affect product quality. The supervisor s h o u l d be sufficiently capable to instruct and assist his employes also to

make judgements regarding equipment and faci l i ty conditions. The supervisor may not have immediate solutions to all the problems at hand, but he should be untiring in his efforts to search for answers that detract neither f r o m the worker's dignity nor f r o m performance standards.

Even under the best conditions and w e l l - s u p e r v i s e d circumstances the supervisor may unwitt ingly contribute to poor quality. He cannot be an expert in every field. There are many ins tances , for example, in which management must provide support to the line supervisor in one f o r m or another. Technical assistance f rom other departments may be necessary

to aid the supervisor in implementing a new process or method. Without such assistance i t is possible to make errors that could be avoided.

Although the first line supervisor is besieged by many problems, the chal­lenges o f the position offer motivation for the pursuit o f his objectives. These challenges involve decisions that the supervisor must make regarding how best to organize the work under his supervision, whom to delegate author­i ty fo r this work, and how to evaluate the performances o f his personnel. The supervisor must make assignments to the worker, then judge the quality o f worker performance in accomplishing those assignments. In this position, he not only delegates authority to work­ers to accomplish various tasks, but he also has the responsibility for rating the performances that result f r o m such delegation.

The supervisor is in a position to constantly challenge his employes by making appropriate assignments; on the other hand, through a lack o f leadership and poor judgment in mak­ing tasks assignments, he can add to the difficult ies. The practice o f making irresponsible and ill-suited assignments to workers has the effect o f 'putting d o w n ' s u b o r d i n a t e interest and creativity, and i t induces reactions that are unfavorable to performances o f high quality.

There are a number o f 'supervisory' f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g workmanship quality that are dependent upon the administrative ability o f the super­visor. For example, an awareness that workers may have unique talents is an important leadership characteristic o f supervision. Both managers and super­visors recognize the occasional need for a person wi th special skill or aptitude, but they may fai l to recog­nize that they have such an individual i n t h e i r o w n organization. Most employes possess potential abilities t h a t , i f p r o p e r l y developed and u t i l i zed , could be o f considerable benefit to a company. Workers don't of ten have the chance to learn new skills and demonstrate certain qualif i­cations, because they are not of ten given the opportunity.

I t is, o f course, impractical and uneconomical to train large numbers o f personnel to do a variety o f differ­ent jobs in a manufacturing company, but i t should also be understood that

20 PERFORMANCE

inf lexib i l i ty o f job assignment can r e su l t in even greater costs. For example, i f a person becomes bored because o f a routine job , he may be not only error prone but also less productive. Training personnel to do more than one job can create new challenges and incentives for the work­er, as well as provide insurance against the effects o f absenteeism. Generally, management has recognized the impor­tance o f placing workers on jobs where their overall performances are best and realize the importance to quality o f job satisfaction, but realization wi th­o u t d e f i n i t e planning and action directed toward this end does not produce desired results.

The supervisor may not know the IQ o f his workers but should neverthe­less recognize areas o f individual dif­ferences among them. A good super­visor realizes that no two workers are alike. They differ in their abilities, they work and think differently, and they react differently. Some workers t end to be 'soloists' and become involved in matters that are o f no con­ce rn t o t h e m . Frequently, these employes object to procedures, rules, and regulations. Others are prone to carelessness, possess li t t le ability to communicate, and have high absentee records. Sti l l others are exceptionally capab le , a l e r t , cooperative, and dependable. Much research related to the subject o f individual differences has been conducted, and there are, perhaps, more psychological-explana­tions than there are traits. But the fact that we do possess individual differ­ences makes human ef for t increasingly d i f f i cu l t to coordinate and channel.

While a group is made up o f individ­uals, all different, the work-group functions more as a single enti ty. The first line supervisor is an important part o f that group - its leader. To the degree that the lower supervisor fu l f i l l s his assigned tasks he earns the author­i ty and respect that goes w i t h his posi­t ion . I f the supervisor o f any given funct ion consistently meets the objec­tives that are established fo r h i m , the conf idence o f higher management naturally increases. On the other hand, i f some o f the duties o f first line super­vision are not fu l l f i l l ed , upper manage­ment may cross organization lines in order to complete unfinished tasks. This practice obviously leads to a loss o f confidence by upper management

in supervision and reduces the integ­rity o f the entire organization. I t is, o f course, the responsibility o f higher management to see that the work loads schedules, and standards that are set for supervision are resonable and attainable, and that the supervisors have the necessary budgets and facil­ities to accomplish their assignments.

Conditions Affecting Quality. There are countless conditions that either aid management in reaching quality objectives or else inhibit i t . I t is not the intent here to attempt a detailed discussion o f such conditions, but fo r purposes o f illustration some may be grouped and classified.

Figure 16-3 illustrates some o f the conditions relevant to manager-worker relationships that tend to preclude high quality. Conversely, Figure 1 6 4 shows some of the conditions that encourage high quality. As shown in Figure 16-3, the product is in the center o f a poorly organized system, a poor management philosophy and a poor system o f coordination. Under such circumstances, the product has a far less chance for quality. Costs to produce to a given quality standard wi l l be excessive; when pressure is exerted by management against the worker, there is resistance f r o m the latter, and when there are promiscuous threats o f worker replacement f r o m management, concealed errors are inevitable.

However, wi thin the framework o f w e l l - d e f i n e d objectives, a quality-minded organization, and an effective administration, a greater number o f quality characteristics can be expected in the product and at a lower unit cost. Figure 1 6 4 illustrates that the d i r ec t i on - r e sponse cycle between supervision and employes is more efficient when objectives are well-defined for the worker and when management portrays a supportive attitude.

Techniques Used To Motivate Personnel Concurrent w i th the astonishingly

accelerated changes in technology, problems of emotional adjustment among industrial personnel have also arisen. Someone has said that we already know more about outer space than we know about the human mind and heart. Although this may seem an exaggeration, there is, admittedly, dis­concerting truth in the statement.

Wherever executives assemble to dis­cuss quality, the " x " factor o f human behavior wi l l usually loom large in the discussion.

Investigation into some of the causes o f poor product quality has revealed a lack o f enthusiasm to do quality work among some industrial p e o p l e . Product failure has been attributed partly to this. Countless man-hours have been devoted to the discussion o f techniques that might be used to motivate employes toward more pride in their work and toward improvement in performance. As a result, executives o f numerous com­panies have instituted various motiva­tion programs, which, they believe, wi l l inspire the workers to do quality work.

Although there are many forces in our culture that constantly influence our present industrial environment, management philosophies and leader­ship styles play important parts in whether or not workers desire to do their best work. Three common tech­niques employed by management to motivate industrial personnel are the use o f (1) motivation by force, (2) extrinsic rewards, and (3) intrinsic rewards.

Motivation by Force. Motivation by force is usually used by managers who fo l low the directive philosophy of leadership. Pressures o f different forms and magnitudes are exerted upon employes to obtain the desired results. This technique may take several differ­ent forms but usually involves the use o f threats (lay-off, discharge, demo­t ion , and reprimand, and threats o f other punitive action). These practices are less common today than they have been in the past, but some managers still believe that the best way to motivate employes to do their jobs correctly is to use threats and other fear tactics.

Management's right to discipline for cause has been continually challenged by labor unions for quite some time and has resulted in fewer cases o f employe dismissals f r om companies. Also, public opinion in general has d e f i n i t e l y retarded motivation by f o r c e . The re are situations that warrant strong disciplinary action, but the use o f threats is a poor motivator. Management has been understandably reluctant to take punitive action in

Continued on page 48

PERFORMANCE 21

TOM COOK is Corporate Manager -Value Assurance for The Huffman M a n u f a c t u r i n g Company, Dayton, Ohio. Formerly he was Manager — V a l u e Assurance for the Vapor Corporation, Chicago, Illinois. During the past ten years he has caused inter­action wi th in these multi-divisional corporations managing Value Engi­neering Programs which cover the f u l l range o f techniques f rom value analysis, through value control to customer responsive value research.

His prior experience includes five years as C h i e f Special Products Engineering Design, six years wi th Alcoa as Assistant Chief Industrial Engineer and manufacturing super­vision. Mr. Cook received his B. S.

f r o m Illinois Institute of Technology in 1952. He is past President of the Chicago Metropolitan Chapter of the Society of American Value Engineers, General Chairman of the 1967 SAVE National Conference, SAVE National Nominating Chairman fo r 1970 and was awarded the SAVE National D i s t i n g u i s h e d Service Award — Industrial Activities for 1970.

He was elected SAVE Great Plains Region Vice President in 1970. He has worked wi th the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago in applying value analysis to government expenditures. He conducts Value Training Seminars for the University of Wisconsin, and the American Management Associa­t ion .

22 PERFORMANCE

By Tom Cook I t appears to me that the biggest

single problem we, as Value Engineers, have always faced is the fact that we do not know what we are. We have li t t le agreement as to our identi ty. Worse yet , most have no real feeling o f heritage. Un t i l we accept our uniqueness and begin to act accord­ingly we as a profession wi l l never be f u l l y accepted by those in authority.

Yes, we have come a long way in perfecting various and sundry tech­niques, f irst identif ied by Larry Miles. Others have buil t upon and expanded his original concepts and reached out in industry, federal and state govern­ment, the mil i tary, construction, the c h u r c h , and elsewhere w i th some measure o f success.

We can tell the world and top

management what we do but few have really thought out much less can communicate what we are. How many t r u l y understand what our totally unique contr ibution to any organiza­t ion can be and how i t differs f r o m all other disciplines? Of significance more o f us can agree on what we are not than can agree on what we are.

As an example, ask any group o f value practitioners what we contribute and you w i l l get as many different answers. Many say " p r o f i t improve­ment" but this is claimed by most everyone in a company. Some say "good design," but where does that leave the design engineers? Some say "reduce costs" but how does that

d i f f e r f r o m other cost reduction methods, many of which pre-date Larry Miles? To say "improve value" sounds grand and valid but that is not specific enough to ident i fy our unique contribution to an organization.

The countryside is strewn wi th the, wreckage o f value programs that have sprung up, produced much fanfare, documented a high return on invest­ment and after a brief honeymoon period arc no more. For most, only a bitter taste remains. Where did they go wrong?

Traditionally, membership in our SAVE Society has consisted p f individ­uals w i th a host o f different educa­t iona l , experience and professional

PERFORMANCE 23

backgrounds . They range through design engineers, purchasing agents, manufac tu r ing engineers, industrial e n g i n e e r s , m i l i t a r y spec ia l i s t s , speciality suppliers, tool designers, contract administrators, salesmen, the l a w , construction, consultants, f u l l time value engineers and a potpourri o f others. What is, or what should be, the commonality and glue that relates t h i s diversed group of individual specialists? What is the uniqueness o f what we are and can contribute that sets us apart and that should make us in great demand?

The purpose o f this paper is to ident i fy what I believe to be our uniqueness and some day hopefully our accepted heritage.

THE THIRD REVOLUTION To understand what we are, we

need to step back and take a broad view o f what has happened in the last few hundred years. We need also to look at the "forest" o f what is being proposed here and avoid the tempta­t i o n o f p o i n t i n g o u t individual "leaves" that may be out o f place. I submit that there have been two revolutions in recent memory and we are in the early stages o f the third revolution. Please let me explain.

We all accept the existence o f the first revolution. I t was called the Industr ia l Revolution which began wi th James Watt and his steam engine a r o u n d 1765. Prior to this time, industrial progress on a chart would appear as a near horizontal line. Organizations were simple and small. People wore many hats. Then man harnessed p o w e r , and industrial progress started to mul t ip ly .

The owners o f industry o f that era were not only the salesmen but of ten the des ign engineers, purchasing agents, production superintendents, and so on. Coupled w i t h simple, rather basic wants and needs o f his custom­ers, a good "communication o f value" existed between this small organiza­t ion and the customers. By the 1850's machine tools opened the way fo r rapid industrialization. Even though masses o f people were employed under one roof working w i t h these machines, the tasks o f sales, engineering, purchas­ing, etc., were being performed by a very few people again wearing many hats. By the late 1870's, production began to overtake demand; basic needs were filled and attention shifted to

marketing, cost reduction and produc­tion control. The seeds o f the next revolution were sown.

The spark that ignited the second or so-called Scientific Management Revolution (1) was provided in the early 1880's by a young steel mi l l gang boss named Fredrick Winslow Taylor. Henry Gantt, Carl Barth and the Gilbreths aided his work considerably and the Taylor System (2) took root. Around 1912, mechanized assembly lines appeared on which were arranged a series o f workers, each performing one simple task. The long and often bitter struggle to introduce logical control, efficiency and productivity on the n e w industrial giant spanned approximately 80 years. By most measures, scientific management is an accepted principle. This is clearly evident by page after page of help w a n t e d ads, calling for industrial eng ineers , c o m p u t e r informat ion specialists, production and quality c o n t r o l spec ia l i s t s , and o t h e r p r a c t i t i o n e r s o f this, the second revolution.

Again, the seeds o f the next revolu­tions were sown by its predecessor. Who can deny the obvious benefits o f b o t h the Industrial and Scientific Management revolutions? The vast amounts o f goods and services speak for themselves, but we paid a price and the price was high!!!

T h e c o r n e r s t o n e o f Scientific Management was the division o f e f fo r t into its smallest practical uni t . Today the compartmentalization o f e f fo r t is almost absolute. We have a specialist for every activity in a loop that starts w i t h the customers. I n theory the customers communicate their desires, attitudes and needs to a specialist called a salesman. The salesman who hears what is asked for , adds a few o f his own views and values and travels o f t e n great distances to tell the engineer specialist what the customer told h im . The engineer hears the sales­man, discounts part o f what he hears and adds what he knows the customer "really wants." A t this point design draftsman and stylist get involved and they add their personal values to what the c u s t o m e r or ig ina l ly said he wanted. Finally this communication o f attitudes and desires ends up as a stack o f static drawings and part numbers. Purchasing specialists are introduced and they in turn introduce outside

speciality suppliers who in turn add their values to the communication chain.

I could go on and discuss how other special is ts in production, tooling, quali ty, safety, packaging, environ­ment, field service, advertising and others enter prior to the delivery o f the product to the customer, but the picture is becoming clear. I t ' s , much like the old parlor game we used to play. A group sits i n a circle and I (acting as the customer) whisper what I wish to buy in the first man's ear. He in turn tells the next man and so on down the row. Finally when the last man delivers to me what I had asked for originally I would not recognize i t . Why is this so? Because there has been a distortion in the "communication o f customer values."

I f this were all that happened i t might not be too bad but something even worse has taken place. The va r i ous specialists begin to draw together and feed on themselves. They become wrapped up in "their th ing" and lose empathy for the other special­ists. Frictions develop and in very short order the company that was once a cohesive unit during the First Revolution ends up being a cluster o f islands in a sea o f sharks. The special­ists construct castles w i t h very thick walls on these islands. The end result becomes a near total breakdown in communication o f customer values.

Expressed another way let us view a t y p i c a l organization chart o f any company or mili tary service. We see the leaders at the top and vertical columns o f specialists. We see vertical columns o f accountants and control­lers, vertical columns o f engineers, vertical columns o f salesmen, columns o f production people and so on. I do not find faul t w i t h this arrangement as a very efficient way o f communicating orders, instructions, policy, numbers and other specifics. I do claim that this arrangement is completely unsuited for the "communication o f customer values."

N o r m a l l y c o r p o r a t i o n s and businesses both large and small are described in physical terms such as t h e i r name , l oca t i on , size, sales volume, product, etc., but i n the final ana lys i s , t h e y are collections o f w o n d e r f u l and unique individuals. Each person has his own unique personality, likes and dislikes, goals and reward structures that act and

24 PERFORMANCE

interact in complex ways wi th of ten unpredictable results.

To state that the prime purpose o f a company and its employees is to "generate prof i ts ," true though i t is, is to greatly oversimplify the real l ife s i tua t ion . I f this were the prime purpose and goal, our industrial envi­ronment would be quite different: Decisions and actions o f people would be more predictable; the trade-off o f performance vs. delivery vs. cost, each being given equal weight, would be commonplace in our frequent daily dec i s ions ; the communication o f product value f r o m the customer thru sales to engineering and production would be clear and concise.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I t is my opinion that by accident or design, the early choice o f the word "va lue" and its "analysis" was a remarkably accurate description o f the underlying problem we face in Value work. Let me explain. In the search for better values, we usually start w i t h physical things. The hardware, costs, c u s t o m e r specifications, processes, materials and so on. As we probe deeper and get behind the facade o f what we touch, see, hear or measure, we encounter "the man" and his values. I t is his personal set o f values t h a t dominate his actions, be he decision maker, implementer, follower or detractor. A t times, even whole organizations can take on a set o f values that may or may not coincide wi th maximizing company profits w i t h best customer value. For this reason, before applying any o f our techniques, i t is essential that we first study and attempt to understand the individual values o f the people that make up an o r g a n i z a t i o n . Only then wi l l the analysis of value in physical things make sense.

WHAT IS OUR UNIQUENESS? I f the above is true what should be

our role? Should i t be to out-guess the s a l e s m a n , t o ou t - eng inee r the engineers, to out-style the stylist, to out-buy the buyer, to out-produce the production people? No. i t should be none o f these. Each time we t ry to take on this role we destroy ourselves. I submit our role, our unique contribu­t ion , must be in re-uniting ( i f only for brief periods o f time) the channels o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n o f value between customers and key in-house specialists.

These are the value influencers which must.be re-united.

A word o f caution. We must do this w i t h o u t t r a p p i n g ourselves into building our own island where the value activity o f the company takes place. I t cannot be done on our island. In theory we should not have an island. I t must be done wi th in and among the other islands. I f we study the history o f the many value pro­grams that have died we wi l l f ind this as one o f the most common causes o f failure.

I f we practice on ourselves that which we preach, we should be able to distill and capture this uniqueness in the v e r b / n o u n funct ion language. Applying how/why logic, functions such as " b u i l d bridges," "unite islands," "be catalyst," "bridge gaps," etc., appear. Running the risk o f creating a semantics chicken fight I suggest that we accept as our role, our uniqueness, the funct ion - CAUSE INTERACTION!! !

By accepting this as our unique contribution to any organization, the tools we use make sense. The power o f the verb/noun funct ion language to strip away the superfluous and put in a language f o r m that the many special­ists can understand and relate to , the job plan, determining funct ion costs, i d e n t i f y i n g and relating customer funct ion attitudes, the task force team wi th its chemistry o f relating the various specialists, etc., now makes sense. This is why the latest tool F.A. S. T . (Function Analysis Systems Technique) has gained such wide­spread acceptance by Value Practi­tioners. I t allows us who use i t to cause mixed groups o f specialists to inter-act very effectively in a brief period o f time. A l l these tools, used wi th professional skill are superbly suited to accomplishing our funct ion - CAUSE INTERACTION!! !

M o s t i m p o r t a n t , we can now ident i fy our position in the forefront o f the Third Revolution. The Indus­trial Revolution answered the question "what" needs should be filled. The Second Revolution settles the question " h o w " best should we f i l l these needs. The Third Revolution, assisted by our a b i l i t y to CAUSE INTERACTION comes t o grips wi th the " w h y " question. Why are we doing what wc do wi th in an organization?

Since only our customers or users of our organization's services are the ultimate and final judges o f what is "good value," and since the Value Engineering profession possesses the unique ability to "cause interactions" wi th in and between organizations and the customer our contribution can be understood and accepted by those in leadership ' positions. Granted, the causing of meaningful and lasting interaction, not the temporary kinds o f i n t e r a c t i o n f o u n d in typical seminars , requires a person wi th unique managerial skills. No one ever said this would be an easy j o b , but the personal rewards are fantastic.

Although what I have proposed appears slanted to conditions that exist relative to private industry, Value Managers , the thoughts expressed apply to all types o f organizations and all types o f SAVE members. Surely we have "customers" in defense indus­t r i e s , c o n s t r u c t i o n , the mili tary, g o v e r n m e n t , schools, the church, hospitals and so on and everyone knows we have "islands" o f specialists, layer upon layer.

I f u l l y expect that a larger number of our Society members w i l l take issue wi th what I have proposed. Many w i l l feel uncomfortable w i t h the suggestion that they step beyond a cost reduction role. Many w i l l never go deeper than the thoughts that their role in industry is to "improve prof i t s ." Some w i l l say that what I have proposed is too abstract. Some w i l l say that i t is an over-simplication w i t h l i t t le practical merit. A l l should agree that unt i l we, as individuals, ident i fy what we are and act accordingly and finally take pride in our unique heritage, we w i l l have great d i f f i cu l ty in gaining accept­ance wi th in the organizations we so eagerly desire to serve.

Y o u w i l l note that I have made no real attempt to spell out specific details or mechanics on how to cause interaction. That should be the subject for a second paper.

With the theme for the 1973 SAVE N a t i o n a l Confe rence at Chicago addressing itself to Value Engineering and the Third Revolution, perhaps others wi l l shed more light on this most important subject. [ 7 ] F O O T N O T E S : 1. B . A . Leerburger, J r . "Sc ien t i f i c Manage­

ment: S tory of a R e v o l u t i o n " , F a c t o r y Magazine, October 1960 pp 86-90

2. F .W. T a y l o r " T h e Principles of Sc ient i f ic M a n a g e m e n t " H a r p e r & B r o t h e r s Publishers N . Y . — September 1915

PERFORMANCE 25

good suggestion system's investi­gator is one who doesn't have to talk in a loud voice, because his opinions and position are respected. He is one who gambles on peopfe, because they are as l ikely to be as right as he is. He listens to his suggesters' ideas and helps them through intelligent discus­sion because this is the way to gener­ate more productive participation in the program.

He knows that the suggester who is performing a particular job is l ikely to have a more detailed knowledge o f the subject matter than he does. The sug­gester, being in a position to know his job better than anyone else, is knowl­edgeable o f where needless hidden costs lie and where duplication exists. Therefore, we, as investigators, must let the suggester talk, listen to his com­plaints, and attempt to fu l l y under­s t and the proposal being offered. During the interview i t is also most important for us to be interested, s y m p a t h e t i c when necessary, and enthusiastic.

As many questions as necessary should be asked o f the suggester as may be required to fu l l y understand his idea. The investigator who does not have a thorough understanding o f the suggestion cannot make an intelligent appraisal. Asking the right questions w i l l give the suggester confidence as well as making h im feel that someone is sincerely interested in his idea.

The grateful attitude is to be as ready to receive as to give. In this way he gets the best out o f everyone, in­cluding himself. Sincerity is an impor­tant part o f his attitude; questions should never be posed to contradict a suggestor, but instead to elicit an answer which would serve to clarify the subject.

Let us suppose, for instance, that we are talking w i t h a suggester and say, "Why did you submit an idea which has been thought o f and re­jected a thousand times before?" A remark like that might discourage further discussion by the suggester. I f , on the other hand, you were to say, "Your idea must have some merit, for i t has been brought up by others in the past. What prompted you to submit the proposal at this time?" With this type o f questioning you might get an answer which would point out positive aspects o f the idea which were over­looked or missed by fel low investiga­tors in the past.

There is no doubt about i t , people

are more d i f f i cu l t to talk to and handle today. This places a new and increasing responsibility on the investi­gator who must deal tac t fu l ly , intell i­gently and understandingly w i t h the problems and questions arising in his contacts w i th the suggester. Thus, today we must be more o f a diplomat than a dictator in the accomplishment o f our daily responsibilities.

A basic desire among all o f us is to be treated an an individual. I t is possi­ble for investigators to miss ideal opportunities to use communication as a way o f showing a genuine interest in his suggesters. Start your conversations wi th a "good morning," or " h i , Joe," and at the conclusion o f your inter­view do not walk away wi thout saying "good-bye" or "see you later."

We all know that most people like to be called by their first names. We should t ry to use this courtesy w i t h all suggesters, even at the ini t ial interview. Conducting interviews on a first name basis not only relaxes the participants o f a conversation, but also tends to create a sense o f familiari ty and trust. I n time this trust may be converted to d o l l a r savings for your company, through the suggester's increased par­ticipation in the company's cost reduc­t ion program.

Effective listening must begin w i t h a respect for the suggester's point o f view. Our attitude w i l l set the tone o f the conversation. I f we feel he has something interesting or valuable to say in support o f his idea, or i f we are concerned w i t h h im as a person, we w i l l listen to h im. Listening to h im objectively is the only way we can gather the necessary data to carry his idea to the implementing stages.

Be physically alert when interview­ing the suggester. Looking up at the ceiling, yawning, or just not looking attentive w i l l distress h im to the point where he may lose fa i th in your ability to intelligently represent h im.

Let the suggester know that you are wi th h im while he is talking. A brief comment at the right time — "yes," "sure," "uh huh ," w i l l reassure h im that you are not taking what he has to say l ight ly. Also, i f i t is appropriate, break in and ask a question or make a comment. We should avoid interrupt­ing too frequently, though, and be brief when you do. Too many inter­r u p t i o n s wi l l make the suggester uneasy, and may give h im the impres­sion that the investigator is dubious o f his statements.

26

As stated, listening does not merely mean keeping quiet while the suggester is talking. When the investigator is talking he might check himself w i t h these questions:

Do I t ry to fu l l y understand the intent o f the suggester's idea?

Do I avoid interrupting h im when

he is talking?

Do I show a sincere interest in all o f the details, even though they may seem relatively unimportant?

Do I wait to hear the whole story before passing judgement on his statements or ideas?

Do I give 100% attention to what he is saying?

Does my facial expression show interest?

Do I help out by supplying a word , phrase or idea at the right t ime, either when he hesitates or just to let h im know that I am still w i t h him?

A n answer o f " n o " to any o f these questions may indicate that the inves­tigator is not listening as well as he might. He should then ask himself, "am I representing my suggester and his idea in the best possible way?"

The suggester should feel confident that he is being properly represented and that the forthcoming investigation w i l l be conducted in a manner which w i l l be in the best interest o f his pro­posal. I t is important to establish this k ind o f trust at our interviews, so that, i f the idea is not adopted, the sug­gester, when not i f ied o f the reasons fo r rejection, wi l l be assured that his investigator was sincere and thorough in his representation. I f in our own mind we are not sure where our next contact w i l l be, tell this to the sug­gester, but assure him that you w i l l do what is necessary to locate the person or agency which can best give an appraisal o f his idea.

Those later contacts which we con­d u c t dur ing the investigation, on behalf o f the suggester's idea, should be done in a manner as to f u l l y represent the proposal. Before accept­ing an answer f rom a contact, make sure he has been f u l l y briefed on the

suggester's idea. Merely conveying a part o f the proposal to an engineer, supervisor or technician may invite an answer which is not completely rela­tive to the suggester's intent. That person whom you are interviewing should feel as though you are f u l l y representing your suggester and his idea. A t a future time the contact and the suggester may have occasion to dis­cuss the circumstances o f the case and, as previously stated, i t is important that the suggester always be assured that he has been properly represented.

Personal opinions, negative to the adoption o f the proposal, should never be conveyed by the investigator to the person being interviewed. A remark such as "the present method has been in practice for years and I can see no reason to change i t , " may, in fact, put thoughts and words into the mind and mouth o f your contact. I f this is his opinion let h im say i t to you wi thout making i t easier for h im. On the other hand, i f he were to disagree w i t h the negative remark, the investigator might f ind himself in an uncomfortable situa­t ion for having prematurely misrepre­sented a potentially good idea.

The Suggestion Investigator builds his respected position wi th contacts, by being a good listener and possessing the courage o f his own convictions. What appears to be a good idea in the eyes o f the investigator, but is unjusti­fiably rejected by the implementing agency, should not be accepted l ight ly . However, an emotional, heated discus­sion should be avoided. Good judge­ment and tact w i l l guide the investiga­tor to his next move, which may be contacting others who might be in­volved in the implementation o f the idea or gathering additional data to support his case.

The investigator who is a good interviewer and who can convey the suggesters' ideas to those agencies responsibile for implementation, gains the respect o f those he represents as well as the people whom he may be contacting. The success or failure o f the entire program may be predicated on this ability to be able to listen and ask the right questions o f the suggester at the init ial and subsequent inter­views. A n investigator continues to strengthen this rapport w i t h the sug­gesters because he knows that this is the way to generate more productive participation in Suggestion System. [ T j

27

28 PERFORMANCE

Charles Albano

C H A R L E S A L B A N O is an Employee Development Specialist in the Training and Development Branch of the U.S. Army's Electronics Com­mand at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He serves as Chairman of the Manage­ment Development Department and is Assis tant to the Director of the Army's Northeast Regional Training Center.

Former training positions held by M r . A lbano involved him in the administration of training aspects of career development and in the prepara­t ion of course materials fo r use in management training. Prior to working

in training he worked in the Civilian Personnel Office as a job analyst. In this staff capacity he consulted wi th managers in the areas of human resource management and the im­provement of organizational struc­tures. His special interests center on c rea t ive application of Behavioral Science in the study of leadership.

Mr. Albano graduated Monmouth College in N.J. and is a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the National Historical Honor Society. He holds a B.S. Degree in Education/Social Science and has completed one year's study in Public Administration at Rutgers University. He has taught classes in Creative Thinking in community adult educa­tion programs.

Are you satisfied wi th your organ­ization the way i t exists? Do you honestly feel that there is l i t t le room for improvement in the way things are done, in what should be done versus what gets done? Do you give as much thought to "doing right things" as to "doing things right?" Can you survey the outer edges o f your organization and -give assurance that customer ser­vice, quality considerations, operation­al costs, etc., are amply met? What about tomorrow — wi l l more o f the same be enough justif ication for con­tinuing the services your organization provides to others?

I f you can honestly answer yes to these questions, you may not be motivated to consider the ideas that wi l l be discussed in this article. Y o u may as well pass on to the next article. But wait: let me put one more ques­tion to you .

Looking back to the last innovative practice, service, or product offer ing that was implemented by those in your organization, do you recall its origin? I f i t was externally originated and assigned to you for implementa­t ion , maybe you should read on.

In the l ife cycle o f organizations such questions as these take on a lot o f importance, because they shake us out of our complacency and cause us to

have a healthier regard for tomorrow. We all know o f businesses and seg­ments o f businesses that came to an abrupt end when it seemed that they s h o u l d go on indef in i t e ly . Their success was convincing i f tenuous. In many cases they had died long before their managements were aware o f i t , thought I suspect their serviced publics were not taken entirely aback. The aging organization isn't the old one; i t is the one that has ceased to remake itself, and i t ends where its primeval goals dictate.

In this article I would like to dis­cuss creative team building. The rejuvenation o f tired organizations does not come about by edict f r o m the upper echelons or by a succession of kicks f rom the outside, (no matter how hard). Organizations are renewed at the action levels where the work is accomplished. I t is a premise o f this article that where the funct ion of management is to hire talent, there is also the obligation to liberate and to capitalize upon such talent. That this is lacking is usually evident in the demise o f those organizations whose vital parts have atrophied in the face of tomorrow's demands.

THE SIGNS Fortunately the road to organiza­

t i o n a l obsolescence is rather well marked. During its stage o f senility the organization exhibits certain character­istics. While not yet over the h i l l , i t is trudging its way up the slopes. I t is comfortable, i t has gotten very set in its ways, and i t has become very defen­sive. Typically there is a vague feeling of uneasiness in the air, wi th some o f the employees sensing that their world is about to be disturbed. But don't misunderstand, i t has not gotten lazy, in fact the teams may be working as hard as ever. In this organization the supervisor sees to it that things are done right. Everyone may be con­scientious. The trouble is that no one really knows where he is going. Things arc done right, but the right things aren't being done because no one is really asking the hard questions about tomorrow. Among the specific indica­tors o f tlie team's demise are the fo l ­lowing:

PERFORMANCE 29

Team originated ideas are held somehow to be inherently inferior to those being tried or thought up in other comparable organizations. This is symptomatic o f a breakdown in con­fidence. Where this k ind o f thinking is prevalent, you w i l l find that the employees w i l l seek other outlets for their ideas which may in turn reaff i rm the supervisor's feeling that his people are not very productive o f ideas.

Periodic review of company policies for purposes o f determining the need for updating, rescinding, or altering them is considered to be drudgery rather than opportunity in the senile team. The supervisor feels that w i t h a li t t le patchwork the same policies or procedures w i l l continue to serve. He overlooks the opportunity to restruc­ture them in a more appropriate man­ner vis a vis the future because he has not sensed the things that tomorrow is demanding to be done today. Unless rescued by external forces, he and his organization w i l l go the way o f the dinosaur.

Workers feel that routine is expect­ed. More than this is the danger that all o f their efforts w i l l automatically be committed to the maintenance o f ongoing procedures. By failing to re­structure operations in some basic ways in order to meet needs efficient­ly , management has condemned the action level to expand their efforts in rear guard action. The team that is doomed to extinction is always busy fighting to catch up w i t h its workload. I t is usually paperbound, and even where i t is successful in accomplishing the routine demands made upon i t , its efforts are inadequate by any objective standards. I t is this sense of helpless­ness that sometimes overcomes the workers but usually is not communi­cated upward. Employees have come to expect the routine, and they are geared to deliver only the routine.

Planning f o r the future is fixated on avoiding the errors o f the past. Be­cause o f this there is no unif ied and demanding search for the novel: no one questions the basics in the light o f the demands made by the outer env i ronment . Rather than address their mission and functions directly,

management here is only concerned wi th doing the same things differently. The times may demand that different things be done.

N e w initiatives invariably come f r o m the outside. Ironically, a dying organization may die sooner, because i t is not prepared to incorporate these demands into its operations in reason­ed, priority-based manner. I t is not prepared to treat them systematically. The consequence is that the organiza­tion gets buffeted about by forces which may actually be antithetical to one another and are generally not understood. Each externally imposed program makes its own demands on manpower, money, and time and car­ries its own logic.

The confusion that results f r o m this may damage the team's morale severe­ly . I t is at this late stage in the organ­ization's life cycle that i t becomes more and more defensive in its con­tacts w i th the outer wor ld . Having failed to grasp the necessity to operate in tomorrow's environment, change is imposed on i t by higher echelons. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , when it comes, i t comes in condensed, sporadic, and non-assimilable f o r m signalling the end o f still another insensitive and un­imaginative organization.

CHANGE-MINDED SUPERVISION

Where does one begin to rescue his team f r o m this path to obsolescence? As I mentioned before, the real e f for t and initiative must come f r o m the action levels. I t is here that the work is accomplished and presumably i t is here at the nerve endings that the organization is most sensitive to the complex demands o f the serviced com­muni ty .

I n s u r i n g one's place tomorrow involves being change-minded and innovative. These qualities were con­spicuously absent in our sketch o f the dying organization. Perhaps we can portray some o f the features that mark the supervisor who operates the in­novative organization. Af terward we wi l l map out a procedure for building a creative team.

First o f all, the change-minded supervisor constantly examines the routine o f operations in his organiza­t ion . Where he feels there is room for improvement, he communicates the desirability o f doing something new to his employees. I n doing this he estab­lishes his expectation for suggestions f o r i m p r o v e m e n t . D i r e c t l y and indirectly he conveys the sense that present ways need not and should not set the limits for tomorrow. He educates his employees to the fact that present o p e r a t i n g practices and policies are the product o f a practical evolution; they are not immutable; they may not be be|t , and, they may be changed. By making his feelings known in this way he prepares his team fo r the important job o f ques­tioning all current practices and pro­cedures.

T h e c h a n g e - m i n d e d supervisor educates his team to changes and trends in areas that may have an impact upon their work. In doing this he tries to take long and short-term indicators into account. He solicits ideas and opinions on these matters while encouraging team members to investigate such forces in more detail. Later, he makes these findings avail­able to the entire team. This procedure insures involvement. I t is a very useful and immediate f o r m o f training experi­ence. Future decisions that w i l l involve the team become more apparent and can be treated more rationally. This approach takes some o f the sting out o f change and reduces fear o f change. I t can be described as a conscientious e f for t to utilize the present in prepara­t ion for the future.

I won ' t dwell on the next point which is simply that this supervisor makes the time necessary to consider any ideas offered up by his team. I f he finds any unacceptable, he explains why and points out a more promising line o f inquiry fo r the suggestor to explore.

Some o f the objectives o f this k ind o f supervision are to increase output, or to prepare to meet future demands; to operate more eff ic ient ly; to insure

30 PERFORMANCE

the proper level o f activity in the proper activities; and to do more o f the things that are fundamental to or lie at the heart o f the organization's purpose. Everyone should be in agree­ment on what this last point implies for the team's everyday operations. In the service oriented organization i t may mean spending more time in field contacts and providing more individ­ualized service. Its implications are a matter for team discernment and com­mitment.

The basis for creative team inter­a c t i o n is established first in the atmosphere that the supervisor creates. From here he goes on to promote cer­tain practices which w i l l help to gain the fruits o f their thinking on matters ranging f r o m the orderly implementa­t i o n o f change to survival under tomorrow's conditions.

CREATIVE INTERACTION Let's consider some of the things

the supervisor might do to build a team that can funct ion creatively. Before listing some practices, i t should be noted that he begins w i th the attitude that the members o f his team are able to and would like to contrib­ute to changing their working environ­ment in ways that w i l l help assure its functional perpetuity. Toward this end he is aware that creative activity is necessary almost by defini t ion because of the quasi-abstract nature o f the demands that w i l l be made by the future. He knows that i t may call f o r t h novel practices. A creative stance is f l e x i b l e . Consequently i t is more adaptable to a variety o f contin­gencies.

I n the opening stage o f team activity the supervisor makes an e f fo r t to accomplish the fol lowing:

Insti l l confidence in the team's ability to be creative in coping w i t h change. He may do this ini t ial ly by implementing some of the ideas that are contributed even though they may be o f minor value.

Open avenues for participation in the several functional areas o f management, i.e., planning, direc­t ion , evaluation, and innovation.

The team must know in what areas he w i l l entertain their participation. Some supervisors, for example, only invite their employees' ideas as they pertain to control or evaluation. The wider the range open to participation, the better the results- w i l l be in this instance since we are" attempting to cope wi th the myriad demands o f organizational growth and evolution.

Determine w i t h them those activ­ities, methods, and practices that are amenable to creative treatment. These, incidentally, constitute a surprisingly large number. They include many activities that have to do wi th budgeting, customer rela­tions, personnel, production, cost reduction, etc.

Set the limits and conditions wi th in which team initiative is free to operate. This is very important. Don' t let the team "spin its wheels" i n areas clearly demarcated as i n v o l v i n g policies which higher management has no intention o f changing and in which i t does not invite employee participation.

Once the groundwork is established the supervisor can move the team on to active operation. In doing so, he may find i t useful to observe the f o l ­lowing practices:

Discourage the tendency to seek the "one right solution". Very few management problems can claim to have one right solution. While such things as better solutions do exist, i t is important to consider all ideas.

Tell them all they need to know by way o f background to the present state o f affairs including the impact portended in trends and projec­tions.

Make use of brainstorming and other creative techniques. There is a wealth o f excellent material avail­able in these areas, and, I w i l l not elaborate here upon these. Suffice i t to say that techniques are vitally important. Attitudes and w i l l alone w i l l not prove as productive.

Reserve judgment. Take a suppor­tive and expansive position when members o f the team present their ideas. Encourage them to do the same for one another. New ideas are delicate creatures. They can die f r o m improper exposure as well as f r o m neglect. Try to consider the more positive aspects o f the idea. Don' t hesitate to consider i t in ways not suggested but which might prove useful.

Give them a stake in the ways things are done. Y o u w i l l be maxi­mizing this, o f course, to the extent that you allow participation in broad aspects o f the team's work. Where ways are found to improve job conditions, their implementa­t ion wi l l reinforce loyalty to this approach to team leadership by aff i rming the team role in manage­ment.

IN CONCLUSION Obsolescence in an organization

reaches right down to the action levels. Essentially i t is a condition o f not being able to cope wi th the changes implied in the future. I t is not just a matter o f an individual here or there finding his skills outdated. I t occurs in those organizations large and small whose leadership fails to look hard into the future, to read the ongoing cues and to enlist the ideas o f the workgroups that make up these organi­z a t i o n s . Consequently a valuable source o f new initiatives is lost to them, and, they dr i f t on aimlessly unti l they no longer provide a service to anyone. Team building is the super­visor's challenge; new initiatives are the organization's l i feblood; and, sur­vival is everyone's business. [TJ

PERFORMANCE 31

PERFORMANCE

IDEA PROGRAMS AND MANAGEMENT ATTITUDES

By Amby Bair

Management people have taken a dim view of idea programs. Here are some of the reasons fo r their actions.

Back in 1880, Management decided to give employees an opportunity to help their organization th ink of a better way to do things. They called this venture a Suggestion Plan. We now have this technique practiced in Industry and Government under various titles, but pollution has set in because of indifferent operating procedures. The idea technique has grown but in many cases in spite of itself because today as in years past many business leaders look on this business as something to just tolerate or give luke­warm reception.

THE IDEA SALESMAN

For many years, idea salesmen sold the program on the basis that i t was a "Morale Builder." Morale is a magic word. Everyone wants i t and doesn't always know what it is, but they always know when they don't have i t . Many programs were bought on the basis of morale, but because they are Morale Programs and not business ventures, many were placed on the tail-end of an employee benefit package and they are just tolerated f r o m year to year. Therefore, no actual benefit to the employees or organization resulted. Suggestion salesmen also used the old sales gag " jo in the

A M B Y B A I R is founder of The Southern California Chapter Of The National Association Of Suggestion Systems. He has experience in Person­nel Management including Speaker, Consultant, and Administrator in The Techniques of Employee Motivation. Also author of The Suggestion Story and other papers concerning the sug­gestion technique.

prestige group" and they would name the Companies and

Government groups that had the blue ribbon type of

program.

There was one statement that was used a thousand times and that was "there are ten thousand suggestion programs in the United States." If this statement were true, there would be no necessity fo r this article.

MANAGEMENT REACTS

Today, some member of Management wi l l point to someone and say, "Tomorrow you manage the idea program" just like that. In nine cases out of ten, the person pointed to wi l l have had no experience in the techniques of employee motivation or training in idea program operation. Management did not feel that the program was important enough to warrant experience or training.

Management wi l l also advise that the program wi l l be cut-back or dropped for an indefinite period because busi­ness is slack. This action eliminates the very thing that business needs most in slack periods and that is ideas f r o m everybody to help f i nd a way out of the forest. Idea program budgets wi l l also be cut, the Analyst force decreased to a point that evaluation turnaround time is so great that morale is lost and operating costs are high be­cause of the delay in adoption of cost reduction ideas.

There also wil l be various other reactions of Management

PERFORMANCE 33

that wi l l not be to the best interest of the idea program technique. Management people have the responsibility to conduct their business affairs according to the measurement of program importance and it is evident that they don't think that the idea program concept is important.

The big question here is why? How important is the idea or suggestion program? Or, is it important at all?

ARE IDEA PROGRAMS IMPORTANT?

Investigation has shown that most of these so-called morale builders do not build morale at all. In fact, they tear down morale because the pipeline of communication between the employee and management is clogged up wi th lukewarm support or no support at all by management and the employee knows it and therefore does not participate. Employee opinion polls bring in comments like this: "Well , I guess the boss doesn't think much of the Suggestion Program, because he doesn't push i t , so I don't turn in suggestions."

The successful programs all have the same professional format. They are business ventures, pure and simple, and they are operated in a business manner, wi th the same business requirements as other departments in the organiza­t ion . Most of all they are strong in the techniques of cost reduction and morale is " b u i l t - i n " because the program is a business venture and management and the employees know it .

Any business venture type suggestion program wil l build morale, whether you want i t or not and particularly when the employee knows that he is helping to cut down operat­ing costs. He is smart enough to know that this gives him job security. The employee also likes to know that he wi l l receive compensation on a schedule of a percentage of worth to the company.

Human nature wi l l never change in this respect because employees expect to be compensated for their efforts and the compensation that they understand best is the dollar sign or something they can convert into dollars.

If a program awards prizes or gimmicks, the quality of the ideas received are no better than the awards. Dollar awards bring in good quality ideas. This is not theory but fact. The old worn-out theory that all an employee wants is to be part of the team and get a pat on the back went out with the covered wagon. Employees are very smart in sug­gestion programs and should be treated as such and the employees who have backed away f r o m an award check are so few in number that i t hardly deserves mention.

The Suggestion Program is a business venture, not a play­thing or gimmick.

Cost reduction should be the prime reason f o r the operation of any suggestion program. The successful programs have proven this. Organization and staffing should be of high caliber and training in the techniques of employee motivation and cost reduction is important.

Employees and supervision understand the importance

of cost reduction and they react accordingly. The average member of management wi l l give the suggestion administra­tor f i f teen minutes to talk about suggestions' but, if the topic is cost reduction, the time wi l l be at least an hour.

If idea or suggestion programs were called cost reduction programs, they would receive more favorable consideration by management and employees. The administrator would then be known as a cost reduction engineer and they finally would be placed on the higher level of management which they have long deserved.

The suggestion technique is a prime target for the car­toonist and is a joke fo r the business leader at the 19th hole of the country club. This is only because the conduct of these same business leaders was far below acceptable standards f o r such a program.

It is great to give employees an opportunity to partici­pate. Help f i n d a better way to do things and bg part of the team, but they also have self respect and they don't want games played wi th their ideas.

The employee idea concept is a hardheaded business and is not for the weak at heart. Any organization that just tolerates this business has missed the boat because you either do it or you don't . The successful middle of the road program is hard to f i n d .

A L L NEW SUGGESTIONS should be acknowledged within 24 hours of receipt by the suggestion unit and any idea having cost reduction possibilities should be investi­gated within the same 24-hour period. This method could save thousands of dollars in scrap, man-hours, the paper mi l l , etc.

Some programs are still operating on a three to six months investigation time. This breaks down the morale of everyone and also results in lost operating costs which can never be recovered. One good cost reduction suggestion that is placed into operation before the problem got out of hand could pay fo r the cost of the idea program fo r a year.

IDEA PROGRAMS need stature in their organization. Then employees look up to the importance of the program.

IDEA ADMINISTRATORS have previous training in many fields, such as: Industrial Engineering, Accounting and others, but when they take the idea job their education has just started. They must further learn the important techniques of "common every day horse sense." They must also be able to motivate employees and management people, give good service to both, be cost conscious, and i t would be much to their advantage if they had the guts of an alligator and the patience of Job.

THE SUGGESTION COMMITTEE is a very important part of the idea technique because they have the power to adopt ideas and grant awards and in most programs their action is f ina l . Investigation has shown that in many cases the committee has too much muscle. Therefore, a good set of ground rules for committee action is needed. No com­mittee should have the authority to deviate f r o m writ ten program policy and any idea that is adopted should be

34 PERFORMANCE

awarded according to policy schedules. Ideas that are placed into operation and not awarded can tear down morale immediately and build-up is not easy.

Some programs do not have a committee. They use a sign-off of responsible management for adoption and award. This method is good because after all committee man-hour time is expensive.

THE IDEA BACKLOG

The idea backlog is a pile of raw, undeveloped material that is a dirty name in this business and should not be allowed in any well operated program. This backlog means that the problem is still out there somewhere waiting for something to be done about i t . The company is waiting fo r the cost reduction and the employee is waiting fo r an answer. Management and idea people should be concerned about this dilemma because thousands of lost dollars are involved and employee morale goes down the drain.

If you take a look at the idea within 24 hours after submittal and start action on the problems, the backlog would be small because it would consist only of the ones awaiting adoption. The non-adoption or approximately 65% are answered and cleared out.

Any size backlog is bad, but when i t gets out of hand, there are three proven methods for a cure. These are work overtime, hire or transfer extra help. These are both expen­sive, or declare a moratorium on new ideas for a specified period. No t i fy the employees in advance and tell them you are doing this to clean up the backlog ideas so you may give them better service in the future . The employees wil l accept this method and sometimes it is the only solution to get a fresh start. A stagnant backlog hardly ever goes down in numbers.

A N Y BACKLOG T H A T DELAYS PROMPT SERVICE TO THE COMPANY A N D ITS EMPLOYEES IS EXCES­SIVE A N D REQUIRES IMMEDIATE A C T I O N .

Any business man contemplating an idea program of any kind or the continuation of one would do well to consider it as a business venture and make it live up to the same standards as other departments in the organization. Most of all, make i t pay. It wi l l show a prof i t in cost reduction if it is allowed to have clean fresh air to breathe and the good old morale wi l l still be there.

Employees, members of management and the stock­holders wi l l show respect for this type of program. If a program cannot meet these standards, throw i t out of the nearest window.

OUTLINE FOR A BUSINESS VENTURE TYPE PROGRAM THAT IS A MONEYMAKER

Don't beat around the bush. Come right out wi th i t , if you have a strong heart.

1 — Full support of top management and all other levels of management is essential. The employees must know this and believe i t . Staff the idea department wi th top talent.

2 — A writ ten program policy is a must. It should in­clude eligibility factors, award formulas, committee ground rules and most of all the policy should be known by all concerned.

3 — Tell your employees that you want their ideas on cost reduction but that you wi l l accept intangible and safety ideas and that you wi l l be glad to pay for them.

4 — Place your idea boxes in strategic locations, keep away f r o m time card racks.

Develop a three-part idea f o r m . Original copy to the idea office. On this copy the employee gives the name of his supervisor. Duplicate copy is presented to the supervisor by the employee and they discuss the idea. Triplicate copy is retained by the employee for his record. The supervisor gives a go or no-go action wi th in 24 hours on the f o r m and returns it to the idea department. The idea department has fu l l control of the idea by the original copy and follows through for complete evaluation. This formula cuts down the cost of operation to a minimum.

•' 5 — Acknowledgement and evaluation of ideas wi th in 24 hours of receipt is a must. Results of evaluation should be given in wri t ing as promptly as possible.

6 — Awards should be presented on company time by management wi th in the same month as adoption of the idea.

7 — Trouble-shoot your problems as they occur. Don' t wait until tomorrow. Do it today. A communication prob­lem between employees and management for any reason can harm the program and i t takes a long time to recover.

8 — Regular auditing of the program is important. This should be done by a qualified unit outside of the idea department.

9 — The backlog should be maintained at a bare minimum and should include only those case files of ideas that are acceptable and awaiting adoption.

10 — Control operating costs and promote cost reduc­tion and profits by good business methods. Make the department stand on its own feet and don't worry about morale because this type of program builds morale. It's built-in and you can tell that i t is there.

Regardless of the type of business or how scientific the end product is, please remember this: "There wi l l always be a better way." Why did Plato, Socrates and Newton ask why? What were they after? Did they believe that the devel­opment of knowledge was important to mankind?

This why has only three letters but i t is the biggest word in this idea business. We must continue to f i n d out why, then do something about i t . Record it in our vast store­house of knowledge but again treat it wi th respect and in a businesslike manner.

Take a long hard look at your program, dust i t o f f , clean the bird nests out of the boxes and make it pay in cost reduction. Check the climate in your organization and, if your management people think that they know it all and don't want the help of the employees to f ind improved methods, forget the idea program for now and conduct a supervisory training program.

Idea programs cannot live in communication pollution. If ideas are a di r ty name, drop the word and call it some­thing else, but don't ever deviate f rom a technique that pays big dividends in cost reduction and built-in morale. [ T j

PERFORMANCE 35

BY RAND GREASY

RAND CREASY is a registered Professional Industrial Engineer and a graduate of VPI . His present position is Motivation Administrator at Vought Aeronautics, Dallas. Previously he was Division Value Control Coordinator for the Ft. Worth Division of General Dynamics.

His expertise on the management discipline has been gained by educa­tion and experience. His work simplif i­cation training (Mogensen concept) started in 1947. In 1959, his associa­tion in VE began; since that t ime, he has conducted many VE Workshops and lectured nationally on the subject. In 1960, he completed the f irs t work­shop in Work Design held in this country; later, he served on the staff.

He is a member of the Texas S o c i e t y of Professional Engineers, Council of Scientific Societies and has served as President of the Dallas/Ft. Worth chapter, Society of American Value Engineers, and as National Vice-President of SAVE.

Shortly before the turn o f the century, Frederick W. Taylor originated the first efforts to study work that employed a systematic approach. He was concerned w i t h what constituted a fair day's work . The "t ime study" tech­nique was the major result o f his efforts. Incentive pay­ments, for output in excess o f a fair day's work, was another o f the benefits of Taylor's work. Later, the Gilbreths (Frank B. and his wi fe , Li l l ian) initiated the study of methods and motions in the work situation. The contrib­utions o f the Gilbreths led to the development o f Work Simplification by Allen H . Mogensen. This was in the

V A L U E D E S I G N C O N C E P T 1930's. Mogensen's Work Simplification (WS) concept emphasized the participation o f the worker in the work situation. The increased use o f charts and symbols in Work Simplification provided a visual model o f the work being accomplished.

The increasing cost o f materials, as a percentage o f the overall manufacturing cost, led to the development o f the Value Analysis concept shortly after World War I I . As init ial ly employed, Value Analysis was "hardware"-oriented t o " i d e n t i f y and remove unnecessary costs" in the material/procurement operations. The use o f the concept by the Defense Department moved the efforts into the engineering funct ion, and the term Value Engineering (VE) was originated.

The basic concept o f V E forced us to look at the func­tion performed or to be performed, and not at the product itself. I t gave those striving to remove cost and enhance product value the opportunity and the responsibility to question the basic design concept f r o m a functional view­point. For the first t ime, not only was the " w o r k " situation analyzed, but the basic design concept o f the product itself came under review.

CURRENT EFFORTS There are still pioneers who are looking at the entire

work system to incorporate new motivational approaches. One o f these is Dr. Gerald Nadler (now at the University o f Wisconsin). Nadler, a close associate o f Mrs. Gilbreth, devel­oped the concept and philosophy o f Work Design. His text, WORK DESIGN (Richard D . , I rwin , Inc., 1963) states: "Work Design concerns the study o f work and design o f any type o f management or work system in any type o f organization. A work system brings together technical competences, in the f o r m of people and equipment, to achieve the organization's funct ion or purpose." The basic objectives o f Work Design (WD) are increased production and the development o f manpower effectiveness. To accom­plish these objectives, the application o f specific tech­niques, as such, is minimized, while the role o f the "human" is stressed.

Work Design is "the systematic investigation o f planned and present work systems to formulate, through the Ideal System concept, the easiest and most effective systems and

36 PERFORMANCE

methods for achieving necessary funct ions." The heart o f the Work Design approach is the Ideal Concept. That is, "the Work System should represent the minimum departure f r o m the Ideal system under Ideal conditions." This, at first , may sound too theoretical, but in actual use, i t is very practical. The Ideal is the goal to strive for in the proposed solution. I t forces attention away f r o m the present work system, where prejudices and resistance to change occur. Thus, a more positive approach to change is generated. Also, management is afforded the opportunity to evaluate the change f r o m three viewpoints: the present, the pro­posed, and the Ideal. A brief discussion on developing Ideals follows. DEVELOPING IDEALS

Each V E project is different, and so is the establishment of the Ideal for the design, the work system, the paper­work, and the organization structure; however, some general suggestions are presented below:

The "One Concept"

When the design is composed o f many details, you may establish one piece as the Ideal to accomplish the funct ion . Other "one-concept" ideals may be:

* Writing recording information — Do i t one time. * Moving products — Move i t one time. * Machining operation — set up one time. —

Machine i t one time. * Filing — File i t one time. * Two departments doing same funct ion — Let

one do i t .

Automation/Data Processing The establishment o f Ideals tends to lean toward

automation in manufacturing operations, and elec­tronic data processing in the transmission, storage, and retrieval o f information and data. Ideals o f this type mean that, i f a person has to start the part and/or the data into a system, i t should not be touch­ed again by a human being during the complete pro­cessing.

Eliminate the Need There are occasions when i t is possible to eliminate

the need for the funct ion . For example, assume a 2-page report was being assembled and the pages held together w i th a staple. The funct ion o f the staple would be "hold material" or "attach material." The Ideal could be stated as eliminate the staple by having a one-page report, or by printing bo th sides. In either event, the need for the funct ion would be eliminated. Other examples that have resulted in elimination o f the function's need are:

(1) Individual packaging o f lamp holders was eliminated when the base material was changed f r o m breakable ceramic to unbreakable plastic in a V E study, and

(2) The use o f self-lubricating bearings eliminated the need for the funct ion performed by oi l cups.

COMMON ELEMENTS Work Simplification, Value Engineering, and Work

Design have a lot in common. The major commonality elements are:

Objectives The various disciplines have as "common" objec­

tives to reduce costs, increase profits, and involve people.

Approach Each has a step-by-step creative, problem-solving

approach. The approaches generally have the fol low­ing phases:

* Fast Finding * Creative * Alternative

* Judgment * Selection * Installation

STEP-BY-STEP A P P R O A C H E S

V A L U E E N G I N E E R I N G

W O R K S I M P L I F I C A T I O N

W O R K DESIGN

1. I N F O R M A T I O N 1. S E L E C T a job

2. Get all the F A C T S

1.

2.

3.

F U N C T I O N Determination

I D E A L Development

A N A L Y S I S

2. S P E C U L A T I O N 3. C H A L L E N G E everv detail 4. A L T E R N A T I V E S

3. A N A L Y S I S 5. S E L E C T I O N

4. P L A N N I N G 4. D E V E L O P the solution 6. F O R M U L A T I O N

5. P R E S E N T A T I O N 7.

8.

R E V I E W

T E S T

6. A C T I O N 5. I N S T A L L A T I O N 9. I N S T A L L A T I O N

10. P E R F O R M A N C E

Chart I summarizes the problem-solving approach­es o f the three disciplines.

Installation The disciplines have a common plan for installing

the program in the organization. This plan is: * Organization * Education/Training * Act ion

Management

The involvement o f management is essential to the success o f each discipline. Without the active involve­ment o f top management, and the training o f lower management in the techniques, the programs are more or less doomed f r o m the start.

People

The involvement o f the "people" doing the work or the design, and the "people" affected by the out­come, is a keystone o f each discipline.

Technique

The expert, w i th his close-held secrets, has been replaced wi th the concept that results are more important than technique. People at all levels Gan be trained in the techniques. Past emphasis on placing the "techniques" in the hands, o f a few resulted in "experting" o f recommended changes, wi th many problems developing upon installation o f proposals.

Change

Each discipline recognizes that "change" is manda-

PERFORMANCE 37

tory in the business environment, and emphasis is

placed on this important facet in the education and

application phases.

ELEMENTS OF VALUE DESIGN

• IDEAL >ONE CONCEPT

aggjfc, •POSITIVE APPROACH

VALUE DESIGN FOR PROFIT ASSURANCE

VALUE DESIGN CONCEPT Value Design is "the systematic and creative 'Ideal con­

cept' approach to assure that the essential func t ion o f the product, paperwork, or people system is performed at the lowest total cost w i th the necessary quality maintained."

This name was selected because o f the basic use o f the V A L U E Engineering approach (Chart I I ) , w i th selected inputs f rom the other disciplines as needed. DESIGN implies a planned approach - w i th purpose. Addit ionally, our efforts should be directed toward the original design o f the product/service and the design o f the necessary work system to overcome "downstream" resistance to change. From WS, the fact-finding tools o f Flow Charts and Flow Diagrams wi l l be used as required. WS looks at work f r o m three aspects:

Make Ready = Prepare to do the work. Do = Perform the work operations. Clean-up = Put away after the " d o " operations.

Value is added only in the " d o " phase; therefore, the prepare and clean-up operations should be challenged in a concerted manner.

In the information phase o f the traditional V E approach, the funct ion is defined, cost determined, and the " w o r t h " of the funct ion established. The " w o r t h " establishes the bedrock cost goal. In Value Design, a goal is also established for the Ideal way to perform the funct ion . Both the " w o r t h " and the "Ideal" goals are established at the end o f the Information phase. This is a transition step that leads directly into the Speculation phase.

In the Speculation phase, our creativity efforts now have two objectives - goals - to concentrate upon. The Ideal, together w i th the " w o r t h " o f the func t ion , open up new avenues for creative thinking. Ideal concept thinking can best be summarized by paraphrasing Rene Descartes (Rules for the Direction o f the Mind),". . . the power o f the mind should concentrate on one idea at a t ime.. ." Concentrating on the Ideal way to perform the funct ion provides us w i t h an objective in our creativity efforts . This technique, coupled wi th the wor th o f the funct ion , being in our mind's eye, forces creativity w i th some sense of direction. Positive thinking prevails for two reasons: First, How can the wor th of the function be approached? Second, How can the Ideal

be approached? This positive thinking toward these two objectives continues throughout the remaining steps o f the Job Plan. The combined target is minimum back-off; the minimum back-off f r o m the wor th o f the funct ion and the minimum back-off f r om the Ideal way to perform the func­t ion. This thinking is also an asset in the selling o f the proposal. Management now has at least three alternates for decision making: the present, the proposed, and the Ideal. Chart I I I is a model o f the Value Design Concept.

BENEFITS V E has generated a number o f benefits for those com­

panies using the technique. These are well-known and well documented. Value Design includes those normal benefits and offers these additional advantages:

Increased Acceptance to Change The Ideal System Concept does not f i r m l y estab­

lish the "present system" in the minds o f those mak­ing the analysis or those involved in design or use o f the i tem. I t is the emphasis that is normally placed on changing the "present system" that creates road­blocks to change. In Value Design, the objective is the Ideal - not just a change to the existing i tem.

Objectives fo r Direction A sense of direction is provided to those making

the analysis. When the Ideal is established, experience has proven that team members strive to reach this objective. New avenues for creative thinking are opened in the Speculation Phase.

Alternatives for Selection Management is automatically afforded a wider

choice at the time the analysis is presented. They w i l l have the present, the Ideal, and the recommended. The Ideal wi l l generate additional questions, and i t normally sets the objective for future analysis.

Reduced Criticism The Ideal concept drastically reduces implied

criticism of those who are doing the design or the downstream work . The "not invented here" factor -so prevalent when a change to an existing design is suggested - does not exist when the efforts are directed toward the Ideal. " H o w can we approach the Ideal?" is the question, not "How can we improve on this design?"

Value Design, even by its name, encourages value consideration at the original "design" stage of the product and work system. Effective V E work accom­plished here reduces the necessity for "changes" downstream. Most o f us welcome assistance at the design stage, while we all tend to be more critical when a change is suggested after our creative efforts have become a reality.

The Value Design approach reduces criticism be­cause i t is a positive approach.

Reduced Educational Costs. Value Design presents the techniques o f V E , WS,

and WD in one planned approach; therefore, manage-

38 PERFORMANCE

s

ment does not have to allocate funds for training in

more than one concept.

Emphasis on the Total System Value Design presents techniques to analyze the

functional design as well as the associated work; therefore, analysts are very unlikely to fa i l to con­sider the effects of their recommendations on the total system (design, work system, associated paper­work, and the human element).

Provides for a Planned, Long-Range Value Program

Value Design looks at the total system for three

viewpoints:

* Design - Value efforts applied at the concept

and design stage

* Planned Betterment - Value efforts applied to a well functioning product or a low cost work system

* Improvement - Value efforts applied to the product design or work system wi th problems

Too of ten , most are directed toward improve­ments to existing designs and work systems. This is where the majority o f the resistance to change occurs. Value Design is applied to improvement, but definite and planned considerations are emphasized to the planned betterment and design elements. I n the long run, the need for improvement changes is reduced to a minimum.

VALUE DESIGN IN ACTION The Value Design Concept o f V E has been successfully

applied to a wide variety o f product designs, paperwork, work and organizational structure projects. These applica­tions, starting in 1960, have been utilized in industry work­shops, by individuals, and have been included in recent workshops at Texas Christian University. A few of these are:

Stocking o f Parts: Detail parts required to support production were stocked in closed (crib type) stock rooms. Stockmen were required to pull the parts f r o m stock for each shop order, and issue the parts to the shop personnel. This type o f stocking was similar to the old comer grocery store, where the clerk filled your order. The task o f "parts stocking" was a V E Workshop project in 1961. The team members received special education on Ideal concept thinking. The team recommended open type stocking, wi th the parts adjacent to the work stations. This is similar to the modern supermarket where the customer selects his own products. The V E Team's recommendation was installed. Substantial savings resulted while adequate parts control was maintained.

Automobile Safety Stop: The Value Design con­cept has been successfully applied to product devel­opment and design. One example is an automobile safety stop. A device was needed to prevent vehicles f r o m moving in the event the emergency brake was not set and/or failed to hold when the vehicle was parked on inclined driveways. The funct ion was defined as "prevent movement." The Ideal was estab­

lished to design the unit in one piece wi th no special tools required for homeowner installation. Proto-type production units required three detail steel parts; the units were then assembled using two 16 i n . welds.

Manufacturing Control Organization Structure: On a potential major contract, in a new faci l i ty , the task was to develop an effective organization structure for the Manufacturing Control (Production Control) operations. The overall funct ion o f the organization was identified as "control production" and an Ideal organization structure was set and drafted as the objective. This was a three-level management struc­ture vs. the conventional five-level system previously used at other locations. Functions were then estab­lished for the operations necessary to support the overall departmental funct ion o f "control produc­t ion . " Even though the Ideal organization could not be installed fo r various reasons, efforts were directed toward the Ideal organization, and not toward improvements to past organization structures on similar programs. Management accepted the recom­mended organization which essentially consisted o f four levels.

Replacement Blueprints: A large manufacturing corporation had a manual system to control and replace blueprints in approximately 20 blueprint cribs located wi th in the facil i ty and adjacent buildings. Replacement prints were required for those that were damaged, lost or destroyed. The manual system con­tained several thousand records. When eight notices on any one blueprint were accumulated, replacement prints were ordered for that particular number. One clerk was assigned full-t ime to maintain record system and order replacement blueprints.

The funct ion was defined as "maintain blue­prints." The Ideal - the best way - was established as "automation o f the system by a computer applica­t ion . " Ini t ial analysis showed that the computer application would be too expensive due to the high cost o f computer run-time. The computer analyst sug­gested a tab application which would approach the results envisioned in the computer application. A tab application was installed. The clerk is now able to maintain the new system in 50% of the time; installa­t ion and tab processing costs, a yearly savings o f 20% has been realized.

VALUE DESIGN CONCEPT MODEL

PROPOSAL = V A L U E

PERFORMANCE 39

The Evaluation Continued from page 18

The average processing time for those wi th f u l l or part-time evaluators was less than 45 days. Those wi th supervisors doing the evaluations was over 90 days. The acceptance rate and the participation rate was slightly higher w i th f u l l or part-time evaluators.

4 . " C o - o p " s tuden t s and management trainees were fre­q u e n t l y assigned to do the e v a l u a t i o n . The re were 22 companies who indicated this was one way to have analysts and to train people without direct cost o f the suggestion department.

5. The average age o f the super­visor evaluator was 4 1 . The aver­age age o f f u l l or part-time analysts was 32. This was report­ed by 67 o f 91 in the one category and 211 o f the other c a t e g o r y or l i n e supervisor group.

6. There was a remarkably high percentage o f college level per­sonnel in the f u l l or part-time analysts. There was an average o f high school graduates for the supervisors doing the evaluation.

7. Less than 2% o f the total g r o u p surveyed trained the evaluators how to do a good evaluation.

8. Full or part-time evaluators estimated the actual evaluation o f a suggestion took about 45 minutes. This was reported by 83 o f 9 1 . In the supervision c a t e g o r y , 165 reported the evaluation on accepted ideas ran w e l l i n t o h o u r s and days, whereas rejects usually required only the time needed to write the answer. This was most inter­esting because f u l l or part-time evaluators indicated i t frequent­ly took longer on a declined idea.

9. The f u l l or part-time evalua­tors were able to get more specific data on costs and savings whereas supervision presented m o s t l y estimates. Supervision has a tendency to be conserva­tive on savings and rather high on installation costs.

10. Full or part-time analysts

spend 70% o f their time in their assigned work area and 30% in office work .

1 1 . Fewer complaints or re-studies were reported by the f u l l or part-time evaluators as com­pa red to those reported by supervision doing the evaluation.

12. There was one very notice­able comment by those surveyed where their supervisors were doing the evaluation. The com­ment was that there still exists a certain amount o f middle or top management ' s reminding the lower level that the suggestions w e r e o b v i o u s changes or i m p r o v e m e n t s and that the supervisors should have seen them. This direct confrontation made the supervisor a little apprehensive in revealing all the facts. On the other hand, 39 companies w i t h f u l l or part-time analysts stated they had been ab le t o d e v e l o p a b e t t e r acceptance o f the program w i t h top, middle and line supervisors.

13. There were 112 companies in which supervision was doing the evaluation which felt that the superv i so r s had to be included to some extent in the awards structure in order to retain their good w i l l . Not one of the 91 companies in the other category gave any such indica­tions. This was a most interest­ing observation.

14. W i t h f u l l or part-time analysts, 71 reported they did not require a typewritten report. Twenty indicated the analyst's handwritten reports were typed. In the supervision group, 130 indicated all reports were typed and 22 reported using only handwritten reports.

15. Probably the most signifi­cant observation was that all 91 companies w i t h f u l l or part-time employees did not make the decision to accept or decline an idea. They gathered data, but Management responsible for the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n made the decision.

16. There were 14 companies who reported that f u l l or part-t i m e ana lys t s were vo t ing

members o f the awards com­m i t t e e . There were 65 who stated their analysts were not v o t i n g members, but on an occasion would sit in on a meet­ing when a particular suggestion was being discussed.

17. There was also an interesting o b s e r v a t i o n i n w h i c h 137 companies (some f r o m both groups) stated the evaluator's report was final and the com­mittee did not act upon the sug­gestion. Twenty-four companies stated the same but w i t h various ceiling levels on the amount o f the award the suggestion depart­ment could approve.

18. In a minori ty o f the com­panies surveyed, the suggestion sys t em p o l i c y required the evaluator to verify all costs and savings data and to either place the suggestion into effect or to dec l ine the suggestion. This meant the report could not be recommendatory. I t had to be final.

From these general observations, the fol lowing can be reported:

1. Weakness 1 . Evaluators do not get adequate training on how to evaluate a suggestion.

b. Evaluators do not work close enough w i t h the sug­gester.

c. T o o m a n y evalua tors approach a suggestion w i t h the question "What is wrong wi th the idea?" d. Evaluators are poor com­municators. They go out to the extreme of being too technical to the other extreme o f being too general.

e. Personal i t ies frequently enter in to the evaluations.

2. Strengths

1. Full or part-time evaluators generally more impartial.

b. College level evaluators can mee t the m o r e technical demands.

c. First line supervision knows the area and equipment best and can give a fair appraisal on a suggestion.

PERFORMANCE

ROSSMAN Continued from page 5

d . Evaluators can give the awards c o m m i t t e e factual informat ion.

3. Trends a. A slight trend towards employing f u l l or part-time evaluators. b. There is a decisive trend to use young college graduates as the evaluators.

c. Evaluators were used as fact finders. The decision to adopt or install an idea was lef t to department heads.

d. Evaluators are used to com­municate the findings to the employees.

e. I n civilian industries, a few female evaluators are appear­ing on the scene. In govern­ment, there seems to be more o f the female evaluators.

4. Recommendations a. Make a close study o f your present evaluation cost and i t may prove p r o f i t a b l e to e m p l o y an evaluator. The resu l t s may be a higher acceptance rate, greater partic¬i p a t i o n , m o r e f a c t u a l appraisal, and less cost to evaluate.

b. Train your evaluators. Too many suggestion administra­tors take i t for granted that all you need to do is to tell some­one to check out the sugges­t ion . Training involves cost a n a l y s i s , p h y s c h o l o g i c a l approaches, good communica­t ion , knowledge o f the entire sugges t ion p r o g r a m , and m a n a g e m e n t ' s p h i l o s p h y towards the program.

c. Wherever and whenever poss ib le use college level eva lua to r s because o f the advancement in technology.

d. There was some indication t h a t the evaluators should c o m p r i s e the c o m m i t t e e membership.

Reasons fo r this were:

1 . These evaluators know

details concerning the individ­ual ideas best and can give a better appraisal. 2 . Cost o f commit tee is r e d u c e d , because in most instances they are on a lower pay level. This recommenda­t i o n needs to be carefully studied and adopted for busi­nesses on ah individual basis. There were 56 businesses that reported this type o f com­mittee arrangement.

e. The evaluators need more authority to actually imple­m e n t i n place o f merely recommending.

f. There is a real need for the evaluators to become more o f a pe r sonne l man to urge employees' participation, to assist in the preparation o f a suggestion, and to explain clearly the reasons fo r declin­ing an idea to the suggester.

g. Almost every idea needs to be developed and this should be the evaluator's responsibil­i t y .

As you read this report and study i t , I feel sure i t w i l l get you to look at your current procedures. I f you are contemplating starting a program, you wi l l want to give this phase o f the program most serious attention.

The success or failure o f a sugges­t ion program can usually be traced to the evalution procedure.

As fo r me i t is d i f f i cu l t to accept the feeling or attitude that 70% or more o f the ideas are worthless. I yet have to see a silly suggestion. There is always a serious-minded employee t r y i n g to communicate w i th you behind every suggestion. Let's start by using the positive approach. I find no fault in i t . This w i l l lead our evaluators to develop ideas.

The hours spent in preparing this research paper and the minutes i t takes you to read them w i l l be wor th our time i f each o f us can do a l i t t le more towards improving our evaluation and our evaluators. [JJ

with dynamic, open-minded execu­tives.

National Commitment This nation need not be second-

class in anything we do. Our technol­ogy, workers, ingenuity and capabil­ities are at least the match of any other country. A commitment to excellece is within our grasp; a com­mitment which will be supported by every working man and woman in our country. The motivational tools are available to achieve this goal. The management tools are available to improve the performance and value of the goods and services of American industry. The markets of the world still await the results of the challenge we face. The sleeping giant is Manage­ment; the catalyst required to combine the other elements in order to reassert the excellence that is America.

American management, A W A K E N ! You have yet to accept the challenge to your competence and ability. World markets are passing you by, and still you appear to slumber. Today is a day of change. Control and direct that change as the industry and government managers of our stongest economic competitor have done. Foster and nurture the expansion of Value Engineering/Value Analysis, and make it work on your team as the Japanese have so obviously done on theirs. Let us all commit ourselves to — E X C E L ­L E N C E . LTJ

PERFORMANCE 41

Photo-Electric Microscope

T h i s new photo-electric micro­scope, f r o m Opto-Metric Tools, Inc., is capable o f sensing line widths of .0002" wi th a sensitivity o f one micro-inch. This capability should be particu­larly useful to the microminiature electronics industry, where i t w i l l permit sensing each edge o f a line in photo masks.

From Opto-Metric Tools, Inc., Dept. ZG, Rockleigh Industrial Park, Rockleigh, N.J. 07647.

Transceiver Test System The Hewlett-Packard Model 9540 is

a new automatic test system that performs all o f the usually required tests for production and maintenance of mobile transceivers. This model can test a typical transceiver in less than three minutes while at the same time a

New Cassette Player/Recorders

Traditional quality and fresh styling

are provided by three new portable

cassette player/recorders f r o m Bell &

H o w e l l . The 4555 T R M features

independent tone control and six

pushbuttons for record, rewind, fast

forward, play, stop and eject. I t has an

automatic shut-off at the end o f a

tape, buil t- in AC adapter and power cord, 7.5-volt DC external jack; auto­matic recording level control defeat, 3" speaker and built-in retractable

handle. The 4400 T R M has all o f the features o f the 4555 T R M w i t h the exception o f tone control, automatic recording level control defeat and b a t t e r y / r e c o r d l eve l meter, and features a pouch instead o f a carrying case. The 4350 T R M features a com­b i n e d stop/eject but ton and 2%" speaker. I t shuts o f f automatically and has a 6-volt DC power jack. I t also comes wi th an accessory pouch.

From Bell & Howell, Dept. ZG, 7235 Under Aye., Skokie, III. 60076.

\

data record may be printed out and displayed. A computer, integral w i t h the system, allows test sequences to be set up wi thout outside programming assistance.

T w o systems are available, the Model 9540B which can be loaded

wi th programs through a high-speed punched paper tape system, and the Model 9540D which uses a dual re­placeable disc memory that stores 2.5

mil l ion words. Available from Hewlett-Packard

1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304.

42 PERFORMANCE

M B E l e c t r o n i c s Model T5020 Direct Digital Control Systems are detailed in a comprehensive 12-page catalog f r o m Gilmore Industries, Inc. The catalog displays samples o f actual test documentations and carries the reader through the simple operating routine in conversational language.

For a free catalog write, Gilmore Industries, Inc., 3355 Richmond Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44122.

Torque-Eliminating Swivel Assembly

Torsional effect on load cells used in series w i th cable or wire rope can be e l i m i n a t e d w i t h this new swivel assembly offered by W. C. Dil lon & Co. Manufactured f rom aircraft alloy, this assembly provides a five-to-one safety factor. Heavy duty thrust bear­ings permit 360-degree revolution. One end o f the swivel screws directly in to the load cell, and the opposite end is threaded fo r mounting yokes, cable sockets, etc. In actual service, the load cell is connected to readout which i n d i c a t e s tension or weight. The system shown here has a range of 0-4000 lbs., but capacities up to 500,000 are also offered.

From W. C. Dillon & Co., Inc. (Director of Sales), 14620 Keswick St., Van Nuys, Calif. 91407.

Kit-Form Pocket Calculator

This AR-420K pocket calculator by Aries, Inc., is available in k i t f o r m . Using an MOS/LSI integrated cir­cuit, it provides f u l l four-function e l e c t r o n i c calculation. Entries are made on a compact elastomer key­board, and answers are displayed on e igh t bright LED displays. Chain features allow for long multiple-step calculations, and a constant register makes multiple powers, conversions, reciprocals and square roots easy to obtain. I t can be assembled in just a few hours w i th ordinary tools,

From Aries, Inc., Dept. ZG, 119 Foster St., Peabody, Mass. 01960.

Cleaning Pros Dust-Off, the professional dusting

instrument, is introduced by Falcon Safety Products, Inc. Both regular and junior-size models are designed to eliminate dust, l int and dirt f r o m delicate and hard to reach areas. Incorporating dry Freon gas, these units employ special pressure controls that let you choose the amount o f force appropriate for the j ob . Ideal for cleaning all precision equipment, Dust-O f f comes complete w i th reusable heavy duty chrome trigger valve and nozzle.

From Falcon Safety Products, Inc., Mountainside, N.J. 07092. [TJ

Value Engineering Profit Potential

f o r T h e C o n s t r u c t i o n T e a m

A Timely Seminar for Architects — Engineers

Contractors — Suppliers

February 8-9, 1973 (VA days) in Washington, D.C.

A non-profit service to U.S. Industry offered by the National Capital Chapter, Society of American Value Engineers, Washington, D.C.

For details,

Contact: Paul V. Dobrow, Chairman P.O.Box 15265 Washington, D.C. 20044 Phone: (202) 693-6967

PERFORMANCE 43

'Executive's 120 Olinda Place (Box 305), Brea, California 92621 Serving Business with Great Books for Great Reading.

Q U A L I T Y A S S U R A N C E MANUAL

(Revised Edition) By Charles P. Covino and Angelo W. Meghri

Step-by-step develop­ment of qual i ty control procedures which can be easily adapted by any company . 142 pages, 8V2 x 1 1 " , 58 i l lustrations.

$17.50

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN T H E 70s By Jack Nobbs

It will be easier to look back and see what what went wrong than to project, as this author has done. It serves as an economic up-date for businessmen

$7.50

HANDBOOK O F DIMENSIONAL M E A S U R E M E N T By Franc is T . Farago

A readily accessible reference to the huge amount of know-how on wh ich the advanced dimensional measurement technology rests.

$27.50

INSPECTION AND G A G I N G By Kennedy & A n d r e w s

'liiwinaMUNli

New edition of this famed authori ty has new and important developments in field of precision measurement. 370 il lustrations.

$13.00

U N I O N - F R E E MANAGEMENT By James L . Dougherty

Th is volume is sub­t it led, "What to Do When the Union Organizer Beckons . . . " The author uses case histories to illustrate his points.

$6.95

MANAGING E N G I N E E R I N G AND R E S E A R C H (2nd Edition) By Delmar W. Karger

Divided into four parts, this hefty book covers: Strategic Act iv i t ies , Planning and Developing the E & R Organizat ion, E x e c u t i n g the E & R J o b , and Related Act iv i t ies. 534 pages, 150 il lustrations.

$17.50

T O L E R A N C E C O N T O L I N DESIGN AND M A N U F A C T U R I N G By Oliver Wade

Presents cost-saving solut ions to tolerancing procedures; the efforts and experiences of many people and firms. Required reading. 2 0 0 pages, 8V2 x 1 1 " , i l lustrated.

$15.00

Q U A L I T Y C O N T R O L AND R E L I A B I L I T Y

QUALITY CONTROL:

(6th Edition) By Norbert L . E n r i c k Comple te ly revised and updated, and written in 'down to earth' style. Highly recom­mended to the novice as well as the practi­t ioner of quali ty con­trol. 306 pages, 6 8 charts, diagrams n n

and tables. Jfrl^.OO

DIMENSIONING FOR INTER­C H A N G E A B L E M A N U F A C T U R E By Ear lwood T . For t in i

StMEHStONING FOR INTERCHMGEAfUE

A practical book of numerical data, equations and calculating procedures applicable to a wide variety of dimensional problems.

$14.00

M A C H I N E R Y ' S HANDBOOK n i l E d i t i o n .

Conta ins 2 ,420 pages, thumb indexed, cross referenced. Includes metric data; is based on SI units.

$19.00

A G U I D E TO

A E R O S P A C E - D E F E N S E * C O N T R A C T S By E m e r s o n Clarke

A n easy to-read- source to the vast aerospace-defense contract field. 258 pages, 25 tables, 31 charts and exhibi ts . A n indispensable guide.

$12.00

P R O B A B I L I T Y C H A R T S FOR DECISION MAKING By James R. King

Graphical methods offer easy, relatively fast, adequate means of analyzing statistical data.

$22.00

FOR THOSE WHO MUST L E A D By Hillsdale College F a c u l t y

Leadership is a product fostered by the faculty of Hillsdale. This book covers the phi l iosphy of leader­ship backed by practical appl icat ions.

$6.95

V A L U E MANAGEMENT By E d w a r d D. Heller

F o r the practicing man­ager. Provides a compre­hensive plan for value and cost reduction pro­grams in any business.

EXECUTIVE BOOKSHOP Box 305, Brea, Calif. 92621

Please send the following books:

$12.50

T H E LAW OF D E L A Y By C Northcote Parkinson

This is a humorous look at ineff ic iency, with some thoughts on what to do to cure the problem. It may cause you to laugh, if it doesn't really help.

$4.95

/ ] Payment enclosed.

[ ] Check [ ] Money Order

[ ] Bill my company:

_Sub Total $.

Calif , residents add 5% tax Add 50 cents for postage & handling _ .50

TOTAL $

Name.

Street.

City^_ .State. Z I P

Company Name.

Street

C i t y _ .State Z I P

(Please print plainly)

PERFORMANCE

UPDATE Continued from page 11

SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENTS IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

The ILS Implementation Guide for DOD Systems and Equipments was recently published as a joint Military Department/Defense Agency document. It is a revision of the DOD Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) Planning Guide, 4100/35-G, that was published in 1968 and is the coopera­tive effort of OSD's l&L and R&D staffs and defense industry.

The guide outlines DOD's approach to logistic support as an integral part of system engineering during the planning, analyzing, designing, testing and demonstration phases of new DOD systems/equipments and modification programs. This document is a significant improvement in the ILS state-of-the-art. It-will foster a clear understanding of the discipline, and greatly assist users to implement ILS effec­tively and economically as a principal design parameter in compliance with DOD Directives 5000.1 and 4100.35.

The document is available from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402, for $2; catalog number, D101.11:38-710.

LOST PERFORMANCE It's not uncommon for an employee that has been

recognized by his company for workmanship, employee suggestions, cost cutting, etc. to suddenly fizzle out. Fatigue, age, and dwindling energy resources aren't the major causes, say industrial psychologists. They put the blame on "people" program administrators and manage­ment's tendency to concentrate attention on weaker employees and neglect the good ones. To keep the perform­ance level of your operation high, provide your stars with similar training and aids. Recognize the fact that they often need special treatment because of the sensitivity, care and pride that's usually their hallmark.

DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES The Federal Trade Commission has issued a regulation

giving consumers a 3-day cooling-off period in which they can cancel, without penalty or fee, a purchase made from a door-to-door salesman. When in effect, the regulation will apply to consumer goods and services costing $25 or more. F T C said the regulation is designed to give consumers a more equal footing with the forceful and misleading practices used by some salesmen.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CONFERENCE The 20th Annual Industrial Relations Conference will be

held at Indians Wells, California, on 12-16 February. It will stress The Value of the Work Force to Management - the relation between human resources and profit.

NEW HEAD FOR MARAD OFFICE OF SHIP CONSTRUCTION

Upon the retirement of E . Scott Dillon at the end of the year, John J . Nachtsheim will assume the post of Chief, Office of Ship Construction at the Maritime Administra-

> tion. Nachtsheim is now the Deputy for Research and Development, and previously was the Chief Naval Architect for the Naval Ship Systems Command.

UPSWING IN COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL EQUIPMENT

This equipment during 1972-77 will total $3.4 billion in sales as projected in a study by Frost and Sullivan. Their 240 page report projects major growth for F A A Microwave Landing System. Information about the report can be obtained from the company at 106 Fulton St. New York 10038.

TODAYS' WORKER WANTS TO KNOW WHY The new work force is better educated, more inquisitive

and worldly than you and I were at their age. So if you want better results from the orders you give, take an extra minute to tell the employees the "why" behind them. Nine times out of ten, your people will do any job better if they know why it's necessary. Suppose, for example, you want priority given to shipments to a major customer. If the reason is that one delayed order could blow the entire account, say so. Your people will remember - because they know their jobs may well be on the line.

STEALING PROFITS Theft and pilferage of maritime cargo in the United

States cost the transportation industry $85.5 million each year. Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe has revealed. Such theft totals more than $1 billion among all forms of transportation, he said. Quoting a report prepared for DOT by the firm of Braddock, Dunn and McDonald, Inc., he said the total cost of theft-related losses in the trucking industry was estimated at $850.5 million; rail, $54.4 million; and air cargo, $15.4 million.

CONGRESSMAN LESTER L. WOLFF (D-N Y ) REQUESTS GAO INVESTIGATION

Mr. Wolff has requested a study by GAO to investigate the costs, benefits and problems associated with construc­tion of ports remote from populated centers for the handling of hazardous cargo including liquid ammonia, chlorine and liquified natural gas.

PERFORMANCE 45

OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT HR 10243 establishes this office to assist Congress. It

will identify and evaluate existing and probable impacts of technological application. It is authorized to contract for testing or evaluation but does not operate any laboratories, pilot plants or test facilities. $5 million covers its initial funding for 2 years.

WASTED TIME MEANS MONEY Ever get caught between the office building and the

main gate near quitting time? If you want to keep labor costs in line with productivity, enforce starting and quitting times and generally crack down on wasted time. Lost work can add up to big dollar signs that your Performance Improvement program could help erase. A management consultant found in a study of 20-man operating depart­ments — to the tune of one day (480 minutes) per worker per week. Broken down in lost minutes: lateness 15; early quitting, 15; delay in starting work, 30; overlong breaks, 30; extending lunch periods, 30; general slowness, 165; "goofing off," 195.

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT REPORT In December the Congressional Commission on Govern­

ment Procurement was scheduled to issue the first report analyzing the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal Government procurement. This summary will be followed by a series of supplemental reports covering detail aspects. One point that will be made is that there is no one in charge of overall Federal Government procurement function, policy and performance.

SAVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1972-73 Seated (from left): Jim Dziekonski, Vice President-

Finance; C P . Smith, President; Bill Dean, Executive Vice President. Standing (from left): Frank Johnson, Executive Director; Tom Cook, V.P. Great Plains Region; Jimmie Carter, V.P. South Central Region; Marv Wasserman, V.P. Southwest Region; Paul Howland, V.P. Northwest Region; Carlos Fallon, Immediate Past President; Mike Pinto, V.P. North Central Region; Maurice Gelpi, V.P. Administration; Bob Denig, V.P. Professional Development; Hal Tufty, V.P. Communications; Bob Rossman, V.P. Southeast Region; Burke Cochran, V.P. Internatiohal; and Bill Hurlbut, V.P. Northeast Region.

NAVY LABORATORY SHIFTS A group concerned with deep ocean sound propagation

and currently located at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C. is to be moved in Fiscal Year 1974 to Naval Undersea Center (NUC) San Diego. The Experimental Diving Unit and Navy Diving School at the Washington, D. C. Navy Yard is planned for a move to the Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory, Panama City, Florida. The Acoustic Intelligence and Surveillance Technology Activities of the Naval Underwater Systems Center (NUSC) Newport, R. I. are to be transferred to NUC, San Diego.

The Wizard of Id demonstrates the power of his unfailing elixir which he will now dispense to the NASA unmanned flight program. Snoopy, manned flight's astronaut of the century, looks on. The Wizard has been provided exclusively to NASA and its family of industrial contractors to communicate "on-the-job" awareness, and to recognize individuals who demonstrate professional excel lence in their work pr imari ly wi th in the NASA/Industry unmanned program operations.

CRAFTSMANSHIP AWARD The Department of the Army's Craftsmanship Award,

highest honor that DOD can bestow upon a company that is participating in a Performance Improvement Program, went to Western Electric Company's N. C. Burlington Shops. Lt. General John M. Wright, Jr., Controller of the Army, presents the Craftsmanship Flat to E . M. Britt, Director of Greensboro and Burlington Shops. The Greensboro Plant was recently presented the coveted Military Achievement Award by the Department of Defense Supply Agency. |"p"[

46 PERFORMANCE

NASS LIBRARY

Some Selections available from the NASS LIBRARY

"New Suggestion Plan Saves $30,000 First Year" D. M. Allen, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power "Encyclopedia of Management" Carl Heyel (Reinhold Publishing Co.) "The Organization of a Suggestion Plan" D. W. Brawley, Workmen's Compensation Board "Installing our Idea Plan" B. D. Brown, Kimberly-Clark "History and Objectives of the Suggestion System" Handbook of Modern Office Management

"Are Suggestion Systems Wotth the Problem?" Charles Foos, Manager Suggestion Program United Air Lines "Suggestion Systems. Boon or Bane 7" C. T. Young, Personnel Journal

"Preach What You Practice" H. C. Wardle "From the Suggester's Viewpoint" E. Walker, General Motors of Canada

SUGGESTIONS FROM SALARIED EMPLOYEES |

"White Collar People Have Ideas Too" F. A. Denz, NASS Quarterly

"The Supervisors Role in the CTA Employee Suggestion Plan"

Chicago Transit Authority "Top and Middle Management Support of the

Suggestion Plan" A. E. Smith, General Motors Corporation

Allis Chalmers American Cynamid American Steel Foundries Air Canada American Seating Company Bell & Howell Bendix Radio & Bendix Products Divisio Babcock & Wilcox Company Burlington Industries, Inc.

Some Selections available from NASS Member Companies Booklets & Brochures

Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania Canadian National Railways Corning Glass Works Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company City School District of Rochester. N.Y. Diebold Inc. Del Monte Packing Detroit Edison Company Douglas United Nuclear. Inc.

Eaton Manufacturing Company Equitable Life Assurance Society Eastman Kodak Company Ford Motor Company Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. First National City Bank of New York General Motors Company Goodrich, B.F. General Dynamics (Fort Worth)

General Foods Corporation Illinois Central Railroad Imperial Oil Limited (Div. of Standard Oil) J IBM (Deutschland) John Hancock Jones & Laughlin Steel Liberty Mutual National Biscuit Company (and many, many more)

"Communicating With Employees" Complete Management Library Volume XVII. Robert P. Cort "Every Employee a Manager" McGraw-Hill, M. Scott Myers

Some Selections from our Hardcover Library "The Foreman: Forgotten Man of Management" American Management Association, Inc. Thomas H. Patten, Jr. "Improving Your Creativity on the Job" American Management Association, Inc. John S. Morgan

"Management by Motivation" American Management Association, Inc. Saul W. Gellerman "Motivation and Productivity" American Management Association, Inc. Saul W. Gellerman

"Suggestion Systems are Profitable" Complete Management Library Volume VIII, W. C. Whitwell

SPECIAL LIMITED OFFER DEMONSTRATOR SPECIALS—LlMITED S U P P L Y

$ 2 0 0 . 0 0 including postage and handling.

Preview Films now available Rush your order to: NASS—Film Dept. 435 N. Michigan Ave. Tribune Tower Chicago, Illinois 60611

it W H A T ' S T H E B I G I D E A ? From missiles, to mailing procedures, to a burning school,

700 fast-paced scenes "sell" suggestions and suggestion systems in the exciting NASS color movie "What's The

Big Idea?". Fresh, sprightly, and spectacular, this dynamic film covers case histories of successful suggestions in

locations across the U.S. The suggesters, themselves, demonstrate their interesting roles in progress. The movie

is suitable for industry, commerce and government employee indoctrinations and training sessions.

PERFORMANCE 47

MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS Continued from page 21

recent years, although there have undoubtedly been instances where such action would have been just i f ied. The control funct ion o f management must be sustained, and i t is sometimes necessary for management to reserve the right to use disciplinary action when warranted. However, disciplinary decisions must be arrived at on a fair and rational basis, not because o f a manager's emotional needs.

Some companies issue warning notices to employes to in fo rm them o f their substandard performances before taking the more drastic step o f dis­missal. Warning notices, which are ac tua l ly 'documented threats', are used to provide a wri t ten historical record o f infractions. Also, the warn­ing allows the employe a chance to be informed in wri t ing o f the conditions that his superiors deem unsatisfactory. This affords the employe an oppor­tuni ty to correct substandard activity before more severe action becomes necessary.

Extrinsic Rewards. This f o r m of motivation provides something for the worker that he desires, but the reward is not inherent in the work or work situation itself. Extrinsic rewards tend not to be enduring motivators but do provide excellent temporary incen­tives. Money is an example. I f an employe is rewarded wi th a wage increase, i t seems but a short time unt i l more is expected, regardless o f that employe's position in the organ­ization. Extrinsic motivators alone do not contribute to self respect, which is directly related to value in perform­ance.

Extrinsic rewards or 'enticements' may also take the f o r m o f status symbols or prestige. Examples are position t i t le , exemption f r o m time clock punching, and the luxury o f a private off ice. These are quite fre­quently independent o f salary but are subtle appeals to the human ego. Status symbols are strong motivators to some people - at least for a time -and become rewards for dedicated effor t and motivation to accomplish­ment i f wisely used. On the other hand, such rewards may damage the organization i f employes become more interested in attaining them than in

contributing to group objectives. Another f o r m o f extrinsic reward

involves manipulation o f the subordi­nate. Manipulation o f the subordinate may take the f o r m o f either using another human being for one's gain and not considering his welfare or by pretense and insincerity. Examples are f lat tery, expressing an interest in a subordinate that is not sincere, and seeking a subordinate's suggestions for the purpose o f self-gain.

Manipulation may work temporari­ly for a clever manager, but i t usually becomes obvious to the worker more quickly than the manager suspects. Much o f the current distrust o f man­agement b y tbe worker can be attributed to the latter's suspicion that management is manipulative in its role. Unfortunately, the executive is often suspected o f manipulative and insin­cere efforts when, in fact, his motives may be quite unselfish. Perhaps, more than any other single factor, both real and imagined attempts at manipula­t ion o f employes by management have led to the widespread suspiciousness on the part o f today's worker.

Intrinsic Rewards. Intrinsic rewards or internal motivations come f r o m factors that are a part o f the work situation itself. There are two principal sources o f this type o f motivation:

1. The first source is the pleasure one receives f r o m actually doing a good job . A n example is the real satisfaction that a craftsman receives f r o m creating and con­s t ruc t i ng an object wi th his hands. Another example is the genuine pleasure a manager gets f r o m his efforts to work w i t h , and to effectively motivate, his personnel.

2. The other principal source comes f r o m identif ication w i t h the aims of the work group — seeing i n them objectives wor thy o f one's devotion and being wil l ing to de-emphasize narrow personal gain or attainment in order to help achieve those objectives.

Although executives understand the importance o f intrinsic motivators, to use them to the fullest advantage is next to impossible. Perhaps the great­est single reason fo r this is a deep-seated belief that people are nearly always self-centered in a work situa­t ion and that genuine sacrifice for group objectives is rare. However,

knowledge o f the motives o f many workers reveals just how incorrect this belief of ten is.

The intrinsic f o r m o f motivation may be d i f f i cu l t to achieve, but attain­ing i t to even a l imited degree can have a favorable influence on quality o f per­formance. Typically, this f o r m of internal motivation leads to greater self-esteem and self-acceptance and also to increased efficiency. I t can be safely stated that the work groups that opera te primarily in the intrinsic rewards frame of reference have a greater advantage over quality - all other things being equal - than those who pursue only extrinsic rewards.

Sustained Motivation. One o f the most important challenges that con­fronts management is*how to both sustain and increase internal motiva­t ion in the work group. Knowledge o f fundamental human relations on the part o f the manager is important. The uniqueness o f the individual and the necessity to tailor leadership to the needs o f individuals is significant. Although many people have common l i m i t a t i o n s , attributes, and similar qualities that characterize their person­alities, many needs are quite different among individuals and should be dealt w i th on individual bases.

The manager should also recognize that people do have certain needs in common, which may often be met in basically the same way. For example, two such needs that all people have in common are (1) the need to be needed and (2) the need to be treated wi th dignity and self-respect. One o f the tragedies o f the present age is the fact that many employes do not sense opportunities in their work to satisfy their basic needs. The realization that a job offers such a challenge seems to be f u l l y understood only by a few, and the association o f basic needs o f the individual wi th the job situation is very d i f f i cu l t for many employes to understand to the degree that such understanding brings about meaningful action. Extrinsic rewards, although important for many people in certain work situations, of ten over-shadow the more subtle intrinsic rewards, which results in the unsustained, short-lived motivation o f employes.

The right personal attitudes and values o f a manager are decidedly influential factors in his attempts to create a work environment in which

48 PERFORMANCE

the workers have sustained motivation. The effective manager must have con­fidence in both his subordinates and in himself. The more effective manager believes in his people and trusts them to a greater degree than does the less effective leader. This trust is closely related to the ability o f the manager to avoid close and anxious supervision. Workers tend to respond to, and respect, the manager who knows the capabilities o f his subordinates, who is fair and consistent, and who respects his workers as individuals.

I n practice, the people who occupy the positions provided in the organiza­tion plan are distinct personalities and they can be fused together as a work­ing unit only by taking account o f t h e i r individual characteristics and idiosyncrasies. A n organization, no m a t t e r how well-designed, cannot operate effectively unless the men who f i l l the positions understand, and are enthusiastic toward, the work assigned to them.

Motivational Programs The constant expansion o f busi­

nesses and industries and the concomi­tant increases in size and complexity have contributed toward worker feel­ings o f 'detachment f r o m things o f importance' i n some companies. The fact that many employes are engaged in routine task assignments has l imited their participation i n , and the scope o f their understanding of, company-wide activities. One result, in many cases, has been a general lack o f interest among the employes, especially among lower worker levels. I t is believed by a number o f industrial leaders that such negative attitudes have been caused largely by the inabili ty o f workers to tangibly associate their efforts w i th deliverable hardware. I t is also believed that, in a number o f instances, workers have taken workmanship standards lightly and have disregarded quality objectives because they do not attach any personal importance to their jobs.

Because the manufacture o f quality products is heavily dependent upon the desire o f the worker to build such articles, much interest has been gener­ated among industrial leaders toward methods o f communicating the impor­tance o f high quality performance standards. Unt i l the advent o f the space age, attention had not been focused upon performance much more

PERFORMANCE

than was routinely necessary to pro­duce 'acceptable' products. Space age precision, however, has revised the scope o f activities related to all quality functions. Considerable attention is now given to approaches that may be taken to motivate workers to do their jobs right the first time, and numerous companies have implemented motiva­tional programs toward the goal o f continuous improvement in worker performance.

I n d u s t r i a l and g o v e r n m e n t a l agencies alike realize that multiple i n s p e c t i o n and tes t procedures, redundant design features, and other quality assurance measures not only lead to very-high "costs, but they also do not provide total assurance that the required quality level w i l l be reached. This observation has caused executives to consider other means o f achieving quality goals.

One approach to this quality prob­lem has been the design and imple­mentation o f numerous motivational p rog rams t h r o u g h o u t i n d u s t r y . Industrial motivation programs usually involve the use o f extrinsic motivators: by awarding certain objects, such as t r o p h i e s , j e w e l r y , and pins to employes who have done outstanding work and by giving public recognition, industry uses such 'incentives' to help raise the quality of performance. The re are differences o f opinion among industrial leaders about the effectiveness o f such programs. Some executives have reported significant quality improvements in their organ­izations since the inauguration o f their m o t i v a t i o n programs. Others have argued that programs are too costly for the small benefits that are derived f rom them. Still others disagree com­pletely w i t h the principle underlying the programs themselves.

Undoubtedly, some executives have not been totally successful in imple­menting motivational programs, which is due to a number o f different factors. Certain hurdles must be considered and overcome i f benefits are to be gained f r o m such programs.

Acceptance of the Program. The success o f a motivational program depends largely on how well i t is accepted by the employes to whom the program is directed. There is usual­ly some resistance toward any program designed to improve performance. The mere mention o f the subject implies to

some employes that their present per­formances may not be satisfactory, and they resent this negative implica­t ion . Some employes, believing that t h e y already possess exceptionally high performance records, refuse to 'compete' for a higher standard. Yet, results obtained f rom industrial leaders indicate that pride o f workmanship can be and is being increased among employes, and this, as a consequence, is leading to an improvement in the quality o f human performance.

The following are some specific questions that should be answered wi th regard to motivational programs:

1. Does management really believe in the validity o f the program? In order to do an effective job o f selling the plan and then effect­ing a plan o f opt imum satisfac­t ion, management itself must be confident o f the program's valid­i t y .

2. Is there integrity in the program? Af te r the plan has been imple­mented, all the progress previous­ly made in designing and selling i t can be lost i f its integrity be­comes ques t ionable . I f , for e x a m p l e , an employe is re­cognized for a task in which the performance obviously does not compare favorably wi th the per­formance o f another employe, the integrity o f the program can be compromised. The data used for the selection o f the candi-

• dates for recognition must be objective and correct.

3. Records should be kept. Cumula­tive records help to determine the effectiveness o f a program. Periodic determinations should be made regard ing possible changes in program styling, and historical data wi l l help formu­late conclusions. A n y changes to a fu l l y operating program can be dangerous and should be imple­mented carefully.

Design of the Program. Before establishing a motivational program, certain questions should be answered: T o w h a t degree can performance accuracy be expected to increase? Do benef i t s warrant the cost o f the program? What motivation techniques should be used?

There seems to be general agree­ment in industry that employe work­manship can be improved through

49

increased motivation. However, differ­en t peop le respond in differing degrees, under different circumstances and conditions, and to different tech­niques. For example, women tend to respond differently f r o m men under similar circumstances. Some workers respond to a pat on the back - others to close control. Some employes tend to respond to improved working con­ditions and challenging assignments. In other instances, performances improve through incentive plans or monetary rewards. Many companies that are participating in "Zero Defects" pro­grams have founded their programs on the principle that employes can be motivated toward outstanding per­formances by various techniques o f recognition and awards.

T h e f o l l o w i n g are points that should be considered in the design and implementat ion o f any motivation program:

1. How well designed is the plan?

The success o f a motivational p r o g r a m depends to a large extent upon how well i t is con­structed. Considerable thought and planning is necessary to ensure appropriateness to the organization, selection of types of awards, and the criteria to be used in the selection o f candi­dates for the awards.

2. Is the program applicable to a given enterprise? Certainly, the elements used in the design o f a program for one company may not be appropriate for another. The program must be tailored to f i t the needs o f the individual company.

3. How well has the program been implemented and administered? L i k e any other controversial project, there is the task o f sell­ing the plan. To the extent that everyone believes in the validity, principles, and expected out­

comes o f the program, i t w i l l be successful.

4. Are there sufficient funds for the program and how long wi l l funds last? Perhaps the easiest way to dilute the meaning o f a potential­ly excellent motivational pro­gram and reduce its effectiveness is to implement a $1,000,000 program w i t h only $100,000. Once a program is under way and cer ta in individuals have been recognized and rewarded in some p a r t i c u l a r manner, a sudden reduction in the value o f the award can have devastating effects upon trfe future success o f the program. In addition, i n d i r e c t f u n c t i o n s , such as motivation programs, tend to be among the top candidates for budget cuts. A certain manpower level is always necessary in order t o a d m i n i s t e r , control, and maintain such a program. (TJ

A Warm Welcome to all members of the American Society For Performance Improvement and the Society Of American Value Engineers.

FOR 500 ROOMS COMPARABLE TO A N Y - Y E T LESS E X P E N S I V E

S H E R , 2 ^ J 5 - 2 S T H O U S E

Randolph and Clark Streets • Chicago 60601

Reservations: 312/FR 2-2100

C o m e t o C h i c a g o a n d

put yourself in our

place. You'll be in for some pleasant surprises. Like gracious personal service from skilled professionals — all in the Sherman tradition. Like beautifully decorated sleeping rooms. Modern facilities. Five world-famous restaurants. It's all at the Sherman House. The inde­pendent hotel to serve you dependably.

Put yourself in Chicago's action center, too. That's where the Sherman House is. Just steps from great sightseeing . . . great theaters . . . great shopping.

We know what people want from a hotel. Our understanding comes from putting ourselves in your place. A good reason to come to Chicago and put yourself in ours.

50 PERFORMANCE

Why pay an answering service when you can

own your own?

Dictaphone has a machine that makes s that you never lose another cent through a missed phone; call or a garbled message, tn fact, we have a whole line of them

They're called ANSAFONES. They answer the call and give out a message in your own voice and then record the incoming caller's message. There's even a model which will allow you to call in from any phone in the world and get your telephone messages played back to you automatically.

ANSAFONE telephone answering machines are not toys. They're sophisticated, high quality business machines designed to work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They help big companies cover their switchboards at night during off-hours, distributors take orders 24-hours a day and small businesses keep the phone covered and stay "open for business" around the clock.

You can buy one outright or, possibly, lease it for less than you would pay an answering service. If your business depends upon the phone for orders or incoming information, ANSAFONE can help you.

For a free brochure describing how much ANSAFONE can help you in your business, mail this coupon today.

• D i c t a p h o n e 6338 Lindmar Drive, Goleta, Calif. 93017

Please send me complete information on Dictaphone's line of telephone answering systems.

Name — Address —

City . State .Zip.

Telephone No:_

1 563"-MN1172

Dictaphone and Ansaforie a re registered trademarks of Dictaphone Corp. , Rye, New York

VACON™ conformal coatings are shown pro­tecting various types of hardware. Dielectric performance and corrosion resistance of coated hardware is outstanding. Items with 0.00025 inch thick VACON™ coatings easily pass MIL-l-46058 moisture resistance, elec-

. trical, and thermal shock tests.

VACON™ coatings are lightweight, tough, un­affected by solvents, and have good thermal stability. Hardware stays at room temperature during the coating process. The coatings are pinhole free down to 0.000005 inch thick and uniformly coat all hardware contours at any thickness level.