The National Outlook
Output Per Manhour
By Ralph Robey
Productivity is a term which
is widely used and just about as
widely misunderstood. Yet it is
an extremely important concept.
Perhaps the most common
definition of productivity is out
put per man-hour. This is ac
curate but raises the further
questions of how does one mea
sure such output and what
causes an increase or decrease.
This definition also has the dis
advantage of appearing to place
the entire responsibility for
changes in productivity upon
labor, which of course is far
from true.
Three Basic Factors |
Actually three basic factors :
cause variations in productivity, i
These are energy, organization
i and capital.
Energy includes both human;
labor and all other kinds of
power used in production. The
changes here over the past sev
eral generations have been fan- i
tastic. Formerly human energy
provided well over ninety per-
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m See The Chevy Show In color Sundays NBC-TV-the Pat Boone Chevy Showroom weekly ABC TV.
NOW LOOK WHffl . ..
mhhr
The same (orvair that taint'd a thumping 27.03 -•.
miles per gallon* in tbe Mobiles Economy ; 4 sr~
Hun . . . went right on to climb Pikes Peak
earlier in the spring than any car &£#&£' fM
has ever tried!
He wanted to-how you what the fabulous traction \ '‘? '?'" i?\ V ''■*"> ' ,** /V /'^V,' V
of fort air's rear-engine design and the sure- - * V,\ -' * , rV *v'jSrs' .’V'V.*
footed ness of four-wheel independent suspension
really mean. So the identical Economy Run car
went right on to 14.110-fool Pikes Peak—and right %* jSi
up to the top of that savage mountain, on April 15. >“ I .
still deep in winter's snow and ice. No other car—
even specially equipped—had ever been able to V
conquer that nightmare alpine road so early in
the spring. But ( orvair (with l nited Stales Auto $■
Club officials aboard to certify that not one nut aiSjgliiPllß '
or Ml was changed) purred right to the summit i Jr,* AJw/?- ><*(<*'s ~ I'Hjt’ ££l ,y
without chains or even snow tires! That just ‘ /fe'i'iyi;.?
underscores the fact that ( orvair is totally unique. ‘*’*" r \j'- ’■
But you’ll And that out the Mrst Ive minutes
you're at the wheel! '^^^S^SsSsßsSwi
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'x£& r-“ (■[
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• * remarkable Corvair at your local authorized Chevrolet dealers % • *
George Chevrolet Company, Jnc.
cent of all the power used. To
i day human energy is used prim
arily to direct other sources of
: power. Even in steel mills a
worker no longer has to lift any
appreciable weight, and in
many industries he does not
have to lift anything. This
change in the type of energy
used has been an enormous boon
to both our workers and our
economy as a whole.
Organization includes both
the function of management and
production layouts. Both of
these have a profound influence
upon the efficiency of an or-
I ganization, and efficiency is a
| prime element in output per
man-hour. One also should in
trude under organization the
skill of the working force. With
[ increased mechanization of the
i productive process more expert
workers are required, even
1 though many jobs become mere
j routine. The character of our
labor force has changed greatly
over the years in regard to skill,
TK2 GKQT7AH HERALD. EDEHTOH. KOATH CAROLINA, THURSDAY. MAY 26, 1860.
PAINTING CONTEST The call of the wild lures scores of painters to the Rome Zoo.
Amateqr artists painted polar bears as part of a contest for "Sunday artists."
but there still is a shortage of
those with highly technical
training.
Capital is an absolute neces
sity for an overall increase in •
output per man-hour, and there I
is a close correlation between
investment and productivity.
Granted, in an individual fae-!
tory it may be possible to in- j
crease output by better manage
ment, improved organization and
better industrial relations, but
such betterment is necessarily
limited. Today it takes about
$17,000 investment to provide
the essentials of each job, and
the total continues to increase
with the development of better
and better machines. In some
industries the investment per
worker is much less than
$17,000, but in others it is sev
eral times this amount. Even
in farming the investment per
worker is up to this figure.
A Significant Variable c
With all of these elements in
fluencing productivity it is to
be expected, and is true, that
output per man-hour varies •
from company to company, from |
industry to industry, and from j
year to year. Measuring the re
suit, therefore, is extremely ]
complicated and many of the ’
data that are published are mis- i
leading.
This is a field, in other words,
where one can prove almost
anything he desires by statis
tics: "By picking MBS 'hS.se year
he can show that the increase
has been either large or small.
An honest and conscientious
analyst will not indulge in such
manipulations, hut unfortunately
a lot of it goes on all the time.
And one must add that it is not
easy to select a base year even
under the best of circum-
stances. The best protection is
to ignore year-to-year changes
and rely on long-term trends.
Even this does not provide com
, plete protection against wrong
| conclusions, but at least under
I this procedure there is an op-
Ipoitunity for errors to be
I washed out. I
One final word must be said: l
increasing productivity is what
gives us a rising standard of
living, protects the value of our
currency, and determines the
over-all growth of our produc
tion. Even though we have dif
ficulty in • measuring it, there
fore, we have no choice but to
improve productivity.
j SUNDAY SCHOOL ]
[ LESSON '
all else to this one great and
abiding Cause and Being.
Jesus said: “You cannot serve
God and Mammon.” (Matthew
G:24b). Mammon, translated
quite literally, means “proper-
Uy.” He who thinks continually
j about his property simply lias
jno time to think of the greater
issues of life. He has no time
Ito think about eternity, and all
' its vast and awesome implica
j lions, nor does he build for
j eternity. Strangely enough, we
who are the only creatures of
our earth who have the poten
tialities of eternity, fail to build
for that - one event. The king
dom of God is not a place, but
a state or condition in which the
mind and soul exist.
Only too often our view does
not include that which Godi sets.
We look beyond, or in front of,
his concerns. Consider, just for
one moment, what evils would
be eliminated if we but took the
time to look through the “spec
tacles of God,” so to speak—to
see things as his eyes would
intenpret them!
Jesus is getting at the very
heart of our needs in this won
derful sermon. We must take
i these teachings seriously. These
1 are indeed t'he marks of the ci
\ tizens of the kingdom of God.
Jesus yearns that men may
put their trust in God, not be
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||| •' v.C
Terry Sanford
FRONT LINE FIGHTER
for roads!
“Traffic on North Carolina highways has more
than doubled in the last 15 years. It will con
tinue to increase at a rapid rate. Our secondary
road building and maintenance program has
fallen far behind. Prompt, aggressive action
and leadership are needed! North Carolina has
more small towns and communities than per
haps any other state; new access roads must
be planned and built. Good hard-surfaced roads
are needed ... to get our children safely to and
from school . . . and workers to their jobs in
nearby industries ... to make markets more
accessible for our large farm population.
“We should continue the present State-wide
approach for primary and interstate roads, but
4
Man oa»fffeGO for the State an the GOl
SANfOOC FO* GOV**NOt-*»T l. KNKtIT VG*.
IX | terry SANFORD An Gonnor\
PXID POUTtCXL ADVERTISING!
taa *“ K ' r, ‘' « . . k .
come anxious (distracted) over
things. Things, alas, so distract,
distort, twist, corrupt, bli.nd and
drive mankind. We sorely need
to remember the rock from
which we were hewn—the rock
which is from God himself, in,
whose image we are made. Fun-!
damentally we are both moral j
and spiritual beings. We have !
much more important things to!
do than merely be concerned j
with drinking and feasting.
I
Let man fulfill his nature, and
God will care for him. Ami:
what is his nature Have we i
not already .answered that ques- 1
tsion when, as we have just j
noted, we claim he is made in !
the image of God? He is made !
for truth, justice, mercy, kind- j
ness, holiness and beauty. He
becomes ill when he lives for j
material possessions and covets
them until greed or hate or 1
jealousy rule his life. We are
restless until we find our rest
in Him. Let man fulfill his
1 God-intended nature and find
J his fulfillment in Christ.
(These comments are based on
! outlines of the International
| Sunday School Lessons, copy
; righted by the International
j Council of Religious Education,
and used by permission).
Love thy neighbor.
I —Thales.
Business District
The estate agent was showing I
Bodger over the house.
"Isn’t this rather a poor dis- 1
triet?” asked Bodger.
Certainly not.” replied the |
, agent. "You will find that your
! neighbors never Uirivov leas 1
j than five- dollars.”
I'lain light reason is nine
| times in ten. the fettered and
shackled atleitdaut of the In
i umph of the heart and the pas
sions.
•—Lord Chesterfied.
Jollll
Shackelford
Solicitor
Chowan County
Qualified Young: Capable ;
the secondary road program must be returned
to the people. Our Highway Commission should
he enlarged to 10-1-4 members who represent
every area of the state, understand the local
road problem, and have authority to do some
thing about it. As taxpayers footing the bill,
our people are entitled to a stronger voice in
local road programs.
"Yes, this is an ambitious program. It has to
be. It w ill require much time juvt to catch up.
But 1 say, LET’S CET STARTED NOW! **
i
i—SECTION TWO
PAGE FIVE
Notice To Voters Os
Chowan County ?
1 ant a candidate for
the Chowan County
School Hoard.
Your I 'ti/c 11 ’ill Be
Appreciated!
O. C. Long, Jr.