Jeremiah Whipple Jenks - The Soul of Business (1919)

7/28/2019 Jeremiah Whipple Jenks - The Soul of Business (1919)

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Jenks, JeremiahThe Soul of Business


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THE SOULOF BUSINESS

ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTEASTOR PLACE NEW YORK CITY


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ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE1909-1919

THE SOUL OF BUSINESSJEREMIAH wMfiNKS

Chairman, Board of Directors, Alexander HamiltonInstitute; Research Professor of Government

and Public Administration, New YorkUniversity.

NEW YORK1919


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Copyright, 1919, by th Alexander Hamilton Institute.Copyrighted in Great Britain in 1919.All right* for rprodction reserred.


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FOREWORDTen years ago the Alexander Hamilton Insti-tute came into being with the purpose of incul-

cating the basic principles of modern business.In so doing it has sought to ally itself with everyforward movement that has been tested and hasproved its worth.The Institute has always felt that businesscould unfold its great usefulness only when basedupon and fortified by the highest ideals. It hasalways stood for practical idealism in the worldof affairs and it seems fitting to commemoratethe first decade of its successful history by a pub-lication which brings this attitude into clearrelief.The problems now facing us are more complexthan any that business men have heretofore been

called upon to solve. We need more than everbefore the keenest, surest insight into the busi-ness principles that are basic. Methods and de-vices, however good, will not suffice in thesedays. We need the principles that lie deep in thenature of men, as they have been worked out inthe sanest business practices.Doctor Jenks has made a study of this field ofbusiness psychology and business ethics. In theillustrations that show the universality of theapplication of these principles appears much thatwill seem new and possibly strange. Few willdeny that they are sound. We are sure that theyare practical. We hope that whether or not youagree in all points, you will find them interesting.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE


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CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 5THE SOUL OF THE PROFESSIONS , 8SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL ASPECTS OFBUSINESS 11

Business a Complicated Study 11Ethical Problems of Business 14Business a Social Science Involving Morals . 15THE SOUL OF BUSINESS 16Ideal of Service 17Public Service 18Service to Customers 19Service for Employers and Workmen 19Ideal of Truth 22Principle of Responsibility 24Great Significance of Responsibility 26Independence 27Tolerance 29Preparation 29PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 7 32Sacrifice for Public Welfare 34Effect of the War on Business Ideals 35A Chief Factor in Human Progress 36


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The Soul of Business

THEAmerican government and American

business men are facing problems far morecomplex and difficult than those of preparingfor war. They need as never before to search out the

principles of human nature which give life to businessorganization and methods and practices, so that in-stead of being mere dead rules and forms they growand act. Mr. Schwab has said that in his war workwith the Emergency Fleet Corporation, he did notneed to plan any new organization. He made nospecial change. He merely asked the men fromdirector to riveter to think of the Country's need andmeet it. In other words, Mr. Schwab thru his knowl-edge of men and the supreme value of spirit in indus-try breathed the breath of life into the Corporationand the miracle was performed. Cannot the samework be done in other fields by other men? Cannotthe principles of human nature that thus find livingexpression in human activity and, when followed, in-sure success in any field of human effort be soughtout, analyzed and stated for the use of all?A generation ago men were fond of asserting dog-matically as a profound truth that business was busi-ness. The statement seems obvious, so obvious as to


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be needless. Yet to those who used it, that phrasewas pregnant with meaning not so much for what itgaid as for what it left unsaid. Business was to thema thing apart. Whatever a man might be or seemelsewhere, however deep his religious feeling, how-ever lofty his ideals of life and however exemplaryhis conduct all this, it was implied, had no relationwhatever to his business dealings.But now a change has come. Consciously or un-consciously we recognize today that man's nature isnot an aggregate of separate compartments. Werealize that a man cannot very well on Sunday professto love his neighbor as himself, and on Monday bullyhis employes.In the day of our national conflict we saw men ofall ranks of life set aside their personal comfort and

convenience and devote themselves to their country'scause. Men whom public repute would have us be-lieve cold, calculating money grubbers, worked forthe national welfare with an enthusiasm and a self-sacrifice that had in it the stuff of which religiousvotaries are made. Could this have happened if busi-ness had not implanted in them ideals and purposeswhich lifted them out of a merely materialistic pur-suit of wealth? Could it have occurred if there hadbeen within nothing of the spirit of the prophets,saints and martyrs? To ask these questions is toanswer them. Here again is proved that it is "thespirit that quickeneth." But what is that spirit?What life-giving force is there behind these mani-

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festations which on occasion can work miracles andwhich is at all times guiding and directing our actionsin business life? What, in short, is the soul of busi-ness?There is an old adage that it is easier to ask ques-

tions than to answer them, and the more vital theyare, the greater is the difficulty. There is anotherwell-worn adage that the longest way round is theshortest way home. Let this be the justification ofseeking an answer to the question thru establishingcertain analogies with the professions.From childhood it has been my good fortune to beassociated largely with men of affairs. Later in tKeacademic field I learned something of the vocabularyand methods of reasoning of the teachers of eco-nomics, "the science of business."The academicians in their generalized reasoning

often saw far-reaching principles that had escapedthe thought of the busy man of affairs, but more oftenthe thoughtful business man from his nearness to theliving facts and his experienced knowledge of themotives and feelings of the business man (whichafter all must always form the major premise in allbusiness reasoning) was nearer the core of businesslife than his more bookish brother. Both types ofthought and study are needed, if we are fully tounderstand how to cultivate best the field of business.As the social sciences touch life at all points, asthey concern so often what ought to be as well aswhat is, it is plain that they have important ethical

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bearings. Since it is the historical fact that moralityhas had its source in religion, it is natural and reason-able to look to the Bible for constructive suggestions.Those who know that wonderful book only by dimrepute might be astonished to learn how much lightit throws upon the social and political problems oftoday. In later years as I have moved among thebusiness men of the United States, I have found awidely extended sympathy and understanding, not somuch for any Biblical lore, but for the fundamentalideals of everyday living which to my mind are morefinely expressed in the Bock of Books than elsewhere.Whether business men know it or not, I have beenconvinced thru study that these fundamental idealsdo apply largely in business in a practical way inother words, that business has a soul. And I havefound not a few business men, especially those of thevery highest rank, who both believe this and act upontheir belief. Let us return now to the analogies, closerperhaps than many imagine, between business andthe professions.

THE SOUL OF THE PROFESSIONSTho the number and variety of professional

pursuits is constantly growing, when men speak ofprofessions we think instinctively of law, medi-cine and theology. In these fields we look for highermotives among practitioners than the mere makingof money. They find expression in a fundamentalconcept, an ideal which every sincere, earnest man

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seeks to realize. This fundamental ideal or concep-tion of any activity we may well call the soul of thework. It inspires and directs its life.Question any thoughtful lawyer as to the soul of

the law, the fundamental ideal toward which he andall good lawyers strive in the practice of their profes-sion. Will he not answer Service to the Com-munity thru Justice? The soul of the profession ofmedicine is Service to the Community thru the Re-lief and Prevention of Suffering loy the Maintenanceor Re-establishment of Health. The soul of theology,under whatever form of religion or creed, is Serviceto Men by the Establishment and Maintenance ofRight Relations with God. Incidentally, in many ofthe early creeds, emphasis was laid upon the beliefthat by securing right relations with God men's soulswould be saved from torment hereafter. Today theemphasis has shifted to the belief that right relationswith God will also promote the earthly welfare ofmen.Almost any business man of today, even one of the

best type, if asked his main purpose in carrying onhis business would reply "To make a living." Thisis as it should be. It is a measure of success univer-sally applied. The physician, the lawyer, the preach-er, all make a living, or ought to, from the practiceof their professions. But in well-established profes-sions for which men fit themselves by thorocourses of training, there are wrought into and em-bedded in their minds higher ideals toward which"

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the best men strive, and which really form the soul,the underlying motive of the profession.What light does this throw upon the soul of busi-ness? By what right do we claim a soul for business?Some centuries ago the colony of Virginia wasfounded by the Virginia Company who sent menout to the new world and sought to grow rich on theharvests of tobacco which were sent back to the old.After a few years the colonists petitioned the com-pany that it establish a college for the training ofministers of the gospel who might look after theinterests of their souls. The reply of the companyin the business language of the day was terse: "Damntheir souls, let them raise tobacco."In like manner a modern objector might contend,suppose it to be true that each profession has a soul,business is not a profession. Now that is a widelyprevalent belief, but is it wholly true? Does it rep-resent the modern trend of thought? Has not busi-ness in the eyes of the world acquired a dignity andan importance in leadership comparable to that oflaw and medicine and theology? Perhaps it is a newdoctrine to speak formally of business as a profession,but for all practical purposes it approaches so closelyto one that it is the expression rather than thethought which startles. For what is a profession?Briefly it is a calling for which men prepare them-selves by special study, and which they exercise partlyindeed for gain, but also in accordance with certainideals commonly called the ethics of the profession.

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A profession then implies mastery of a science, andthe utilization of that knowledge in social life inconformity with accepted standards of conduct.Let us then inquire into the mutual relations of

business, science and ethics as they are revealed inthe business life of today.

SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONALASPECTS OF BUSINESSBusiness a Complicated Study. Heretofore the

administration of business has not been put on a parwith the practice of any of the professions. It is notgenerally recognized as a profession. The preacher,the lawyer, the doctor, the chemist, in days past wereknown to have studied and hence had been recog-nized as members of learned professions. The busi-ness man simply picked his ideas up in practice, andhence had no profession. Nevertheless it doubtlessrequires as much ability to make a success in businessas in law or medicine; and a man who practicesbusiness will get a mental training and a scientificdevelopment from his work fully as great as does alawyer, or doctor, or preacher from the practice ofhis profession. This may sound like new doctrine,but it is true. Moreover, business as a study is to beclassified with the humanities.The doctor must understand the human body and

the influences that are working upon it. The samemethod of treatment that applies to one case of11


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typhoid or one surgical operation for appendicitisapplies to another. Of course, there are minor dif-ferences there is the matter of temperament butprimarily only the knowledge of one human body isrequired.A lawyer must understand the statutes of his ownState, and, to a certain degree, those of other states.He must know the leading court decisions that aremade upon those laws as well as certain basic prin-ciples mostly evolved from the common law. Ofcourse, the great lawyers go further; but, at its best,as compared with business, law is relatively simple,complex as our laws are.A business man who is the head of his concernand it is the business manager we are dealing withprimarily must have a wider range to cover hisfield. If he is a manufacturer of steel, he needs avery complete knowledge of metallurgy, chemistryand physics, the scientific side. Of course, he can hirethis knowledge, but it is desirable that he know manyof these things himself. He must deal with his stock-holders and his customers so as to satisfy both. Indealing with his workmen he has a problem even morecomplex. He must get along, as sympathetically ashe can, with numbers of people, often representingdifferent nationalities, with entirely different typesof training each from the other, with different degreesof intelligence and different prejudices, and often act-ing under the influence of others outside his estab-lishment. He wants to do the right thing by them.

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At the same time he must maintain discipline, or hiswork breaks down. He must be, potentially at least,scientist, lawyer, physician, ruler, guide, statesman,judge, confidant and friend all of these and more.Most business men so far have not recognized thatbusiness is the most difficult of sciences or even thatit is a science at all. Observe carefully the plans andmethods of most small tradesmen, butchers, bakers,grocers. Generally they understand little of theprinciples that control prices and sales. They havebeen brought up in a hit or miss way to do the thingsthat have been done before by the people with whombusiness and medicine or law, which men are nowthey have worked. Note the difference between suchcompelled to study for three or four years beforethey are allowed to practice.Fifty years ago, in some states, an apprentice sat

around a doctor's office for awhile and then wentout to practice medicine by himself. Lawyers in somestates could practice without passing any examina-tion. Not all of them were shysters; some became ,pretty good lawyers, but they were without scientifictraining, and only the exceptional men were to befollowed with safety. Now conditions for practiceare severe and well enforced.But most of our business men are still untrained ap-

prentices. Many have learned from experience intheir own special line a great deal about business,but this experience has been at the expense of thepublic. If they become business managers, only a

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few of them have much knowledge of the funda-mental business principles that really make up thescience and that are essential to the highest success.This is wrong. They ought to have been trained.Ethical Problems of Business. From the ethical

viewpoint, as well as from the strictly business view-point, the most conscientious employer wants to seethat his workmen are well treated; that they havegood conditions of work, so that there may be lessdisease, less dissatisfaction, fewer accidents. He hasto see that the men are not over-worked, and at thesame time that they do a good day's work. All thisrequires high expert knowledge.To find a manager of real executive ability is thedifficult problem. A company can hire a chemist.That is easy. But a man who knows how to directother men, who knows what a day's work is and howto get it from the workmen in a way that will be bothacceptable to the men and just to the owners, is avery rare person. That man is practising the art ofbusiness; he is making it a profession; he needs toknow its scientific basis.Again, from the ethical side the business manager

has to keep in mind not merely the welfare of hisworking men and the profits of his stockholders, butvery frequently social questions that are

of far widerrange. Take the case of a large corporation like abig railroad or the United States Steel Corporation.It has had a fairly good year; it has earned a consid-erable surplus. The question comes before the Board

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of Directors : Shall that surplus be used in improvingthe plant? Shall it be added to the reserves so thatthe company's credit will be stronger? Shall it bedistributed as dividends? When people invest theyusually want to begin receiving interest or dividendsvery soon. In many cases they must have returnssoon or they are in trouble. Large companies whosestock is sold on the exchanges, if they have a goodreputation, have many small stockholders, tho tobe sure, as yet few are of the wage-earning class.That will come with the thrift habit.When the New York, New Haven and HartfordRailroad suspended dividends some years ago therewas a general outcry all over New England. Therewas hardly a schoolma'am, or preacher, or widowwho had inherited a little money that did not holdthis stock, and the failure of those dividends causedserious suffering to thousands of helpless people.Many entirely self-respecting women had to turn totheir friends for support. Now, a Board of Directorsof such a company has that kind of fact to keep inmind whenever the question comes up of dividingprofits. They must not overlook the small stockhold-ers and their interests, even tho the majority interestmust, of course, control.

Business a Social Science Involving Morals. Wehave not thought of business as a social science here-tofore, nor have we placed much emphasis upon themoral side of the conduct of business beyond whatmay be represented by the old adage, "Honesty is

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the best policy." To be sure, of late years much hasbeen done for workmen and workwomen welfarework, sanitation in the factories and legislation toprotect not merely the health but also the morals ofworkwomen but if the motive is only kindness, eventho it is known that it pays, that is not the con-duct of business.When, however, we look at the question critically,

do we not see that the actual conduct of business isreally social work, possibly the most important of allsocial work, and that, at the very foundation, it in-volves moral questions of the deepest import?Morals, even from the derivation of the word-

mores means customs, habits that are social in theirnature. Any question that involves the relations ofhuman beings one with another and that affects thewelfare or happiness of the people is a moral ques-tion. The view that I have here expressed may beunlike the old. It may not be better, but it has a verypractical relation to life and it seems to fit in withthe teaching of the New Testament.

THE SOUL OF BUSINESSThese considerations have made it clear that busi-

ness is, or is becoming, a science, and that those whoengage in this calling may be animated by ideals ashigh as those which prevail in the professions. TheSoul of Business must then be kindred to the Soulof the Professions.

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I Now it will not have escaped attention that when itcame to giving a definite expression to the highestideals of law, and medicine and religion, we foundthem centered about the idea of service. And thisagain is true of business for, The Soul of Business isService to Society in Business Dealings thru theEmployment of Truth and the Development of theSense of Personal Responsibility.The terms used are general. What is their specificcontent? Just what do they mean in business life?Tho they are universal in their application, they

were originally drawn from the sphere that men vari-ously designate as morals, ethics, religion. It is inthe latter field that they have their fullest flower.Since human ideals are always best understood byanalogy and comparison with their highest expres-sion, we shall refer briefly to the teachings of religionin the field of social relations in order to illuminatethe ideals which are embodied in the best practice ofmodern business.The Ideal of Service. The literature of today in

all fields of endeavor, but notably in the world ofbusiness, is insistent upon the word service. It hasbecome one of those fashionable catch words, whichare so often repeated that they become too frequentlya mere disguise for lack of thought. The things towhich all men are willing to subscribe are usuallythose that they have thought nothing about. Wemust probe deeper than the word itself if it is to haveany meaning. We must ask ourselves what is the

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service that business men can render, that many ofthem do render, and that more and more is givingthe tone to the best business.This service assumes various forms.Public Service. A gambler whether in a bar-room,on the stock exchange or elsewhere, knows that every

dollar he makes, another loses. He renders no per-sonal service in return. He may be very successful,but he is not a business man. The buyer of stocksis often not a gambler, even tho he takes risks.He is probably a business man. Is his purchase real ?Has he an eye to service and fair dealing? Or is hemerely betting on future prices with no service inmind, only another man's loss? Every man's busi-ness should be so run as to promote the public wel-fare and every man should devote some energy di-rectly to public service. The doctor promotes thepublic health by curing patients. He should also beready to make suggestions to the City Council free ofcharge if need be, regarding sanitary measures. Thelawyer promotes the public welfare by inquiry intowhat ought to be justice in his cases. He should alsotry to get good laws by aiding legislators to under-stand the best in lawmaking. The manufacturer andmerchant render service to the public by dealing hon-estly with their customers. They should also, whenopportunity offers, serve the public directly by givingtheir services as citizens to see that public money iswisely used in erecting public buildings, improvingparks, getting the right lighting, transportation or

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water systems. They should be ready to place theirexpert knowledge at the service of city committees orcouncils, of the State or Federal Government, wher-ever they can be of use. All should be ready, even tothe extent of personal sacrifice, to serve on publiccommittees or in public office, to put their trainingfrom their business whatever it may be at the serviceof the public in the way to be most useful.

Service to Customers. Probably their greatestservice to the people will be in their regular work.When we find the butchers and bakers, manufac-turers and merchants keeping in mind chiefly thewelfare of their customers, looking after the qualityof their goods, the promptness of service, and oppor-tunities to please, we shall see a very decided change,which will be for the benefit of the business men aswell as of the community. This is coming. We cansee already that great strides have been made in thatdirection.A very successful business man said the other day:"You can't get around it. You must give service inbusiness. Look at Henry Ford a common mechanicwith no business training. But he had the idea ofservice for the multitude. He gave it he is givingit, and he has his reward." It is not a matter ofcharity. It is business. Big value for low prices. Theintent is not under discussion.Service for Employers and Workmen. The prin-ciple is equally sound within a business tho lessextensively applied. For their own sake as well as

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that of society workmen should do their work in aspirit of loyalty to the job, for that really meansloyalty to the Community. Some local workmen'sunions and sometimes men themselves refuse to ren-der a service which they think worth more than theirwages. They make a mistake. As a business princi-ple, until workmen earn more than they receive, it isnot possible to raise their wages. Where would themeans come from to pay the increase? Is it notequally evident that whenever for any length of timeworkers earn distinctly more than they are receiving,their employers must either increase their compensa-tion or lose the workmen? Ought not pay to be inproportion to results?From the output of the establishment, and onlyfrom that source, must wages be paid as well as cost

of raw materials, profits and interest on the capitalinvested. Every custom or rule, whether of employeror workmen, that restricts output makes it more dif-ficult to raise wages as well as to make profits. Ef-ficiency of labor that increases value of output, eitherby increasing the quantity or improving the qualityof the output makes easier an advance of both wagesand profits. When that fact is fully appreciated bythe laborers and when the employers on their partunderstand that they are not businesslike unless theyserve the interests of their workmen, both profits andwages may be greatly increased.On the other side the spirit of service will preventthe employer from demanding overwork except in

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emergencies, even if his good sense does not showhim that overwork makes for inefficiency. The properspirit of service on both sides will result in the ad-justment of hours and the skill of the laborers so asto produce the largest and best result. With thosebest results of output must go also a correspondingreward to the laborer in payment for results with ofcourse the best care taken for the personal and socialwelfare of workers and public. This, fully realizedand acted upon by workmen, employers and public,is the solution of the strike problem. The employerswho never have strikes are those living nearest tothis principle. The late war experiences both hereand in Great Britain have emphasized these factsmore than ever before. Too great speeding up andincrease of working hours soon led to inefficiency.There has been much talk of kindness toward work-men, of welfare work, as if it were a charity. Work-men very properly resent such a spirit or such animplication. They want good working conditionsbecause they are right, because such conditions pay jthe employer as well as the workmen. They areurged to be loyal to their employers. It is betterjudgment to show them that it is good sense to befaithful, and that loyalty to the job which shows im-proved results will generally increase their wages.And employers must be equally loyal to their men.In so far as the spirit of loyal cooperation and serviceto the workmen as well as from the workmen pre-vails, business will prosper. The worth of the worker

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and the rights of the employer are both to be recog-nized and preserved.Whence arise such ideals of service as we have de-scribed? Rightly considered, are they anything otherthan the application to business affairs of principlesof conduct which shine in every incident of the lifeand in every reported word of the Founder of Chris-tianity? Is it not all summed up in the command"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?"He did not put the matter abstractly, talking ingeneral terms of "social betterment" or "public wel-fare." Speaking in the concrete, pulsing phrases ofthe born orator and poet and teacher, He covered thewhole field of social welfare in his summary statementof the judgment of the King: "Come, ye blessed ofmy Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for youfrom the foundation of the world. For I was anhungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, andye gave me drink ; I was a stranger and ye took mein; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick and yevisited me; I was in prison and ye, came unto me."And then when the listeners, not recognizing theuniversal significance of His judgment, protested thatthey had not done these things, He added, "Inas-much as ye have done it unto one of these my breth-ren, ye have done it unto Me." The whole range ofpublic as well as of private social service is thus com-ple*elv summed iw.The Ideal of Truth. The spirit of service which isthe central point of business ideals manifests itself

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in a hundred different ways, but nowhere more forci-bly than in its emphasis on sincerity and truth.In fact truth is the foundation stone of business.The manufacturer who can be trusted, the quality

of whose product never fails, soon builds a namethat brings success. Absolute integrity and fairdealing bring clients to a business house and holdthem for years, even at times temporarily in the faceof poor service or high prices. Often, however, noserious deception may be intended, yet there is notsufficient frankness to give the best service. A sales-woman in our great costuming establishments willcall attention to the newness of style of the gown, butgenerally she will not warn that it is unbecoming.Local partisan, even personal advantages are oftenconcealed in tax laws, while congressional speechesare loudly claiming furtherance of the welfare of thepublic. Absolute integrity, accuracy and trustwor-thiness are likewise the most important qualities ofworkmen of all types.One could scarcely emphasize more strongly thevalue of trustworthiness of character than did J. P.Morgan in his testimony before the Senate Commit-tee when he asserted that credit is a matter of char-acter; that he had loaned a million dollars to a manon no security except that of his character, whereashe would not loan on any security to a man whoseintegrity he did not trust.And again we can go back to the teachings of re-ligion. No one can question the emphasis which Jesus

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placed upon absolute sincerity and truth. In histeachings, truth of word and act and even of thoughtappear absolutely necessary as' the foundation forsocial regeneration. "As a man thinketh in his heartso is he."The Principle of Responsibility. Go back to our

definition of the soul of business and you will see thatservice to society becomes most effective on the onehand thru the employment of truth, on the otherthru the development of the sense of personalresponsibility.The principle is equally sound psychologically andpractically. Strong character is built by carryingpersonal responsibility, and the giving of responsi-bility rests on belief in the worth of each individual,the reality of personality. The war has emphasizedas never before the role of the people as human be-ings, as persons in politics.No less, modern business, especially in the UnitedStates and other free countries, is built upon theindividual. Freedom of contract rests absolutelyupon the individual's assumption of personal respon-sibility. The importance of responsibility is so feltthat a good manager usually has an understudy tolearn his work upon whom from time to time theburden is shifted until he can bear it alone in case ofneed.The principle of individual responsibility should begreatly extended in practice. The organization andthe successful management of every farm, factory,

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bank, railroad, mercantile establishment, rests mostsafely upon the proper assignment and acceptance ofresponsibility, from the head of the establishment tothe common laborer. Just as far as each individual,however humble his part in any business may be, canbe trusted with responsibility in his own field, just sofar is that business successful.Not nearly so much has been made of this principle

in business as will be made when its significance isfully understood. Business should always be organ-ized and conducted in such a way that each individualconnected with the business establishment shall feeland carry his own personal responsibility. That is inreality a non-financial incentive to work that oftenbegets an efficiency not to be brought about thrumere increase of wage.Many of the important business men of todaywould not agree with that statement. They wouldsay that in a successful business a few menmust take the responsibility; the others must doas they are told. They believe that the aver-age workman does not need to feel that he has to doindependent thinking and to take responsibility forhimself. For moderate success they are right. Forthe highest success they are absolutely wrong. Theremust be discipline in business. That is clearly essen-tial. The limit to which each individual who formspart of a big business machine shall be given respon-sibility to decide upon his course of action must, ofcourse, be rigidly held within his own field of action.

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But in his own field, however small, the more youcan get each man to take responsibility and to feelthat the success of the establishment rests upon hisdoing his work right, the more successful your busi-ness will be. In taking responsibility the man shouldknow that if his work succeeds he will be paid ac-cordingly, and that if he fails he must take the conse-quences. He cannot be allowed to wreck the enter-prise. In the long run this personal responsibility ofthe workmen properly organized and directed willfurnish whatever solution there is of the labor prob-lem. It is the other aspect of mutual service. It bestrecognizes the dignity of labor. It develops the work-man's self-respect. It fits his pay to his work. It in-creases his efficiency. This is the only democracy oflabor that is sound. And this democracy will work.It has already worked in various establishments whereworkmen's associations have taken an active part inthinking out their own plans for work and efficiencyin work.The principle is in no way opposed to the best trade

unionism, nor to collective bargaining. It will inmany ways modify many present forms of bargains,but to the advantage of the workmen as well as of theemployers.Great Significance of Responsibility. We haveyet to learn the full significance of this principle in

business, tho the great business generals recog-nize it for themselves, and some of the wisest buildupon it in training leaders. Few carry it to its logical

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conclusion. When they do, the production of wealthwill go forward by leaps and bounds.No workman who relies solely upon others for his

thinking and planning ever becomes really skilled.No foreman can work properly if continually naggedand not trusted. In one of our great manufacturingcombinations a new superintendent was placed atthe head of a single plant. Soon production fell off.He sent for the production manager of the corpora-tion who found the weak department and gave goodadvice. Soon trouble arose again, and was again ad-justed. A third time the general manager had tocome. The plant superintendent proposed they gothru the different departments to locate thetrouble. "No," said the manager, "I've located thetrouble. It's you. You try to do everything your-self. Call the men together; tell them you've madethe mistake of not seeing their worth and givingthem responsibility; say that hereafter you will takeyour responsibility as superintendent by holding eachforeman and each man responsible for his own workand that you believe they have the ability to producegood results ; that you are starting on a vacation fortwo weeks ; that you trust them to pull together andget the plant running again to full capacity." It wasbitter medicine, but the superintendent was manenough to take it. He recognized the worth of themen, each in his place. The men responded; thetrouble ended.Independence. As a corollary of the assumption

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of responsibility, a man must be independent in histhought and judgment. He may seek advice, he maytake good counsel, the decision must be his own. Nordoes independent thinking among workmen implylaxity of discipline or disinclination to obey orders.It merely implies the natural corollary to responsi-bility. The man who decides must think or blunder.The best results in any business or in any line ofendeavor come when each individual, acting strictlywithin his own special field of activity, feeling hisresponsibility, judges independently and decides hisown acts. This brings the best team work ; this meanswilling, glad obedience to necessary orders ; this givesself-discipline, which is the best discipline. Thismakes real men.I have known men working automatic machinesregulated by power to increase their efficiency morethan seventy-five per cent beyond the average of theshop by simply taking care never to waste a momentof working time or to indulge in the common care-lessness which prevents the machine from accom-plishing its best results. They felt their responsi-bility; they thought independently; in consequencethey imposed upon themselves a discipline that noboss could effect by rules or penalties.The keynote of the so-called efficiency method, sofar as it is sound, is that every movement of each indi-vidual shall be carefully thought out so that no energyshall be wasted. But every one knows that unlessthe individual workman himself puts his independent

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will to work to follow up the standard set, no suchplan will be successful.This is the problem: How to assign responsibility,

give discretion and check up results, so that each mancan develop his own powers best and his employer,as well as the man, can know exactly how each man'sjob fits in the other, and what progress is made, andcan then act accordingly. In this way the best planfor team work can be decided upon.

Tolerance. But if a man demands independencefor himself and the right to assume responsibility,he must give the same right to his fellows, even whentheir thoughts and judgments differ from his own.He must be tolerant.Every one knows how annoying and obstructiveon a board of directors is a narrow-minded man who

cannot admit merit in the view of others ; how short-sighted is the business man who is not tolerant enoughto be willing to learn from his competitors; howfoolish is the salesman who "knocks" the goods ofhis competitors instead of cheerfully acknowledgingtheir merits; how impossible the workman who"knows it all." The man who succeeds takes hisideas from every source. He is tolerant of the viewof others, and is ready to learn. The great corpora-tions have often picked their lawyers and managersfrom among the men who have most successfullyfought them. They have not been prejudiced bynarrow intolerance.

Preparation. The assumption of responsibility in29


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any field of work demands that a person give nodecision without basing it upon knowledge and study.This is the proper course for even the greatest, mostbrilliant minds. "Genius is only great capacity fortaking pains." Aristotle, probably the greatest sci-entific thinker of history, was twenty years in Plato'sschool. He was in middle life at forty before he pub-lished independent works. One of the great faultsof our times possibly the most frequent cause offailure in business is the rendering of decisionswithout due care to learn facts. An employer hasno moral right to deal with workmen till he hasstudied the workmen's problem from their viewpoint.A workman must fit himself for his job. Every busi-ness man must study and know before he acts.I have dwelt at length upon this principle of indi-

vidual responsibility to be placed in the hands ofworkmen of all classes arid grades because I am fullyconvinced that in this principle lies the opportunityfor the next great forward move in business.Only the principle can be stated, for each separate

establishment, whether bank or factory, steamship orfarm has its own separate problem. No two havethe same solution. To attempt to fit all kinds ofestablishments into one form like that of a legisla-ture often, but not always a good form is to con-fuse principle with form. The principle is sound.The form must vary. Much depends upon the na-ture of the business, much upon the personnel. Buta few lines of procedure may wisely be followed.

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a. Analyze the business and organize it so thateach step in the process of work is clearly seen anddefined by itself.

b. So group the workmen and assign their tasksthat each one will know as exactly as possible justwhat his personal duties are and at just what pointthe task becomes that of his fellow workman.

c. So plan that exact tests and measurements canbe frequently made and recorded of the quality andquantity of the results accomplished by each smallgroup, if possible by each man. In this way compari-son between men and especially between successivedays' results of the same man's work can be made.

d. Record and show when desirable the results ob-tained by different men and different groups. Theuse of charts is often most convenient.

e. Pay by results, taking care that working rulesare such that there will be no undue temptation tooverwork or unfair practices.In this way, if the matter is tactfully managed a

spirit of healthy rivalry can be stimulated. Best ofall each man can see just what progress and improve-ments he personally is making. If his work falls offhe not only himself knows it, but he knows thathis employer and probably his fellows know it, and allcan see the exact cause of his failure. If the reasonassigned is not satisfactory, he will feel that also.The spirit of a whole establishment will thus be stead-ily toned up and maintained at a high level.Such a plan takes time and thought to organize.

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In some cases it will take time and trouble to carefor records. Carried out in the right spirit it willshow results. The essential thing is to get the rightspirit thruout the establishment.There is too much in common between the views of

personal responsibility in business and the conse-quences which flow from them, and the substance ofChristian teaching for them to be entirely unrelated.It is a historical fact that the influence of religiousforces grows rather than diminishes. The more it isrecognized that the essence of religion is a guide toconduct in the present life and not merely an insur-ance policy against perils of the life to come, the morenatural that its teachings should permeate allbranches of social life. No one, even of the greatthinkers, before Christ, realized or taught the su-preme value of the individual. Recognition of theworth of the individual ascribes to each human beinga real personality. Earlier philosophers and teachershad said that the few thinkers should lay down therules of conduct. The many should obey and fol-low. Jesus laid down the principle that by his owndecisions each man is to be judged. No priests orrulers can make for him the final decision, tho theymay well give good counsel.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThese principles, too, are universal in their appli-

cation in all fields of human endeavor. Think of themin the field of Government. Let every voter, every

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adult, be truthful and sincere, ready to bear personalresponsibility, independent in political thinking, tol-erant of the views of others, eager to study and pre-pare himself for his public duties and devoted un-selfishly to the public welfare you will have the idealrepublic. These are the basic principles of popularself-government for which the world has been fight-ing. They must be sound. They lie so deep in hu-man nature that human beings find it impossible toact contrary to them in the long run. People notfamiliar with the thought basis of the Christian re-ligion will not have noted that Jesus Christ recog-nized this scientific fact more completely than anyother thinker. In consequence, in basing His re-ligious teaching upon these principles He became,unconsciously perhaps, the real founder of republi-can self-government. He sacrificed His life for theseprinciples. What is of far greater significance, Hestaked His life work upon them. And He won!The only question that could be raised, or that willbe raised by any intelligent business man as to themerits of these principles in conducting business, iswhether they are admissible in large degree in greatestablishments where there are many untrained men.Will they not upset the necessary coordination ofeffort and necessary discipline?Everything depends upon the intelligence and good

will of the employers and workers themselves.With an ignorant or prejudiced or dishonest groupof workmen the amount of supervision must be in-

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creased. But just in the measure that each individual,from the president or chairman down to the lowestoffice boy or most unskilled manual laborer, can betrusted or can be led to think independently for him-self in his special field, to study out his own work, tobe tolerant in judging his fellows and in receiving thejudgment of his "boss" or superintendent; and justas far as he can and will then take upon himself theresponsibility for carrying out his task, just in thatmeasure will the business succeed. You see the differ-ence at once even in an office boy or section hand. Ionce promoted an office boy within two or threeweeks, when he thoughtfully called attention to a lit-tle waste on postage that had escaped his superin-tendent's notice. He had shown more clearly hisprofessional spirit than does many a man in a seriesof years. Of course the principles must be appliedwith good judgment adapting them to the conditionsof each separate case.

Sacrifice for Public Welfare. We have spokenmuch in the last two years of the spirit of sacrifice,and every citizen who is loyal will gladly make what-ever sacrifice his country needs. But there is anotherside the business side to the question of sacrifice.The straits of war compelled us to make sacrifices.Even so, it is by no means improbable that this lifeof sacrifice, even though unwilling on the part ofsome, has in many cases paid, and may yet pay wellfrom the financial standpoint. I am not at all pessi-mistic regarding the future so far as business is con-

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cerned. Under the pressure of war, we sacrificed ourprejudices, our rules, our profit, and all cooperated

laborers and employers and Government. Notonly did we act a noble part to win the war, but weprobably gained greatly in business strength. If thespirit of cooperation of laborers and employers andGovernment can be made to continue, this countrywill become the greatest producer of wealth that theworld has ever seen. Without such cooperationand there is grave danger that the cooperation maybe seriously delayed there will be commercial andindustrial crises equally colossal. This is today andin the future the real crux of cur problem.

Effect of the War on Business Ideals. Businessmen as well as statesmen and soldiers found them-selves summoned by the world war to look into thedeeper meanings of their acts. They had to considertheir work not only from the viewpoint of profit butalso from that of patriotism, of morals, of religion. Itis now a commonplace thruout the world thatGermany's chief failure was a moral failure, and that,in spite of the familiar appeals to God and the asser-tion of the righteousness of the German cause, thewords were misused or hypocritical. True religionand calculated falsity are incompatible, and as theevent showed, right wins. The determination to dojustice by all and to sacrifice for the common goodwas the decisive factor in the war. America wouldnot have entered the war if the Americans had be-lieved that Germany's ethical standards, her practi-

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cal religion, were of a type as noble as those ofFrance and England ; if they had not seen that prin-ciples of right and wrong in everyday life were atstake.The war touched every one. It put all whose workwas needed on the same plane. Government offi-

cials, munitions makers, physicians, teachers, farm-ers, dealers in grain, railroad men, ditch diggers,manufacturers, traders all whose work affected thecommunity, it was finally seen, could render an equaltho less heroic service with those whose gunswere trained upon the enemy. This fact gives to theacts of all public spirited men the sanction of patriot-ism, of religion, so long as they are sincere and un-selfish in their acts.A Chief Factor in Human Progress. It is best tonote again the beginning of our argument and see theresults attained. The deepest principles of business,because they are imbedded in the human nature ofall doers of business, were asserted to be service toothers, truth and sincerity in business dealings, andthe assumption of personal responsibility by each in-dividual. These are the principles that make businessa living science. They are its soul.It was found that they work excellent results in

business ; that contrary actions spell failure.Later observations showed that on these same prin-ciples is republican self-government built; then, thatit was the Founder of the Christian Religion whofirst put such emphasis upon the adoption of these

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principles in the life of every one, and, as the GreatTeacher, so marvellously lived those principles thatthru the passing ages they have spread in knowledge,tho not always in practice, thruout the world. As theyare principles founded in human nature, they willeventually conquer in all fields of endeavor. JesusHimself stated with the calm certainty of the scien-tist in His last talk with His disciples, "Be of goodcheer, I have overcome the world."The Soul of Religion, The Soul of Government, theSoul of the Learned Professions, the Soul of Busi-ness are all akin. They vitalize the work of men intheir various activities. They work together for theupbuilding of humanity. As business stretches itslong arms around the world, as it enters into the dailylife in every home in every land most intimately,when its every practice shall eventually be directedby its living soul, not only will it be far more profit-able and useful in its own field, but it will also be achief factor, doubtless the chief factor in the pro-motion of man's progress.

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Jeremiah Whipple Jenks - The Soul of Business (1919)

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