THE MENTAL FACTOR

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 120, 17 November 1932, Page 6

THE MENTAL FACTOR

ilt) ADVANCE INDUSTRY

•SUGGESTED INSTITUTE

STEPS TAXM

! The necessity of taking into greater {account the psychological factor :in j commerce and industry, was. insisted | upon by speakers .at a meeting of mem- ; ber's of the Chamber of Commerce last , evening when it was decided that preliminary -steps -should be taken- tp.re^ I commend' to the other main Chambers j of Commerce the-formation, of a New : Zealand-Institute -of Commerce. Mr. ! J. P..Luke, presided.

_ Mr; H. Amos, who was largely responsible for the .proposal,; outlined -the scope and aims^ofnh'e suggested institute,, .He referred first to. a most important meeting in london in July last of,.the' International Society for Commercial Education, :at which the necessity for co-operation between the leaders of commerce ,'and educationists in order to find a of present-day difficulties was emphasised.: Mr. Amos suggested that very valuable work could be done in the Dominion along the main lines of'the recommendations of.-that, congress. 'He had interviewed the Director of Education and had received a sympathetic hearing. A'New'Zealand- Institute of-Com-merce, said Mr. Amos, ti would- enable the business community.better;;tq; formulate its demands than if educationists were left to discover the require•ments themselves; - The problem, of edu- • cation for ■ commerce \ was"'. fourfold: training for the . creative le,ader, the the "competent..bookkeeper, and the efficient ■ stenographer. : There were many commercial and technical colleges catering for the require- , merits of the stenographer and the bookkeeper, but there were no facilities whatever at present for the two most essential 'groups, the creative r leader or the skilful salesman. i Mr. Anios then outlined the requiiements for the formation of the institute, suggesting a branch in the four : capital cities and later branches in '■ every-important centre. There should !be no conflict with, the New Zealand : Tlniversity or any other,., educational organisation, noj should ': there be any, trespassing oil their'domains.' '''■'- (>. ■;' TIME MOST OPPORTUNE. ' -fMroJ. S. Barton, . S.M., said that ; present-day • difficulties demanded that there should be a review of all aspects ;of business and : commerce, practical; legal^ and educational. -."; '. :: ■\ r ■ Mr. Barton spoke of two particular aspects of: the very wide prob.lemy t the . attitude .of; the -. community upon the , question of public finance and the fallacy that the State was in some way , immune from, the workings- of economic law. I While the functions; of; the: State Vere; confined;largely to the maintenance: of law and order and the provision of'basic'communal needs, public finance could be regarded as a thing apart, but to-day the dividing line between public .and private finance had been largely,smudged out, ■ and the effect of public finance was everywhere felt in'all enterprise^bqth had'suffered from the fact that.the "system had "just growed.3! The almost fanatical belief, widely held,-that the Statei'Was immune from the working? of ■economic laws had. led to the '^ adoption ofluneconomic 1 schemes, again reflected. In , private business, and to the:growtff-of-sociajT services which" could. no't-'itaSd: the test'? qf-4iarder years. It w/as.surety: a; wise'.step;.to .endeavour to take "some ■ steps.;!fprthX'better. education oif business :[|nd4pu.bl^^^';inenJin ;true 'priiiieiples. of priy^f©: .finance .-applicable ; in //publicaffairsj to" avoid ieliance. upon, fa-llacies in' the 'future.? '.. Si • I The '.International.^ .Congress,'. *con-"-" tinued Mr,. Barton, 'hadssaid-thatfcoin-' : inerce was service to' the' community.' If that -was-to be-truly so, some-fresh-basis had to be found for commercial "organisation,,and fresh tests of success must be: found,', for for the last two or throe fi'undred'<years the only test had lieeiv that of ;profit; and loss-r-aSsound business test, but th.elonly , test, Pleading to aibasis-which-could notjbe said to represent " service: ; to. i the " /com 1' munity. 33\ lie was convinced"that ■'.it" was possible to formulate/a; new Lbasis nearer the ideal, and that it was possible to educate the coming generation nearer to that ideal, andiu that aim,' lie believed, the suggested Institute of Commerce; could be an important factor. JMA^T; BATHER THAN MACHINE. ' Dr. TCyKE^Beeby, Director of the Psychological:. Laboratory,;.; .Ganterbury College, -jspoke; along>the lines, of his iinteryiewi'v'in:-. yesterday's "..-''Post," emphasisuig;;the. importance'';;oif s4 the understanding by the business;.man aiid [industrialist of the man rather than of ■the machine, for notwithstanding what might bo made mechanically ,;the man. was still theV-most important iagent in business or production. % In--ilustrial and commercial.,, "traiiing. in New Zealand was undoubtedly inferior to that in England and. America, a ; result'^ of course, of_,the fact that here •work was carried out under a totally ; different,, system. - New Zealand was in - a mid-way, position,-for the 'old bench

training had largely gone, while production was yet too small. to permit of such- attention to training and methods, as was given in countries where large-scale production was general. Yet,much could be done,.and instances were given of cases where output had been markedly : increased by an intelligent study of factory problems and conditions. The more increase, of output,-said Dr. Beeby, was not ;td his; mind ;the one "aim to be sought^ after; it- must be accompanied by the improyeinent ;^o'f the atmosphere of "the worker, arid, indeed, the two factors were inseparable, for increases in output iii given surroundings followed upon.a better understanding of how the human.mind and body worked. -.'.. .' The training of foremen in an understanding.of those undertlieni, that they might 'act as educators Jaiid not merely ■as ;su'per-poiicemenj- was stressed as of prime importance. Strikes and.indus:tfial. trpiibles, said. Dr. Beeby,- .were seldom the result of what appeared to -be.,tne immediate cause, but the result of 'piling minor grievances for which there was no outlet. For an employer to consider that the': worker had but one inducement jto -work—the' envelope at the end of the week—-was for him to disregard what were in fact the really yt orth-while drives, the wish to create, the desire "for self-assertion, the pride of achievement.

Education, said Drj' Beeby,- could not stop at the moment of leaving school; what was wanted was the; closer cooperation between the educationist and industry. Henry Ford he regarded as a. hard-headed, even callous business, man, and in maintaining a- very large training school 'for student workers JPord did not act as a philanthropist; he did so because he know it paid him. Methods uponVsueh a scale., in the Dominion .wete'iot. possible, Wt much iconld'lie/done: -.-r'"-" :>;i '"'.'' •: '

A Mr. iE/Ei Bender expressed his 'full accord with the remarks made by the speakers,, as did, also, the-chairman and Mr. M, Gt.,C. MeCaul. :

The meeting, which was unfortunately small,-^greed- that ;the 'proposal should.; "beTfurther- iiqiiired ' into -and that a scheme to embody the constitution of the institute, an examination syllabus, etc., should be drawn up and made the subject'of a report at a later, meeting. ■ ,-,■..".-■:;