The Development of Work Study in Building and Civil Engineering … 2

Work study originated as an attempt to increase efficiency in a highly circumscribed sector of the total activities of a productive unit. It was very limited in its field of operation. Quite soon, however, it became clear that it could not be left as an isolated technique, that it involved the very core of organisation. It was not something which could flourish as a mere grafting on to an antique structure, but required to go to the very roots of management and hence it influenced the whole of subsequent growth and activity. Time study, motion study, work method, expanded into the broader philosophy of work study and this impinged on, necessitated change in, the activities of every department in a concern. Work study was not merely interested in the man on the bench, and with showing him how to do his job better. It could only flourish provided it was preceded by elaborate pre‐planning of work, exact scheduling, efficient stores control, efficient purchasing, sound cost accounting, adequate training, proper personnel relations, in fact unless the whole of the management structure was geared to it.