Service sector

“ You will, however, in general avail yourself of the services of any Persons, whether Fugitives from Labor or not, who may offer them to the National Government; you will employ such Persons in such services as they may be fitted for, either as ordinary employees, or, if special circumstances seem to require it, in any other capacity with such organization, in squads, companies, or otherwise, as you deem most beneficial to the service. ”

“ While the responsibility of such a lessor should be a commensurately heavy one, and the matter of how to define and limit it is certainly not an easy question, it ought to be approached, as a policy matter, from the standpoint of balancing all the interests involved. Not to be overlooked is the obvious economic impact on this particular service industry in the light of the important function it has come to serve in today's society. ”

“ He protects the business man with the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
HELPING THE WORKING MAN. In the Department of Labor a vast amount of Service is devoted to securing employment for laborers, supplying information concerning labor conditions, pursuing practical investigations for the safety and health of the working men. ”

“ The personnel of the staff was considered to be of the greatest importance, and, in the selection of men, the requirements desired were: experience in the construction and operation of railroads, thorough technical training, high standing in the Profession, as shown by membership in the American Societies of Civil or Mechanical Engineers, or of other Societies of high standing, and high moral character. Politics, residence in the State, or local influence, had absolutely no weight in the selection of any of the men. ”

“ In any system of universal service there needs to be some plan of industrial adjustment, as to time, payments, and releases from work, so that the burden will not fall too heavily upon special industries at critical times of output. ”

“ It seems possible in view of the facts stated in this second group of propositions to draw these conclusions. In states containing a relatively high urban population it is possible for wealth to command the services of a large proportion of persons for work in domestic service. ”

“ I am satisfied that both in and out of the classified service great benefit would accrue from the adoption of some system by which the officer would receive the distinction and benefit that in all private employments comes from exceptional faithfulness and efficiency in the performance of duty. ”

“ The advantages in the scheme are in the saving of expense in buying, economy in the preparation of all the materials consumed, a division of labor on the part of the co-operators which enables each to follow her own tastes in work, and a removal of all difficulties with the subject of service by making the servants responsible to a corporation, not to individuals. ”

“ Between four and five thousand people find employment within the Bureau, the greatest establishment of its kind in the world. Thousands of visitors annually witness the wonders therein displayed and come away impressed with the marvels they have seen in the adaption of means to a definite purpose. The care and comfort of the employes is a matter of deep concern to the Director and every possible method of providing for both, by approved means of sanitation and ventilation, is availed of. ”

“ It is as if the community entered into a sort of agreement with the worker to the effect that it will provide him with a living in return for definite service to the community or for the product of his labor. What we call "business" is SELLING A SERVICE. It may be personal service, such as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or giving legal advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or running an automobile. ”

“ There has been a steady increase in the number and variety of Government activities. As industry has become more complex more Government agencies have been created for the purpose of regulation and control. Unfortunately, improvement in methods has not kept pace with the addition of new agencies. ”

“ The very kind of criticism applied to the Administration shows that things have grown better. In spite of the imperfections of the methods followed, the result has been that the public business is recognized to be conducted now in a more business-like manner than before, and that the efficiency of the service has been lifted up to a much higher standard. ”

“ It is time, though, to consider what the requirements of the business system might be, because many people think that domestic service will before long undergo some such change as has come over the professions of teaching and nursing in the last half-century. ”

“ Now the entire field of productive and constructive industry is divided into ten great departments, each representing a group of allied industries, each particular industry being in turn represented by a subordinate bureau, which has a complete record of the plant and force under its control, of the present product, and means of increasing it. The estimates of the distributive department, after adoption by the administration, are sent as mandates to the ten great departments, which allot them to the subordinate bureaus representing the particular industries, and these set the men at work. ”

“ More thought and hypotheses with operational methods that break through or expand current service doctrines are needed from a joint perspective even as services look to the future from their own service perspective. ”

“ If the public service is to do its business with efficiency and economy, it must of course be manned with persons fit for the work. If on the other hand it is to be used as a school to instruct ignorant people in the functions of the Government—that is, in the duties of a postmaster, or a revenue collector, or an Indian agent, or a Department clerk—then we should select for such places persons who know least about them, for they have the most to learn ”

“ The goal of service excellence is not easy to attain. Consumers must demand it, and everyone in an organization, be it a business or a government agency, must be committed to it, both in everyday interactions and in longer-term goals. ”

“ How can we educate the public up to an appreciation of the necessity for trained and expert service in every branch of the Government? How can we order our public service so that it will attract the ablest men and women and guarantee progressive careers to those who prove loyal and efficient? ”

“ Develop, after consultation with the Department of Commerce, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Defense, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Mediation Board, and other appropriate agencies and groups, including representatives of labor and management, plans and procedures, including organization plans, for the maintenance of effective labor-management relations during a national emergency. ”

“ With regard to any particular service or concern, I would ask, Is it more convenient, more likely to lead to economy and efficiency, to let this service rest in the hands of some single person or group of persons who may offer to do the service or administer the concern, and whom we will call the owners, or to place it in the hands of some single person or group of persons, elected or chosen by lot, whom we will call the official or group of officials? ”

“ The upshot of all this is, that as soon as we assume the performance of a certain service to be necessary for the public convenience, and that those who undertake that service are in duty to the public bound not to cause or to permit that service to be interrupted, we must admit at the same time that the public becomes in duty bound to afford them a corresponding measure of protection in the performance of that service. ”

“ Government outsourcing for services also raises special concerns. For decades, the Federal Government has relied on the private sector for necessary commercial services used by the Government, such as transportation, food, and maintenance. ”

“ Each department is charged with the goods bought and with the expense of selling, and credited with the sales made. Each section pays its proper share of all general expenses, such as delivering goods, lighting, heating, elevator service, fixtures, rent, etc. The system employed enables the head of the business to always know the true condition of each section. It enables him to know, if desired, what each individual salesperson does; how much the total business is of any department on any day ”

“ It is equally well settled, however, that it is the duty of the employer to select and retain servants who are fitted and competent for the service, and to furnish sufficient and safe materials, machinery, or other means by which it is to be performed, and to keep them in repair and order. ”

“ In so far as the publication of a work, or of part of a work, is, by virtue of the last preceding subsection, not to be treated as an infringement of the copyright in the work, a person who subsequently broadcasts the work, or that part thereof, as the case may be, or causes it to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service, or performs it in public, or makes a record of it, does not thereby infringe the copyright in the work. ”

“ Although each may be highly paid in comparison with the service rendered, the portions of service do not suffice for the maintenance of an officer without the aid of private practice; they only suffice, therefore, to sustain needy competitors for practice in narrow fields. ”

“ From the selfish point of view the chief interest of the employer is to keep the bills down and to get the greatest possible amount of service even at the cost of the greatest expenditure of human strength; among employees, it is to do sufficient work to retain a good place, and to use whatever materials are most convenient. ”

“ The industrial barriers within the occupation must be removed before domestic service will attract large numbers of capable, efficient persons; this can be at least partially accomplished by taking the employee out of the house and allowing him or her to become a self-reliant, independent, business person.
Another direction in which progress lies is in the effort to put the employment on a business basis. This must be accomplished if any improvement is to come. ”

“ In co-operation with properly constituted authorities, and as the result of careful, scientific study of the whole situation, the employment department assists in establishing rates of pay commensurate with the work done, with the conditions in the industry, and with their probable effect upon the loyalty, happiness, and consequent efficiency of the employees. ”

“ In the private sector, the Government’s efforts in imple­menting the over-all economic program will be to facilitate the growth of private enterprise. The specific projects that we have scheduled during these five years in the field of trans­port, communications, and allied public services are aimed at providing the private sector with the facilities which it needs in order to establish and expand its productive ventures. ”

“ The Federation did not assume that school-teachers are the best people to draft revenue laws, nor that ministers are likely to be competent inspectors of sanitary conditions; nor that politicians will do the best service in regulating educational enterprises. To a remarkable extent the work of the Federation was conducted as a business man would manage his commercial enterprises, viz., by securing specialists for special work, and by depending upon them to know their business. ”

“ Nearly every class of employers has its own special organization; the associated press, associated charities, local, state, and national educational associations, and associations of learned societies, show the influence of organization in other departments; nearly every class of employees also has its trade union or mutual benefit association; everywhere, except in the household, mutual interests are drawing together for protection, for consultation, for economy of forces and resources, for a score of reasons, those engaged in the same activities. ”

“ The three groups of propositions stated it is believed will suggest the conclusions that the general economic condition of the country has an appreciable influence on the condition of domestic service, both as regards the character and number of persons engaged and the compensation given for service required. It must follow therefore that many questions must arise connected with the employment, which the individual employer cannot settle from an exclusively personal point of view. ”

“ Government must also address the need to improve its services, not only to individuals, but also to private and Governmental entities to which the agency directly provides significant services. Government managers must learn from what is working in the private sector and apply these best practices to deliver services better, faster, and at lower cost. ”

“ The Civil-Service Society has been imitated by several large associations among the army and navy, the clergy and the Nonconformists, who derive many noteworthy advantages from their coöperation. United, and being able to give life and fire insurance companies large lines of business without the usual expense of solicitation, members are enabled to take out policies in companies of standing at a discount. ”