THE INFLUENCE OF THE QUALITY OF SUPERVISION ON THE PRODUCTION OF MEN ENGAGED ON MODERATELY HARD PHYSICAL WORK

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Abstract
The performances of two gangs of Natives were examined to determine the influence of the quality of European supervision on the mean performance of a gang. One gang, working under a European supervisor, produced close to their maximum with a fairly close scatter of individual performances about the mean for the gang. The other, under a different European supervisor, produced well below their maximum with a large scatter about the lower mean for the gang. At weekly intervals the two gangs were interchanged between the two stopes, with the European supervisors remaining in their respective stopes, and at the end of seven weeks of interchange both gangs were producing at near maximum level. When the interchange was stopped and both gangs returned to their original supervisors the mean performance of the gangs returned to their original levels. The effect of good quality leadership on men performing manual work is thus shown to increase the levels of performance of all the members of the gang towards a maximum which is set by mentioned physiological limits.