THE  MEASURE  OF  COMPARATIVE  PRODUCTIVENESS  3II
money  because  money  is  the  universal  language  into
which  all  production  is  translated.  The  total  piece-work
or  bonus  earnings  (column  3)  divided  by  the  number  of
hours  worked  (column  4)  gives  the  average  earnings  per
hour  (column  5).  Since  these  earnings  stand  for  a  certain
amount  of  good  work  done,  this  hourly  average  is  the
index  to  the  worker’s  productiveness.  However,  in  order
to  compare  his  productiveness  with  that  of  others,  it  is
necessary  to  obtain  the  hourly  average  or  rate  of  production ­
  for  the  entire  group.  This  is  done  by  adding  the
hourly  average  of  all  individuals  engaged  in  the  same
kind  of  work  (see  column  1,  kind  of  work),  and  dividing
it  by  the  number  of  individuals  at  work.  The  group
average  (column  6)  therefore  represents  the  standard  by
which  the  comparative  productiveness  of  individuals  may
be  judged.  When  the  hourly  average  of  an  individual  is
higher  than  the  group  average  for  a  given  week  or  series
of  weeks,  it  is  obvious  that  the  productiveness  of  that
individual  is  high  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  majority
of  the  group.
This  method  of  computing  the  group  average  and  using
it  as  a  standard  for  comparison  has  certain  very  desirable
features.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  based  upon  the  actual
production  of  the  workers  engaged.  Instead  of  bringing
in  a  fixed  and  more  or  less  theoretical  standard  of  what
all  workers  ought  to  do,  it  compares  the  individuals  of  a
group  with  each  other  on  the  basis  of  what  they  are  doing.
Thus,  it  is  just  as  effective  in  separating  the  sheep  from
the  goats  as  the  most  rigid  method  imaginable,  without
having  even  a  semblance  of  unfairness  or  pressure.  Secondly, ­
  such  a  standard  varies  with  the  varying  conditions
of  production.  Every  manager  knows  that  production
is  not  a  smooth  and  orderly  process  at  all  times.  There