PERIODIC AUDIT OF PROGRESS J 
some instances the difficulty is due to lack of authority on the part of 
the committees of original jurisdiction or of minor officials to obtain 
the information necessary for proper adjustment. In other instances 
it may be due to reluctance to assume authority which has been 
granted. The figures alone serve merely as warning signals and must 
be interpreted in the light of intimate knowledge of the conditions. 
Prompt adjustment, as we have said, is not sufficient; the adjust- 
ment must be satisfactory in the sense that it is both in accord with 
sound principles of management and acceptable to the majority of 
employees. Adjustments may meet both of these tests without being 
satisfactory in the sense of being entirely acceptable to the employees 
who have brought the complaints. The complaining employees may 
be “cranks,” in which case no adjustment which is not entirely in line 
with their personal desires is likely to be acceptable to them. Sta- 
tistical data cannot adequately measure the satisfactoriness of adjust- 
ments, but there is one sort of quantitative evidence which may throw 
light upon the matter. If particular types of complaints are continu- 
ally recurring, there is reason to believe that the adjustments effected 
have not gone to the root of the problem, but have been either wholly 
one-sided or compromises serving simply to placate at the time. 
Where this appears to be the situation, a thorough-going analysis of 
the adjustments involved should be made to determine the difficulty, 
ATTITUDE OF MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES TOWARD THE PLAN 
Of more basic significance than the adequacy of the procedure is 
the question of attitude both of employees and of management toward 
the plan. So far as the management’s attitude is concerned, quanti- 
tative data are of little value. Honest answers to certain questions 
which we are listing below will indicate, however, whether the man- 
agement is doing its pa: « toward making the plan effective. Each of 
these should be carefully considered: 
1. Do executives consult the employees’ committees regarding changes likely 
to affect employees before putting them into effect, or take action 
independently and await results? 
2. Do management representatives attend meetings of joint conferences 
regularly and promptly? 
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