rk in several hundred other employment departments, large and
small, where the Blackford plan has not been adopted in its entirety. The
plan referred to was formulated in 1912. The fact that this method has
been in actual commercial use under widely varying conditions and in the
hands of many different individuals, for more than three years, is, on the
face of it, a reasonably fair presumption of its reliability. At any rate,
it is fully as convincing as Dean Schneider's purely negative "proof."

The question remains as to whether the commercial applications of this
method are successful; whether the results obtained are reliable; whether
the inefficiencies and losses, to which we have referred in previous
chapters, are appreciably remedied by its use.

SOME PRACTICAL RESULTS

In one of the first organizations where the Blackford Employment Plan was
installed there were employed about 2,500 men and women. At the time of
the adoption of this plan the various foremen and superintendents in the
plant were hiring about 6,600 new employees each year in order to maintain
their regular working force of 2,500. Within six months new employees were
being taken on at the rate of only 4,080 a year--and this notwithstanding
the fact that many changes were necessitated by sweeping reorganization
and adoption of new methods of manufacture in the industry.

Excellent results were obtained in reassignment of executives as the
result of a careful analysis of those holding positions when the
department was installed. One executive instantly recognized as being
clever, designing, and essentially dishonest was replaced by another of a
reliable, efficient type. Under the new executive, the department more
than doubled its output, at the same time cutting the payroll of the
department down to 43 per cent of its former size. Still another
executive, holding a position of highest trust and responsibility, was
reported upon adversely after analysis by the employment department. An
investigation made as the result of this report revealed serious
irregularities covering a long period of months. Another man properly
qualified for the position was selected by the department, and immediately
began to effect noticeable savings, as well as greatly increasing the
value of the department's work in the institution. Still another executive
selected by this department increased the output of one of the shops by
120 per cent, with a very slight increase in