SCIENCE IN BUSINESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18320, 10 August 1921, Page 8

SCIENCE IN BUSINESS

OPERATION' OF NATURAL LAW. ADDRESS RV MR W. ERASED. There was a large attendance of business people it the Overseas Club Room last evening, when Mr W. Fraser, South Island director of tlie Business .Science Circle .Movement and president of the Canterbury Business Science Club, delivered an address entitled “ Natural Law in the Business and Professional World.” The address was a well thought out discussion of the everyday problems encountered in business, and the speaker made the various aspects of his subject both interesting and informative. He dealt with the matter under its four phases—namely, production, distribution, consumption, and supply and demand. Mr J;. R. Fairbaim, who occupied the chair, said he took it as a very great compliment to the Dunedin Study Circle to see that so many persons had accepted its invitation to bo present. In his opinion there was no one who was so well qualifield to speak to them on the subject selected for discussion that evening as Mr Fraser, who was probably known to many of those present. Proceeding, Mr Fairbairn said that although the business science movement was of very recent date in this dominion there were now more than 1600 active members closely engaged in the study of Sheldonism throughout New Zealand at the present- time. In Christchurch a number of students had completed their course and a post-graduate club had been formed. With regard to Sheldonism, it provided a course of training for young and old alike, and for people in all classes of employment, thus fulfilling what had for many years been a long felt want in the business .world. Sheldon did not undertake to teach a man his business, but ho did succeed in making him a better all-round man. He had much pleasure in calling upon Mr Fraser to deliver his address. —(Applause.) Devoting his attention first of all to the operation of natural law in the business world, Mr Fraser defined law as a rule of conduct or beintr established by an authority able to enforce its will. While it was sometimes possible, he said, to violate a man-made law and escape the penalties, any violation of Nature’s laws had to be paid for, the measure of the penalty being commensurate with the degree of deviation from»the straight and narrow path proscribed by that law. Of all natural laws having a bearing on human relationship there was one law universal in its application and amounting indeed to a fundamental principle—the principle of service. It mattered not what department of human activity was concerned, this law imposed on all the necessity for conformance to its dictates. From, the highest to the lowest we might estimate from the success attending its activities the degree of service given by it, whether institution or individual. In snort, service was cause ; reward was efi'ect. _ Continuing, the speaker said that in any scientmc analysis of business it was necessary that we should determine the various factors involved. Business being busy-ness it was necessary tnat wo should include natural laws not only to production, but also to distribution, which together with consumption wont to create the law ot supply and demand. Any violation of the law of production had an important inUuence on the* law of supply and demand. Likewise any variation in the laws governing distnoution allected supply and demand, dometimes these influences neutralised each other, and because cognisance was taken of the variations likely to result from disorganisation, of say, the law of production, and at tlie same time there was a failure fully to appreciate the significance of a disorgam sation of the laws relating to distribution, grave and costly errors resulted. Continuing, Mr Fraser took the case of the dominion at the present time. Reasoning, and correctly, that the wastage of war would result in decreased production, rainy business institutions estimated that there would be a shortage of commodities, for a considerable period after the conclusion of the war. While this was sound reasoning, so far as it wont, it did not take into consideration this further fact disorganisation in the ordinary avenue of distribution, which by curtailing the markets had more than neutralised the influence of decreased production in so far as it had a bearing on this country. Further, if by any means there should be established a stabilisation of credits and consequent reorganisation of the means of distribution, the shortage, resulting from decreased production not only during the. war period, but during the long and bitter economic war that had been raging in the older lands, would yet bo telt in the world s markets. In fact, there was still a world shortage of commodities having a service rehdenng value, and it was only the fact of circumscribed markets that had created a temporary surplus. And it was perhaps pertinent to remark here that raw materials, while of primary importance and essential, were of relatively small value compared to the value of the finished commodity In every business, great or small, proceeded Mr Fraser, there were four natural divisions, namely—Executive, finance, producing, sale:*. The function of an executive wts to organise, deputise, and supervise the qualities requisite being a constructive imagination and ability to discern a need; ability to discover, purchase, and co-ordin-ate forces that directed into the right channels would have a service rciioenug value either to the world at large or to a particular community or class of pcopie. it further culled for ability to choose tlie right men to act as loaders, and required llmt there should be ability to supervise, ensuring a maximum oSf, result irom a minimum of expenditure in time and money. This meant efficiency. Tkb function of the finance department was to procure on adequate amount of capital and disburse same in the most efficient manner. Money was essential to the conduct of every enterprise and had to be found either as the capital of an individual or sharonolders. The use of additional moneys might be had by raising a loan, say on mortgage, or by overdraft, or accepting moneys on deposit. The ptoper caro ot accounts, credits, and collections, formed a very important part of the ivork involved in procuring money. In the producing department were raw materials, analysis, design, labour, imports, markets, to name just a few; and in the sales department the study of markets, one’s own and one’s /competitor's goods, the customer, human nature, business psychology, and ail the multifarious factors falling naturally under these heaxlings, and in which a knowledge of human nature played by far the most important part. In each department the all-important factor was man; and those competent to form an opinion told us that success in business consisted in fiO per cent, knowledge of human nature and 10 per cent, knowledge of things. Emphasising the importance of the human factor in rendering service, the speaker went on to state that man had developed only 10 per cent, of his brain areas as compared with 30 per cent, of his physical, these proportions being given as the finding of the late Dr James, who claimed to have discovered the facts by test. Allowing that man was something above the average, it would be readilv seen that there-was ample scope for increasing the efficiency value of the individual without unduly impairing his vitality, the important thing being to adopt some scientific method of developing the seeds of power which nature had planted in the physical and mental soil of man. That the method employed by the Sheldon School of Business Science was an eminently practical one was abundantly evidenced by the growth of the Business Science Circle Movement throughout the English-speaking parts of the world. (Applause.) The speaker was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for his highly interesting address. This was carried by hearty acclamation.