ABSTRACT
The amount of variation in effort which is possible differs from job to job and depends on type and organisation of work. Thus the concept of a fair day's work is an ethical concept concerned with setting a standard for work conduct. By contrast, other workers in the same shop considered group loyalty a cardinal virtue and adhered to group norms of output. Insofar as management's conception of a reasonable day's work is based on past performance or on work measurement standards, it is liable to be conservative. Management often attempts to achieve this by the use of financial incentives. In return for wage-concessions workers may agree to raise their standards of effort. In a dynamic situation, effort-bargaining is a continuous process requiring constant managerial attention. In my incentives enquiry it was admitted by all management representatives that there is an element of subjective judgement in work measurement.
