ABSTRACT
BEFORE describing the output situation in the Bank Wiring Observation Room, it is necessary to describe in some detail the wage incentive system under which this group worked. 1 The men were working under a system of group piecework according to which the entire department was considered a unit for purposes of payment. For each unit of equipment the department assembled and shipped out it was paid a fixed sum. The amount thus earned each week constituted the fund out of which all wages were paid. The greater the number of units completed each week by a given number of employees, the larger would be the sum to be distributed among them.
