DOUGLAS COL! EGE LIBRARY

iv 2

EFFICIENCY CARRIED T00 FAR?

An organization and methods unit visited Queen's College to examine the
efficiency or inefficiency of the working of the administration office.
The visit coincided with one of the concerts of the Royal City Philarmonic
Orchestra, to which the head was in the habit of going.

On this occasion he could not go, and with his usual generosity gave his
ticket to the leader of the 0 and M unit, who had never been to a symphony
concert before. The main work that night was Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.

When he asked his visitor the following morning how he had enjoyed the concert,
the head was surprised to be handed a two-page typewritten report:

"For considerable periods the four oboe players had nothing to do. The number
should be reduced and their work should be more conveniently spread over the
whole concert, thus eliminating peaks of activity.

"All of the 12 violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary
duplication. The staff of this section should be drastically cut, and if a

large volume of sound is really required this could be obtained by means of an
electronic amplifier.

"Much effort was absorbed in the playing of demi-semiquavers. This seems to
us an excessive refinement and it is recommended that all notes be rounded up
to the nearest semiquaver. If this were done it should be possible to use
trainees and lower-grade operators.

"There seems to be too much repetition of some musical passages. No useful
purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage that has already been
handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, the
whole concert time of two hours would have been reduced by twenty minutes and
there would have been no need for an interval. If the composer had attended
to these matters, he would probably have been able to finish his symphony."

Submitted by
Chris Home Douglas

VF