The Functions of the Executive

173 Pages·1956·16.039 MB·English

by  Chester I. Barnard, Kenneth Richmond Andrews

PREFACE
T
HIS book is a revision and expansion of the manuscript
prepared for eight lectures at Lowell Institute in Boston
in November and December 1937, under the same title.
A knowledge of the point of view from which an effort of
this kind developed is sometimes helpful to the reader; so that
it may be of interest if I relate briefly the circumstances which
have led me to write the book. The honor of Dr. A. Lawrence
Lowell's invitation came at a time when belatedly I was reading
Justice Cardozo's Yale Lectures, "The Nature of the Judicial
Process." This conjunction incited an attempt to arrange for
orderly presentation hypotheses which I had gradually con­
structed through several years concerning the executive proc-
.J:Sses, which are specialiied furn:tion,. in what we know as
«organizations." If these functions are to be adequately de­
scribed, the description must be in terms of the nature of or­
ganization itself. I had attempted in the previous year to sketch
a portion of a theory of organization in an effort to stimulate
others to take it up. Except for the interest and encouragement
given me at that time by Dean Wallace B. Donham of the Har­
vard Graduate School of Business Administration and his asso­
ciates -Professors Cabot, Henderson, Mayo, and Whitehead
-I should probably not have attempted an essay of the scope
of this.
Many times I have noted that executives are able to under­
stand each other with very few words when discussing essential
problems of organization, provided that the questions are stated
without dependence upon the technologies of their respective
fields. This is strikingly true, in fact chiefly observable, when
men of radically different fields discuss such questions. It is
not due to any common nomenclature or general study of or-
viii PREFACE PREFACE ]X
ganization systems. Until quite recently there has been little me, the social scientists -from whatever side they approached
literature that could at all serve as a common basis of under­ -just reached the edgtc of organization as I experienced it, and
standing, and it is unknown and not of much interest to most retreated. Rarely did they seem to me to sense the processes of "
major executives. Moreover, if the questions are considered not coordination and decision that underlie a large part at least of
as practical but as theoretical problems, the common understand­ the phenomena they described. More important, there was lack­
ing seems invariably to disappear as quickly as it does if the ing much recognition of forrnalqrganization as a most impor­
discussion relapses into illustrations from their respective tech- tant characteristic of social life, and as being the principal
r nologies. Yet clergymen, military men, government officials, structural aspect of society itself. Mores, folkways, political
structures, institutions, attitudes, motives, propensities, instincts,
university officials, and men of widely diversified businesses, in extenso;
when not conscious of an attempt to discuss organization as were discussed but the bridge between the generali­
such, have seemed to show an understanding-or better, a zations of social study on the one hand and the action of masses j
sense -that is quite similar. To me it has long seemed probable to which they related on the other was not included, I thought. I,
·,that there are universal characteristics of organization that are The search for the universals of organization has been ob­
�ctive understandings, evaluations, concepts, of men skilled in structed, I suspect, by the long history of thought concerning
organizing not only in the present but in past generations, the nature of the state and of the church. The center of this
which have also been perceived by careful and astute observers thought relates to the origin and nature of authority. Its
and students. consequence appears to be a legalism that prevents the accep1,.
But nothing of which I knew treated of organization in a anc, of.essential facts oLsocLiLorganizations._ No theory of
way which seemed to me to correspond either to my experience organization that conflicts with the doctrines of the law can
or to the understanding implicit in the conduct of those recog­ be acceptable unless i_t alsq explains these doctrines. The doc­
nized to be adept in executive practice or in the leadership of trine of states as sources and bases of formal organizations in
organizations. Some excellent work has been done in ..d escrib­ society -the doctrine relevant in legal theory to all corporate
ing and analyzing the supQ.ficial characteristics of organiza­ organizations, such as those of municipalities, universities, busi­
tions. It is important, but like descriptive geography with ness institutions, armies -is inconsistent with the theory that
physics, chemistry, geology, and biology missing. More than all states are based upon organizations. But the latter hypothesis
th·· e topography and c··artography of organization would be cannot be accepted unless it is able to explain both the facts of
n·· e· c··es· s· ar· y . ·to u· nd er stand the e· xecutive functions;a knowledge states and their obvious dominance in some respects over the
}of th·e· ·kinds and. quali·ties of· ·the forces at work and. the manner organizations from which they arise. Thus I found myself in
_Qf .th�i.r o. . p.�rat.io.. n .W:. Qul····d alsob. e .need. ed... an impasse. On one hand, theories which accounted for im­
Furthermore, the sociologists, social psychologists, economists, por_tant aspects of organized society were . unsatisfactory when
the scholars in political science and historians, as I viewed their confronted with theories of the. state. On the other hand, the
work, had described many of the phenomena resulting from latter utterly failed,. even when spun out into their endless
these forces, and had given some explanation of them, but I I applications in judicial decisions, to explain the most elemental
had found little agreement among them. Always, it seemed to experience of organized effort.
l
X PREFACE PREFACE Xl
e c e ro he e c era ch a to rc rh
Th onrfcusione r sulhtingc f mce t as onsid htiocns wFasu nfidrast­ eSue voiecwe, it seee ms cme, cfo cerd-pe aps mc ighrt bae exa­
pmaerntltya l oPvreincoimples boyf tthee Sohcainologyre odf iLnga wo.f E er li he'� h poct d to f er -th nle gleet aof oono ete specei filoc lo al oacg niz ­
a l a e o Th theScJS1a ollf t is ticne and th inediveicdua inc r lr tion t it as th cus ocfa taion in
stuodry is lt hat elr l w arises frome th fler maal ancda lelspor a� the sooi ty wheethl r o onoomi o n t. At leea st thcis I n orssert:
inf ma und astandings ocf cth apeop rs aso i y a eg mrzed, thaugh I ary flu nda ut humcv_ _ tQ b�rliav a_ _effe tiovdy inc hgoarn­
aland that so far s theslea praati es nd ulnadeest ndings r fo mau­ iaz tioncs, noot uc nti Ir eh d m h cloatera releg teod ec nomi t e y
! terd in substaantive we r nd pero morug t d by lawmo akcing uo- nd eacon mi inete stos uto a 'sea ndory -th uogh inr dispenasable
thol rities the "l w" is _mcoely th fo me11elaticoo11. Its s ur e is n et -apl e did I b gin ot nderst nd reganihzaati ns o huom nc ber­
'\ ruoe se, legiosrl�gta�n�i�zse;d or aurts, haw vcro nstitu1ted,_ buat . thu h viora ino them. cI da not moeana lme el ey t t noan-ecoen mi o ­
I pe pl as h in f milies nd e momeumates ofa v r'.o s ganairz ati on s o- seu oh s thae p alitico, thr adrucationrl, thcereligious
kinds. Even thoru g hish treatment b v rdr wn,e s V mho- - ce cls t b f unedr, cnd re f peim y impo tan h; f1I1_ean •'
-g;;d�ffc thionkes, o hois sc eame bhe but aon aclteornativ to ot ehr spe iofi alcl y_ withe ref eenee toa_ businroscs organizatieons t at neocn-.
juraristi tohe ri s,h as Pchunde s ays in isa _intrhdu ti nea to th� Engleis econcmair motiv s, eintar sts, nad pr resses, ea s w ll oas the c oor-·1
t cnslati n of E rli , eth f cth remems t at at l st throisa csthu d nat nomi , l e funadam net lc oin behr vioe f oma th boaarldsa f dire tcs
re orgnaizedc oas coempet nt ine isc fiald ghiaave s ean app c th t _to the ast .m n.e Thc ntraey vai w ies lmoost o lw ys impli it
is b o dly hnes ist ent with ,th fahtrs s Ia ve axpenoern ced them. a�d frequently xpli it ionl thcast tema nts n t rney of bulsiness
1·c Nceext to t r qau satioon''of auot ol ity acse ce use fe oonhfues ion _men ab�t oHa ali-;;-r men, cp ritci i ns, st tesmen, p orf ssionea e�cen, "
oenlo rneing o ge_cniz ticn , hIo w u d pl e athccourrs af t del£- elducrtors, nd even eo f ahu h ministers. Ash onea ree scuoltr,r eff tive
va p1Ie1 e11ta 0Le a911o01I1i th uecght in tch hlast oentu y a nd ha h� r eadhe sahip has toc b eb seda one intuhietioncso tract cto, neot­
- nhd cth xe gglr ti n of t e onoemi op cs es efo human be av10 wiht st nding deo trinosc thl t deny t ir reehtnoess. Very ft n,
wc i eh teh earya formulatei on of conamiracth ry m de f�ar taoco Ia t inko, wc e att mpt s ia inhtagrcation by me te ads imhaproseed byr a
oonv nai nt. Gcr nthincgh the cuatlility cof bstc tineg rfrom soe1 l e- ef lcsee l glil teo the very limit t t ommon s ns nd d xpe i­
-ti n th et arspee to w ic we c l "e ocnomi ," tha elati:ehl y dev )­ n hwiap rmlei t. l e e ce a e e
oupcecde thoo i s seeffe tiv ly eonestru tede b y Ac?cm Scmit rancde heis T e ot ngibh reesut ro f tlhis xpheer icon nd thes beli fs is
s ss rs decpr escsed the intacr st in teh spe ifi soe ialh p oe ass s _thhi_:cLbQ_ ko,_'f e en ed foe it iecs ina t hnfusieon and unccehrt ainty
writhain owhri h onomic cf torsc are me erely on pcas , ned wali h hne w att ned tlh sucbje t,r cnd et aec ext ent oto whi espe­
i g e tly eve empohasized ee onomcoi int r s:s. This w�s eo�joinurde cei ly tc puarrpos fue aned onstoru taiv r ativiti s f_meniln pgl s­
we ith oan c xcluosri n of ad quate c nhs1oderat10n ooof emotivus lm rpa nt seo ietay e gov rcn d by f mol o g niczeations. eIt arslo aies
conami ath erey,a a mcaterialisti lp irl osopehy rc t cde in_1 tiitoa i n­ in ther eel trioens o_fs1h1 hch o_ ,ganai_zc,iti nes to sooi tya in rgane a , ond
islmac, nd hp velenc e aof highy e r n ous on hpt0ens � thel in cth rdag e s to w i the tivitoi hs of f rm l oeg nizlati nos,
p e of t e intcallle tur lc, ase distingou!shl ed frao1;11 t e mot10na as oantl stedr withe inset itutiocns anad t rer aebsetractgcneraitiees f,,
aned p,h ysiologi , ep o ess sh ei nc sre1a beh vh0ro. Alla of thha.i s soci l ife, p ovid th stru ture nd p oc ss s of so ial syst ms.·
mmaannti asnad ns"ti lel mcaonsn ino tmicucra yenirt gnrth aouf g et wnf omnny--, tect onOffilC
l r e o r a e
a a man" Formaly this wohk is diveid d int four pa ts, buot in sens
ppend ges. it consists of_wt o s o1:t_ tr atises. _Qn_e_ is an exp sition of a
xii PREFA CE xiii
PREFACE
expectation that human behavior in society can be anything less
theory of cooperation and organization and constitutes the first
than the most complex study to which our minds may be
half of the book. The second is a study oJ tile £_unctions _and of _
applied. H wever desirable clarity and simplicity of statement,
the_1ncthods of operation of executives in formal organizations. �
1t 1s not des1rable to underestimate either the difficulties of ob­
These two subjects, which may be conveniently distinguished
servation and experiment or those of constructing hypotheses
for some purposes, are in concrete action and experience in­
that may prove helpful. NQr sho11ld we be misled, as I think
separable. It is possible that I have not adequately taken into
n�arlyall of us are, by the relative ease with which �o;t-�f us
account that this is not obvious to many and that for this reason
manage to adjust ourselves to our worlds. We have less und�r­
I have not made sufficiently clear the unity of the whole book.
Indeed the quite different characters of the two halves of the standing o� what we do, how we do it and why we do it, than
does the pitcher of a baseball -and for his case in the whole
book may contribute to a false sense of the separateness of the
wo ld there is not as yet the anatomical, physiological, neuro­
two subjects. �
logical, and psychological knowledge -and perhaps not the
In the first half I have attempted to compress so far as per­
mathematical technique -necessary to explain what he does in
tinent all of the knowledge which has come to my mind from
seconds without ever having heard these names.
the sciencesccmcerning the conditi,pnsx_LsDCi.albi:h;i_Tior. Jt will
However, some of those whose present interest in funda­
occur to the reader, as it has to me, that this field might well
mental theory is limited may find it desirable to begin with the
be left to those who have the requisite scientific experience .
second half of the book at Chapter _:le This is the exposition in
supported by adequate knowledge and appropriate tec\miques
I' very general terms of the functions, processes, essential prob-
I of scholarship. The important justification for my effor,\: is that _
_!ems, of the execut_1ve or of leadership of organizations and of
this knowledge, for the presenLp11rp_QSe__!_, must be "$ltecLID­ -
t-erms-o£:=ganiz,atio_11._ It is in this field that for thirty years I the manageme:'t of cooperative systems. It is based chiefly upon
personal expenence and observation, although in formulating
have had intimate and continuous experience. Those who
the material the theory of the first half of the book and the aid
possess the general knowledge and the scientific training re­
of other books have been indispensable.
quired usually do not have such experience.
I am aware of some of the faults in this presentation of the
Many of the difficulties the reader may encounter in the first
subject which I have been unable to correct. Considering the
half of the book are not, however, entirely due to the pioneer
fact that I suppose it to be in some respects new it is deficient
character of the effort. They are inherent in the complexity of
in clarity and illustrations, especially since it is ;ddressed to so
concrete cooperative systems. P. W. Bridgman notes that "the
many groups of widely different attitudes and experience. Un­
totality of situations with which we are confronted, including
fortunately, most illustrations from modern experience involve
society in its economic, political, esthetic, and religious aspects,
technologies that require extensive explanation. The switch­
is enormously more complex than the situations presented by
board example given in Chapter V will make this evident.
any well defined scientific activity such as physics or chemis­
Moreover, this treatment is incomplete and unfinished in many
try." 1 It seems to me quite in order to cease encouraging the
respects; many years and many men would be required' I think'
.
1 P. W. Bridgman, The Intelligent Individual and Soc£ety (New York: The to complete or fimsh such a study.
Macmillan Co.1 1938), p.IO .
xiv
PREFACE
sense
Still more do I regret the failure to convey the of organ­ CONTENTS
ization, the dramatic and aesthetic feeling that surpasses the pos­
sibilities of exposition, which derives chiefly from the intimate
PART I
· habitualin.terestecl_ex�rience. It is evident that many lack an (. o /l.t)OIZ.hT {;
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING eeeF!lM'ffli E
interest in the science of organization because they are oblivious
SYSTEMS
to the arts of organizing, not perceiving the significant elements. I.
They miss the structure of the symphony, the art of its com­ I. INTRODUCTION • • . 3
position, and the skill of its execution, because they cannot hear II, THE INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION 8
the tones.
III. PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS IN co0PERATIVE SYS-
Copies of my Cyrus Fogg Brackett Lecture given at Princeton TEMS • • • • , . . , , . . 22
University on March ro, 1936 were distributed to the audience
IV. PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS IN SYSTEMS OF co0PERA-
at the Lowell Institute primarily as an aid to understanding the TION , . . , , , , , , , •
_present Chapters XIII and XIV. It is reprinted here as an Ap­
Y. THE PRINCIPLES OF co0PERATIVE ACTION
pendix for the same purpose; and because in general it explains
some aspects of the behavior of executives, especially their men­ PART II
tal processes, not sufficiently treated in the main text.
THE THEORY AND STRUCTURE OF FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
For patient and effective assistance, I am greatly indebted
VI. THE DEFINITION OF FORMAL ORGANIZATION 65
to Major Edward S. Johnston, U.S.A., who carefully read the
VII. THE THEORY OF FORM.AL ORGANIZATION 82
earlier manuscripts and gave me both useful criticism and much
illustrative material. I am especially grateful to Lawrence J. VIII. THE STRUCTURE OF COMPLEX FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS 96
Henderson, Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry
IX. INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR RELATION TO FORMAL OR-
in Harvard University, who at great expense of time has given GANIZATIONS "4
me invaluable advice concerning many questions of method,
PART III
and indispensable aid and encouragement regarding the
exposition as a whole. THE ELEMENTS OF FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
It is also a pleasure to record my appreciation of the inde­
x. THE BASES AND KINDS OF SPECIALIZATIONS , 127
fatigable assistance of my secretary, Miss Lillian Whitney,
who not only effectively produced the successive editions of the XI. THE ECONOMY OF INCENTIVES 139
manuscript, but so efficiently organized the numerous details XII. THE THEORY OF AUTHORITY r6i
of my affairs that this study was feasible. C.I B.. 'XIII, THE ENVIRONMENT OF DECISION > 185
South Orange, New Jersey 1/ ..
July 151,9 38. XIV, THE THEORY OF OPPORTUNISM 200
xvi CONTENTS
PART IV
THE FUNCTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONS IN COOPERATIVE
SYSTEMS
XV. THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS 215
XVI. THE EXECUTIVE PROCESS
XVII, THE NATURE OF EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITY •
XVIII. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX PART I
MIND IN EVERYDAY AFFAIRS • • • • • • • • 299 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING
'
I OOOPERATIVI!: SYSTEMS
INDEX . , . . , , , • , , , • , • . . . . . . . . 323 eo,:2..po-e..�,r:r
!
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
W
ITH all the thought that has been turned upon th,
For the efficiency of an army consists partly in the order
unrest of the present day in the literature of social re­
and partly in the general; but chiefly in the latter, because
he does not depend upon the order, but the order depends form one finds practically no reference to ,fo_r111al _or_ ganization
upon him. All things, both fishes and birds and plants, are as the concrete social process by which_social action is largely
ordered together in some way, but not in the same way; a_ ccomplished. This concrete process is ignored almost com­
and the system is not such that there is no relation between
pletely, even as a factor in any social condition or situation. For
one thing and another. There is a definite connexion.
example, in the current literature on labor conditions, policies,
Everything is ordered together to one end; but the arrange­
ment is like that in a household, where the free persons have organizations, etc., almost nothing is said, by any of the various
the least liberty to act at random, and have all or most of groups discussing the subject, about the necessities of the organ­
their actions preordained for them, whereas the slaves and ization of work, or about the executive functions and their
animals have little common responsibility and act for the
organization aTsh ree lSatceiden tcoe ito. f ISf oocniael eAxadmjuinstems eSnirt ,J osiah Stamp's
most part at random. � ARISTOTMLeEta,p hysics
recent book, a stimulating
and penetrating inquiry into the causes of the disturbance of
social equilibrium, one will find scarcely a line to indicate the
I, existence of formal organizations, despite the author's active
connection with them; nor a single suggestion regarding the
study of them as one of the important fields of scientific
exploration looking toward the more apt adjustment of society
to changing conditions.
To me, this failure of attention is like leaving a vital organ
out of anatomy or its functions out of physiology. Careful
inspection of the observable actions of_ human b,ings in our
society -their movements, their speech, and the thought and
emotions evident from their action and speech -shows that
many and sometimes mostof them are determined oi directed
by their connection with formal organizations. This is most
obviously true of the actions of persons as employees and house­
wives, which occupy perhaps one quarter of their time, but
COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS
4
INTRODUCTION
1 5
most persons in their "non-working' hours are members or
effort is normally successful, that failure of organization js
participants in other organizations. Including families, busi­
abnormal. This illusion from some points of view is even use­
nesses of more than one person, various municipal corporations,
ful, with considerable caution, in many of our important affairs,
autonomous or semi-autonomous governments and branches of
at least under what we call "normal" conditions.
government, associations, clubs, societies, fraternities, educa­
But infact, fillCJ:s""fol_coiiperation in or by formal organiza­
tional institutions, religious groups, etc., the number of formal
tions is the abnorma1, not the normal, condition. What are ob­
oraanizations in the United States is many millions, and it is
served from day to day are the successful survivors among
po�sible that the number is greater than that of the total popu­
innumerable failures. The organizations commanding sustained
lation.1 Probably few persons belong to less than five or ten
attention, almost all of which are short-lived at best, are the
such organizations, and many belong to fifty or more. Their
exceptions, not the rule. It may be said correctly that modern
individual conduct is dominated or qualified or conditioned by
civilization is one characterized by the large residue_ of organ­
these relationships directly. Moreover, there are in a short
izations that ar� in e:.Cistence at any given time; b1,1t this does not
period of a day or a week many millions of formal organiza­
imply that the particular organizations of that time have been
tions of short duration, a few hours at most, which are not
or will continue to be_in existence long. Similarly, it is recog­
named and are seldom thought of as organizations. nized that the existence of a population does not necessarily
For the present, formal organizations may be described rather
imply longevity, but merely the balancing of constantly re­
than carefully defined. The more important of them are :isso:
curring deaths by births.
ciations of cooperative efforts to which it is possible and cus­ Thus most cooperation fails in the attempt, or dies in infancy, ..r
tomary to give definite names, that have officers or recognized o_r is short-lived. In our western civilization only one formal
leaders, that have reasons for existence that may be approxi­ organization, the Roman Catholic Church, claims a substantial
mately stated-such as governments, government departments, age. A few universities, a very few national governments or
churches, universities, labor units, industrial corporations, sym- formally organized nations, are more than two hundred years
phony orchestras, football teams. old. Many municipalities are somewhat older, but few other
1 Formal organization is that kind of coiipgation among men corporate organizations have existed more than one hundred
: that is conscious, delibernte, purposeful. Such cooperation is years. Failure to cooperate, failure of cooperation, failure of
omnipresent and inescapable nowadays, so that it is usually organization, disorganization, disintegration, destruction of or­
contrasted only with "individualism," as if there were no other ganization -and reorganization -are characteristic facts of ·
process of cooperation. Moreover, much of what we regard as human history.
reliable, foreseeable, and stable is so obviously a result of for­ This is hardly disputable. Explanations of the fact usually
mally organized effort that it is readily believed that organized make reference to the perversity of human nature, to egoism,
1T he calculation of the possibilities is merely a complex exercise in permuta­ to the combative instinct, to "false" economic systems, or to the
tions and combinations, and would produce quantities of astronomical magni­ struggle for food and the limits of its supply. More specific
tude. A faint indication is given on page 108 when only very small groups are
under consideration. explanations refer to faults of structure -"defective constitu­
tions" - or to bad functioning, lack of solidarity or spirit, poor
'!;
6 COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION 7
leadership or management. Any of these weaknesses may be industrial or commercial organizations. On the contrary, all
present, butat root the cause of the instability and limited dura­ classe�ou112es_gf_fQ rnrnL 9rgsn1_ iiations _are _ vvithi11 the_ _ sc_ope ·oI
_tion of formal organizations lies in the forces outside. These _ob_servation for gu_r_purnoses._ The nature and processes of such
forces both furnish the material which are used by organizations organizations determine what the executive functions are and
_
and limit their action. The survival of an organization depends how they are to be performed. Although we shall have most
: upon the maintenance of an i,_q11ilibr_il!m of complex character in mind major or important organizations, there are also many
I in a continuously fluctuating environment of pliysic�l, biological, other formal organizations of little importance or duration
/ and social materials, elements, and forces, which calls for re­ which also require consideration.
, adiustment of processes internal to the organization. We shall Before these processes are discussed, however, some time must
be concerned with the nature of the external conditions to be given to analyzing and defining the terms involved. Accord­
which adjustment must be made, but the center of our interest ingly, beginning with a section of preliminary considerations
is the processes by which it is accomplished. concerning cooperative systems, the first half of this book
The flJ_nctions of the executive with which the last part of will be devoted to the development of a theory of formal organ­
this treatise is concerned are those of control, management, ization in the attempt to frame a conceptual scheme which may
supervision, administration, in formal organizations. These be_ a useful tool in the_ study or discussion of the problems of
functions are exercised not merely by high officials in such or­ concrete organizations. With this fundamental scheme clearly
ganizations but by alUliose who are in positions of control of set forth, the se_c:ond half of the book will take up in greater
whatever degree. In the large-scale and complex organizations, detail the elements of formal organizatiQn, the relatiQn to them
the assistants of executives, though not themselves executives, of the executive functions, and finally the place qf the executive
are occupied in the work of these functions. Also in many in- functions in the survival of cooperation.
stances the responsibility for authoritative decisions is formally
lodged in organized groups, such as legislative bodies, boards,
committees, and then these groups may be said to have execu­
tive functions. On the other hand it not infrequently occurs that
high officials in organizations, though known as executives
and occupying important positions, exercise few or unimportant
and incidental executive functions; and at least some work of
all executives is not executive in the sense which concerns us.
It will be noted, then, that the functions to which this study
_ relates are_o11ly roug_li_ly st1g_gested by the predominant occupa­
_tion of most persons who are called executives, and that we
are not to be restricted by conventional titles or bv special
_definitions of the word "executive."
Neither are we to be restricted to the executive functions in
THE INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION
9
CHAPTER II
On the other hand, when the attention transfers to the organ­
ization as a whole, or to remote parts of it, or to the integration
of efforts accomplished by coordination, or to persons regarded
I THE INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION in groups, then the individual loses his preeminence in the
situation and something else, non-personal in character, is
HAV E found it impossible to go far in the study of organ­ treated as dominant. If in such situations we ask "What is an
izations or of the behavior of people in relation to them individual?" "What is his nature?" "What is the character of
without being confronted with a few questions which can be his participation in this situation?" we find wide disagreement
simply stated. For example: "What is an individual?" "What and uncertainty. Much of the conflict of dogmas and of stated
do we mean by a person?" "To what extent do people have a ianterests to be observed in the political field -the catchwords
power of choice or free will?" The temptation is to avoid such re "individualism," "collectivism," "centralization," "laissez­
a r a a
difficult questions, leaving them to the philosophers and scien­ f i e," "soci lism," "st tism," "fascism," "liberty," "freedom,"
tists who still debate them after centuries. It quickly appears, "regimentation," "discipline" -and some of the disorder in the
however, that even if we avoid answering such questions industrial field, I think, result from inability either intuitively
definitely, we cannot evade them. We answer them implicitly or by other processes to reconcile conceptions of the social and1
in whatever we say about human behavior; and, what is more the personal positions of individuals in concrete situations.
important, all sorts of people, and especially leaders and execu­ These considerations suggest that in a broad inquiry into the
tives, act on the basis of fundamental assumptions or attitudes nature of organizations and their functions, or in an effort to
regarding them, although these people are rarely conscious state the elements of the executive processes in organizations, a
that they are doing so. For example, when we undertake to first step should be to set forth the position or understanding
persuade others to do what we wish, we assume that they are or postulates especially concerning the man, the "individual,"
able to decide whether they will or not. When we provide for and the "person," and related matters. Without such a pre­
education or training we assume that without them people can­ liminary survey it is quite certain that there will be unnecessary
not do certain things, that is, that their power of choice will obscurity and unsuspected misunderstanding. This does not
be more limited. When we make rules, regulations, laws - mean that I shall attempt either a philosophic or a scientific
which we deliberately do in great quantities -we assume gen­ inquiry. It does mean that I must present a construction -a
erally that as respects their subject matter those affected by description or definite scheme -to which consistent reference
them are governed by forces outside themselves. is implied throughout this book.
The significance of these observations may be made clearer Accordingly, in this chapter, I shall brieflydiscuss the follow­
by noting the extreme differences of conception regarding the ing subjects: I, The status of individuals and the properties of
"individual" -to take one word -in discussions of coopera­ persons generally; II, the method of treating individuals and
tion and of organizations and their functions. On the one hand, persons in this book; III, certain characteristics of personal be­
the discrete, particular, unique, singular individual person with havior outside cooperative systems; and IV, the meaning of
"effectiveness" and "efficiency" in personal behavior.
a name, an address, a history, a reputation, has the attention.
I