What happens when the Organization Man meets decentralization? Experiences of firms that have decentralized reveal that, while it is no cure-all, it may accelerate the rise of bold, gifted men to the top. Further success may well depend on increased attention to the organization's social and political environment.
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References
1.
MarshallAlfred, Principles of Economics (8th ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1949), p. 139.
2.
For a recent treatment see HarbisonF.MyersC. A., Management in the Industrial World (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959), Part I, particularly Chapter 2.
3.
While a member of the Organizational Behavior Section at Princeton University, the author completed his dissertation entitled “Managerial Decentralization: A Case Study.” Unpublished, 1954
4.
For a recent account of the A. T. & T. story see DimockMarshall E., Administrative Vitality (New York: Harper and Bros., 1959), Chapter 13.
5.
CordinerRalph J., “The Implications of Industrial Decentralization,” Address before the General Management Conference of the American Management Association, New York, October, 1945.
6.
MooreWilbert E., Industrial Relations and the Social Order, rev. ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1951) p. 639.
7.
RiesmanDavid, Selected Essays from Individualism Reconsidered (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1954) pp. 2 and 21.
8.
For example see MarrowAlfred J., Making Management Human (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957) and the more popularized book by WhyteWilliam H.Jr., The Organization Man (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956), particularly Chapters 3–5.
9.
WristonHenry M., “Leadership: Individualists vs. Society,” as reported in the Wall Street Journal, June 1, 1960. For a well-documented review of the concept of individualism in America see WardJohn W., “Individualism Today,”The Yale Review, Spring 1960.
10.
Whyte, see note 8, p. 53.
11.
MarchJames G.SimonHerbert A., Organizations (New York: Wiley, 1958), p. 41.
12.
Ibid., p. 44.
13.
For a description of an ideal leader and follower situation as seen by one human relations practitioner see Marrow, op. cit., pp. 77–78.
14.
MacCulloughAllison V., “In Defense of Decentralization,”Advanced Management, July 1960, p. 7, says that “In many cases … companies jumped onto the decentralization ‘bandwagon’ without understanding the nature of decentralization and without first preparing managers at all levels with an understanding of the concept and of their respective roles and skills required in its implementation.”
15.
Criticism and rebuttals on human relations are summarized by KnowlesWilliam H., “Human Relations in Industry: Research and Concepts,”California Management Review, Fall 1958, pp. 99–101.
16.
Business Week, Aug. 6, 1960, pp. 44–54.
17.
BrechE. F. L., “The Balance Between Centralization and Decentralization in Managerial Control.” in a volume of the same title, KruisingaH. J., ed. (Leiden, Netherlands: H. E. Stenfert Kroeses, 1954), p. 20.
18.
WhyteW. H.Jr., see note 8, p. 58.
19.
WhiteWilliam S., “The Long Retreat,”Harper's Magazine, August 1960, pp. 91–95.
20.
MillerAlexander, Faith and Learning (Association Press, 1960), p. 98.
21.
Wall Street Journal, Oct. 13, 1959.
22.
Quoted in Professional Management in General Electric, Book One, p. 73.
