The Washington times., 1922-08-06

|
is organizatton?"
What are the functions Of an
executive?"
These questions are asked-and
an5wered-by one of the keenest
young business executives in Amer.
lea, Walter 8. Clifford, the thirty
seven.year-old vice president and d.
rector of the great American Tele.
phone & Telegraph Company. Gift
ford's rise has been meteoric. Born
in Salem, Mass, he graduated from
Harvard when only nineteen, finish
ing the course in three years. He
wrote a letter to the General Elec-
trio Company asking for a job, but
! by mistake addressed the envelope
to the Western Electric Company.
1t grabbed him.
He quickly proved a wizard at
figuring, and it wasn't long before
he was given the job of organizing
the statistical department of the
ranked as perhaps the most won
derful statistical department in the
business world. The late Theodore
N. Vail. head of the system. was
as impatient as was the late T.. II.
Hartman with long winded people
and abstruse reports. Young Gif-
ford usually was able to put on
small sheet of paper a few figures
accompanied by compact little
chart or curve, which told Vail ex'
actly how things were going with
the Bell system.
When before America entered the
world war the Government desired
, to take an inventory of the United
States, it was young Clifford, then
only thirty. who was chosen to di-
rect the job and who became execu-
tive manager of the Council of Ma
tional Defense.
| This young man, who earned the
| vice presidency Of one of the greatest
business organizations in the world
when only thirty-four, may be ac-
cepted as knowing something about
the whyfor and wherefor of orga MIA
ton and duties of executives.
Here are some Of the points en-
phasiZed by Mr.. Clifford:
Organization and all the machin-
cry associated with 1t are not ends
in themselves, but tools for the ac-
complishment of some desired result.
! Organization means order. We may,
| OF course, become so fascinated with
the game of organizing that we
overdo il. We may, for instance, be-
| come so cnamored OF organization
/ charts that because a particular set
up, which we know works well and
Is useful, cannot be charted, we
change the organization.
ITO be a good organizer requires
sound judgment. ability clearly to
perceive the goal sought, an ana
, lytical mind and a certain fondness
for order.
Probably no chief executive
should have more than five or
seven people reporting TO him. The
exceptional man might find it quite
possible to carry on his work as a
chief executive with as many as
twelve people reporting to him, or
another man who might also be
successful as an executive might
prefer only three. 1t is always
good plan to have the ideal in mind
means do not try to crowd human
beings into a theatrical scheme
when they do not fit.
"The executive must have SYM
pathy, tact and force, and must
/ know when to be firm and when to
! lie conciliatory. He must not per-
nit himself to be overwhelmed by
! details. He must always watch for
actual results-must know the diff
! ference between real accomplish
ment and making a show Of ac-
complishment.
"An executive generally must be
also an administrator. II" Is ex.
pected in part to make plans and
carry them out on his own initia-
! tive and to assist in determining
broad policies for the business as a
whole He must, therefore, have
initiative. Imagination and judg-
ment. These qualities are inherent:
they cannot be acquired. They can.
however, be improved by training
and experience.
"a good executive should not be
too busy. This is particularly true
| " in addition to being an executive
he is to do some general aGminis-
| trative work.
"A boy asked a man what sort
OF work he did in a company. The
man was a high executive. He re-
piled that people came in to see him,
stated what they wanted to know,
and then he referred them to the
proper department The boy said
he understood perfectly, because in
his fathers business they had an
usher-he sat at the desk out In the
hall-who did just that.
"An executive should always he
available to his immediate subordi-
mates. This Is more important than
that he should he accessible to people
outside of his organization. He
should have some line of contact
with the men below the rank of
those who report Immediately to
him. He should call for information
from anyone in his organization from
time to time-although of course, he
should never issue instructions or
orders except through his immediate