Portal:Capitalism/Selected quote/31
| “ | With clergyman, and (to some extent) the teacher , recognize "man" as an individual, rather than as a statistical unit, in the major aspects of their work.
I am not making a plea for " collectivism." The extreme emphasis upon the individual in doctrinarie argument against various aspects of collective interest and action seems to me even less realistic than the reverse emphasis upon organization and collectivism. Not only socially and politically but also economically, men are more interdependent, at least in western civilization, than ever before. By reason of organized cooperation in innumerable ways, both population and the standard of living, and perhaps even the quality of living, have been greatly increased. Without such organization in society, retrogression is inevitable. Recognition of these facts, however, does not require a denial of the coexistence of the individual. It is individuals who are being organized, and the effectiveness of the group depends not only upon the scheme of grouping and function, but upon the quality of the elementary units. It is impossible in practice to disregard either aspect very far; but in general our condition of mind, our attention and interest in the problems of organization, dispose us constantly to a one-sided approach.
|
” |
| — Chester Barnard (1886 – 1961) Organization and Management: Selected Papers , 1947 |