Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 01 (of 10)American School of Correspondence
General
Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 01 (of 10)
American School of Correspondence
Accounting; Business; Commerce
=10. Universal Application of Organization Principles.= When we go into
all of the ramifications of business we find many establishments where
minor variations of our plan of organization appear necessary, but in
the final analysis, the fundamentals prove to be the same.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Chart of Working Authorities in a Trading
Business]
Reduced to its simplest form, we will suppose the business under
consideration to be a small retail establishment conducted by two
partners. No thought has been given to the principles of organization,
yet they are applied in that little store just as surely as in the
immense manufacturing plant.
Ask any commercial salesman calling on the firm who is the man to
see regarding the introduction of a new line of goods, and he will
probably answer, "Mr. Jones is the man to see; he does the buying."
With no thought of organization, the owners of this little business
realize that it is best for one man to do the buying. Perhaps the
other may inspect samples, his opinion may be asked, he may even place
an occasional order, but it is not the rule of the establishment. By
placing the buying in the hands of one partner, confusion is avoided.
He can keep in closer touch with prices, and the results are far more
satisfactory.
Advancing to the larger retail business of the department store,
whether the general store of the small town or the big store of
the city, we find a different problem. Here the buying is further
specialized, for one man buys for one, or at most three or four
departments. The same men act as sales managers and buyers in the
departments for which they are responsible. The manager of a department
in a big store is selected as much for his ability as a buyer as for
his salesmanship. But we do not get away from fundamental principles,
for in buying and selling the manager is performing two entirely
separate and distinct functions.
No matter what the business, we find the same two fundamental
functions, that is, buying and selling. As illustrations of the
application of this principle to different businesses we give the
following:
Publishers of newspapers and other periodicals buy editorial
work, manuscript, engraving, paper, printing; sell subscriptions,
advertising space.
Publishers of books buy editorial work, manuscript, engraving, paper,
printing; sell books.
Railroad companies buy equipment, rails, lumber, coal, supplies,
labor; sell freight and passenger transportation.
Schools and colleges buy textbooks, supplies, services of instructors;
sell instruction.
Professional men buy their instruction, books, instruments, office
furnishings, clerical assistance; sell their services.
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