03 September 2006

Harold Koontz - Collected Quotes

"[...] authority - the right by which superiors are able to require conformity of subordinates to decisions - is the basis for responsibility and the force that binds organization together. The process of organizing encompasses grouping of activities for purposes of management and specification of authority relationships between superiors and subordinates and horizontally between managers. Consequently, authority and responsibility relationships come into being in all associative undertakings where the superior-subordinate link exists. It is these relationships that create the basic character of the managerial job." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Although organization charts are useful, necessary, and often revealing tools, they are subject to many important limitations. In the first place, a chart shows only formal authority relationships and omits the many significant informal and informational relationships that exist in a living organization. Moreover, it does not picture how much authority exists at any point in the organization." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"[...] authority for given tasks is limited to that for which an individual may properly he. held responsible." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Authority delegations from a superior to a subordinate may be made in large or small degree. The tendency to delegate much authority through the echelons of an organization structure is referred tojas decentralization of authority. On the other hand, authority is said to be centralized wherever a manager tends not to delegate authority to his subordinates." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Authority is, of course, completely centralized when a manager delegates none, and it is possible to think of the reverse situation - an infinite delegation of authority in which no manager retains any authority other than the implicit power to recover delegated authority. But this kind of delegation is obviously impracticable, since, at some point in the organization structure, delegations must stop." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Essential to organization planning, then, is the search for an ideal form of organization to reflect the basic goals of the enterprise. This entails not only charting the main lines of organization and reflecting the organizational philosophy of the enterprise leaders (e.g., shall authority be as centralized as possible, or should the company try to break its operations down into semiautonomous product or territorial divisions?), but also a sketching out of authority relationships throughout the structure." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"If charts do not reflect actual organization and if the organization is intended to be as charted, it is the job of effective management to see that actual organization conforms with that desired. Organization charts cannot supplant good organizing, nor can a chart take the place of spelling out authority relationships clearly and completely, of outlining duties of managers and their subordinates, and of defining responsibilities." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"One of the tools for making organization principles work is the organization chart. Any organization which exists can be charted, for a chart is nothing more than an indication of how departments are tied together along their principal lines of authority." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Responsibility cannot be delegated. While a manager may delegate to a subordinate authority to accomplish a service and the subordinate in turn delegate a portion of the authority received, none of these superiors delegates any of his responsibility. Responsibility, being an obligation to perform, is owed to one's superior, and no subordinate reduces his responsibility by assigning the duty to another. Authority may be delegated, but responsibility is created by the subordinate's acceptance of his assignment." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Since a chart maps lines of authority, sometimes the mere charting of an organization will show inconsistencies and complexities and lead to their correction. A chart also acts as a guide for managers and new personnel in an organization, revealing how they tie into the entire structure. Charts are, therefore, not only evidences of organization planning but also road maps for decision making, and training devices for those who would learn how a company is organized." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"The essence of managership is the achievement of coordination among people. Coordination is a complex concept, including principles by which harmonious enterprise activity can be accomplished and the many techniques for achieving the greatest synchronized effort." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"The principle of direct contact! states that coordination must be achieved through interpersonal, horizontal relationships of people in an enterprise. People exchange ideas, ideals, prejudices, and purposes through direct personal communication much more efficiently than by any other method, and, with the understanding gained in this way, they find ways to achieve both common and personal goals." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"The primary purpose of delegation of authority is to make organization possible and to make it effective in accomplishing enterprise objectives and efficient in attaining them with the least cost of time and materials. Thus delegation - the vesting of a subordinate with a portion of his superior's authority - has as its principal purpose the creation of managerial jobs." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Viewed internally with respect to the enterprise, responsibility may be defined as the obligation of a subordinate, to whom a superior has assigned a duty, to perform the service required. The essence of responsibility is, then, obligation. It has no meaning except as it is applied to a person." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"While good charting will attempt, as far as possible, to make levels on the chart conform to levels of importance in the business enterprise, it cannot always do so. This problem can be handled by clearly spelling out authority relationships." (Harold Koontz & Cyril O Donnell, "Principles of Management", 1955)

"Another approach to management theory, undertaken by a growing and scholarly group, might be referred to as the decision theory school. This group concentrates on rational approach to decision-the selection from among possible alternatives of a course of action or of an idea. The approach of this school may be to deal with the decision itself, or to the persons or organizational group making the decision, or to an analysis of the decision process. Some limit themselves fairly much to the economic rationale of the decision, while others regard anything which happens in an enterprise the subject of their analysis, and still others expand decision theory to cover the psychological and sociological aspect and environment of decisions and decision-makers." (Harold Koontz, "The Management Theory Jungle," 1961)

"Every organization structure, even a poor one, can be charted, for a chart merely indicates how departments are tied together along the principal lines of authority. It is therefore somewhat surprising to find top managers occasionally taking pride in the fact that they do not have an organization chart or, if they do have one, feeling that the chart should be kept a secret." (Harold Koontz, "Principles of management", 1968)

"Management is defined here as the accomplishment of desired objectives by establishing an environment favorable to performance by people operating in organized groups." (Harold Koontz, "Principles of Management", 1968)

"Organization charts are subject to important limitations. A chart shows only formal authority relationships and omits the many significant informal and informational relationships." (Harold Koontz & Heinz Weihrich, "Essentials Of Management", 2006)

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