BOOKS RECEIVED
| Published date | 01 November 1957 |
| Date | 01 November 1957 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1957.tb00239.x |
CURRENT
TOPICS
2
39
The article appears to emphasise unduly one side of the case.
Would it not be more advantageous to tackle the very thorny problem
of how to retain the advantages of large scale operation without
dissipating the economies in providing too complex an organisation
to administer the undertaking? The advantages of not more than
five men under one are obvious, but how is one to prevent the undue
multiplication of such units in an undertaking with hundreds of
thousands
of
employees and how is one to reconcile delegation of
authority with the maintenance of a uniform policy in a national
concern? ROBERT
R.
TAKAHIRA.
Glasgow
Mr. Takahira states clearly some of the difficulties in applying
the Span of Control in a large-scale organisation. These difficulties
are well-known to all students of the subject, which is why some of
us feel that a clearer understanding and application of the general
principles
of
organisation is essential if the complexities of our civilisa-
tion are not to overwhelm our capacity to direct them. The Span of
Control
is
less than
'
one side of the case
'.
It is only one of some
ten or more such general principles of organisation. The problem
in
each instance is to work out a structure which works with reasonable
speed and simplicity
without infringing any
of
the general principles.
L. URWICK.
London
BOOKS RECEIVED
An Economic Survey
of
Northern Ireland,
by K.
S.
Isles and Norman
Coal and Steel in Western Europe,
by Norman
J.
G.
Pounds and
Domestic Food Consumption and Expenditure
:
1955.
Annual
(H.M.S.O.,
Capital,
Vol.
2,
by Karl Marx. (Lawrence
8z
Wishart,
1957. 7s.
6d.)
Political Economy, A Soviet Textbook.
(Lawrence
&
Wishart,
1957.
Economic Issues,
A
Financial and Economic Debate in the Critical
Years,
1954-57.
Edited by Stephen Frowen and
H.
C. Hillmann.
(Waterlow
8z
Sons Limited,
1957. 21s.
6d.)
The Right
to
Buy-and its Denial to Small Business,
by
Dr.
Vernon
A.
Mund. (United States Government Printing Office,
1957.
Senate Document
32.)
Cuthbert. (H.M.S.O. Belfast,
1957.
35s.)
William N. Parker. (Faber
8z
Faber Ltd.,
1957. 45s.)
Report
of
the National Food Survey Committee.
1957.
6s. 6d.)
21s.)
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