Park University Theorist Presentation

Theorist Presentation Mike Ekey

Communication in Administration.

Chester Barnard Mary Parker Follett

Communication in Administration.

Luther H. Gulick ( Not this Luther H. Gulick )

Chester Barnard

Malden, Mass., November 1886 Attended Harvard but did not graduate. Worked for the Bell Telephone System & Rockefeller Foundation. Died June 7, 1961.

Chester Barnard

•  The Functions of the Executive

•  Humans are physically and biologically limited, social, active and purposeful and possess limited free will.

•  Society is a “complex of informal organizations”

•  Argues that “Group Identity and Social Recognition are more important organizational forces than power or money.”

•  Sees organizations as a chance to either limit or expand choices for an individual.

•  Organizations either manipulate or persuade the individual to choose among several options. In turn the individual is then responsible for that choice.

Chester Barnard

•  Cooperative Activity

•  Informal Organization

•  Formal Organization

•  Complex Formal Organization

Chester Barnard

Three Basic Organizational Activities:

•  Induce a willingness to participate

•  Establish the organization's purpose

•  Communication

Mary Parker Follett

Quincy, Mass., September 1868. Studied at Cambridge. Pioneered the acceptance of “evening programs.” In 1925 she shifted from social work to studying industrialization in England. Died 1933.

Mary Parker Follett

•  The New State & Creative Experience

•  Argued that individuals are social beings who find identity and and fulfillment in a group experience.

•  “The individual makes society and society makes the individual.”

•  Organizations are defined by their ability to navigate conflicts and its resolutions.

•  “Conflict should be used as a violin uses friction to make music.”

•  Types of solutions to Conflict: Domination, Compromise, Integration.

Mary Parker Follett

•  “Real Democracy” — Leadership does not control, rather it facilitates and anticipates.

•  Coordination and communication is key to authority.

•  Communication and coordination leadership should be horizontal and cumulative.

•  Authority is constantly in motion and there is no “Final Authority.”

Where does communication originate?

From leadership From participants

Luther Gulick

Osaka, Japan, January 1892 Intending to be a missionary like his parents, he instead went into government and social work. Appointed to the Institute of Public Administration. Took a special interest in budgeting and taxation (his doctoral field of study). Served presidents, mayors, governors and foreign governments throughout his career. Died January 1993.

Luther Gulick

•  Government = “the means by which willful, strong, and selfish human beings can live together cooperatively.”

•  Public and private should form partnerships for the benefits of citizens.

•  Administrative Branch plans and implements democratic policies

•  Favored consolidation, integration and streamlining of government agencies and lower levels of administration.

•  “Experts” should plan and execute agendas.

•  Performance evaluation at all levels (Science of Administration).

Luther Gulick

•  Communication comes during the critique of Gulick

•  Ideas tend to almost skew totalitarian or authoritative.

Questions? Thank you.