Page 1 |
Previous | 1 of 30 | Next |
|
This page
All
Subset
|
42 HASKINS & SELLS June Judgment Guiding Financial Statements THE executive of today is an individual of complex functions. He plans, directs, investigates, checks up, confers, and weighs opinions and information. He correlates the factors which comprise his organization; transforming and applying the motive power which they generate according to the requirements of the business. Alone, he is limited in his observation and output, and insignificant in his ability to accomplish. Aided by his organization, and with comprehensive information, his potential ability becomes enormously enlarged in scope and intensity. The modern executive is essentially a desk worker. He is a presser of buttons and a user of automatic devices for purposes of communication. But thereby he conserves his time and energy. In this lies one of the secrets of his enlarged capacity; his opportunity for concentration and application. Fancy the president of a large corporation having to visit his power plant in order to find out what kind, quality, and quantity of coal is being used in the generation of power. Consider what would happen if the sales manager were obliged to count up his stock before accepting a large order for immediate delivery. Think how business would be retarded if the treasurer of a company should have to call up the bank to determine the amount of his balance before drawing each check. Yet these are some of the absurdities which would be stern realities if modern business methods had not provided the individual with artificial means of overcoming the limitations of time, distance, and technical complexity. Devices for providing the executive with information are many and varied. Forms galore have been drawn for the embodiment of data which will assist him. Reports,