The Indian
Monday. Nov. 23, 1959 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Growth of the Organization Man
(A Story of Business Students and a Building)
Summerfield Hall
Summerfield Hall is not a mass of bricks and mortar, a glassy facade, and marble stairways, but a mother to tomorrow's Organization Man.
Summerfield begets " . . . the ones who will leave home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vow of organization life, they are the mind and soul of our great self-perpetuating institutions, and whose values will set the American temper."*
She nurtures the men who will grow to "more and more, act according to the roles they are cast for—the calm eye that never strays from another's gaze, the easy controlled laughter, the whole demeanor that tells onlookers that here certainly are men without nouns and inner rumblings."*
Instinctively, the men react to Summerfield. They learn the lessons needed for materialistic adventure tomorrow.
Below, for example, a future Organization Man surveys Summerfield's high, glassy exterior, and dreams of a ladder to "good steak dinners, comfortable hotels, good planes, and the like."*
. . . Mother . . .
But the stairways of Summerfield tell him that tomorrow's ladder is long and steep, "... that his house (Summerfield) will never be a monument, an end in itself. That it is purely functional, a place to salve the wounds and store up energy for what's ahead. And that, he knows full well, is battle."*
The knowledge fills him with quiet determination when he studies his accounting, financial administration, or business administrative practices.
. . . Scholar . . .
Other of Summerfield's men, however, have already acquired symbols of success and status. " . . . and status symbols can become enormously important to the man caught in a highly stratified organization.
"For instance, a man who had all the seeming status and privilege of his peers was still grossly uphappy. Investigation revealed his desk had only three drawers. The desks of his associates in comparable jobs had four drawers." **
Below a future Organization Man elatedly shows the symbol of his prestige—a key to Summerfield's elevators. Only a few of Summerfield's sons have commanded such early recognition.
. . . Champ . . .
All students have or will attend BAP (business administrative practices) classes. BAP meets in Summerfield's special classrooms with swivel chairs.
"Ideas come from the group, not from the individual. The well-rounded man is one who does not think up ideas himself but mediates other people's ideas, and so democratically that he never lets his own judgment override the decisions of the group."*
Rather than having directed discussions, the swivel chairs make it possible for "the breaking of students into a constellation of face-to-face groups to create interaction. The fact that this seating is a random mixture of personalities makes no difference; the interaction itself produces many provocative insights."*
The students, interacting with one another below, find the chairs which turn a great assist to the looping right.
. . . Administrators . . .
Nevertheless, "... the rough-and-tumble days of organization growth are over, and what the organization needs most is an adaptable administrator schooled in managerial skill and concerned primarily with human relations and the techniques of making the organization a smooth-working team."*
An Organization Man already in the field reports:
"It's hard to tell where the workday ends and the 'pleasure' begins. If you count all the time required for cocktails, dinners, conferences, and conventions, there is no end to work."*
Summerfield's Hawklet develops the human relations skills necessary in coping with tomorrow's coffee break and cocktail hour. The students at the top of the next column discuss football scores.
. . . Loafers . . .
But the Organization without machines would be impossible. Machines free the Organization Man to "... appear to enjoy listening sympathetically to points of view not his own. (It is not enough now that the Organization Man work hard; he must be a damn good fellow to boot.) And that is the rub, the Organization Man has always had to play a role, but the differences between the role and reality is becoming increasingly difficult to resolve."*
Adding machines, bookkeeping machines, computers—all lighten the Organization Man's work. But no machine is as efficient as the Organization Man. Ask any Organization Man. So the student below, learning to free himself through machines, takes a little time off from freedom to check to see if his machine is working.
. . . Expert . . .
Dedication
This tale, then, is dedicated to Summerfield's sons, whether faculty or students—to the men who venture forth with the built-in attitudes so necessary on LaSalle and Wall Streets, or Main Street, U.S.A., or Madison Avenue.
It is dedicated to the men who know that " . . . through an extension of the group spirit, through educating people to sublimate their egos, organizations can rid themselves of their tyrants and create a harmonious atmosphere in which the group will bring out the best in everyone."*
CREDITS:
*The Organization Man by William H. Whyte, Jr.
*The Hidden Borrowers by Vance Backard.
*The Organization Man by William H. Whyte, Jr.
**The Nationals Pressmen by Vance Packard.
Photos by Harry O. Ritter, Lawrence graduate.
Story by the men of the School of Business as compiled by Larry D. Miles, Lawrence graduate.
Drama Bows:
Dan E. Turner, Newton senior (the dreamer).
Dan E. Turner (the scholar).
Robert M. Walker, Frankfort senior (the champ).
Robert Bryan Sacks, Easton senior (administrator throwing looping right); John M. Fry, McHershey senior (administrator taking position right); G. Fish, Kansas City; Kan senior and Larry D. Miles (administrators watching interaction), left to right
Left to right: Sidney A. Morris, Ottawa junior; Dan E. Turner, and Robert M. Walker (loafers).
The Hudson Presentation by Vance Packard
Photos by Harry O. Ritter, Lawrence graduate
Story by the men of the School of Business as compiled by Larry D. Miles, Lawrence graduate.
Drama Bows:
Dan E. Turner, Newton senior (the dreamer).
Dan E. Turner (the scholar).
Dan E. Tanner (the senator)
Robert M. Walker, Frankfort senior (the champ).
Robert Bryan Sacks, Easton senior (administrator throwing looping right); John M. Fry, McPherson senior (administrator taking looping right); Samuel G. Fish, Kansas City, Kan. senior, and Larry D. Miles (administrators watching interaction)
Edward S. Tatge (expert).