8. Organization Applied to Small Business. We have referred only to large manufacturing enterprises divided into many departments, necessitating a division of executive duties among a large number of minor executives. While, in the organization of a smaller enterprise, not all of these department heads will be required, the principles of organization, so far as division of authority is concerned, remain the same.
In the small corporation, we find the same board of directors elected by the stockholders. This board may be small, consisting of no more than five, or even three members, but the same executive officers are elected. One man may hold more than one office, as secretary and treasurer, or vice-president and treasurer, yet each office is filled. If the board is small the executive committee may be omitted, in which case the board itself performs the duties of the executive committee. There is the same general manager; at least the duties exist even though there be no such office in name. The president may act as the executive head, and be recognized as the actual manager of the business, but in so doing he is acting in an entirely different capacity than that pertaining to the office of president.
Extending the illustration to a small manufacturing enterprise, the general manager may assume all of the duties of the comptroller in the operation of the commercial branch; he may be his own sales manager or credit man; or in the manufacturing branch, he may act as superintendent.
The treasurer of the corporation may be the accountant and also act as credit man. The advertising and sales managers may be one, or the superintendent may be the purchasing agent as well.
The point intended to be emphasized is that there are certain duties to be performed, certain responsibilities to be met, certain authorities to be assumed even though it be but a one-man business. And in this is illustrated the importance of creating any business organization without regard to individuals.
9. Organization of Mercantile Business. Leaving for a time the organization of a manufacturing enterprise, we will consider the application of the principles of organization to a trading business. In such a business, the administrative section remains the same: stockholders, directors, officers, executive committee, general manager. At this point the business naturally divides into the departments of buying and selling.
Fig. 3. A Chart of a Corporate Trading Enterprise