Louis A. Allen

“Louis Alexander Allen, management consultant at prabook.com”

“Prior to establishing Louis Allen Worldwide, Louis Allen was with the international consulting organisation Booz, Allen and Hamilton, Inc. His assignment focussed primarily on companies facing problems of organisational growth and development. During this assignment, he discovered that although organisations differ significantly, they also shared many similarities. He then began to distil the commonalities, organising them into a teachable form, and teaching client companies how to use this knowledge for themselves.”

“Achievements include first to fully classify human work into categories, a typology which facilities diagnosis and correction of organizational problems.”

“The early nineteen-fifties saw the first widespread emergence of business dictionaries in the United States. The first management vocabulary, however, was not published until the year 1958. It was entitled, Common Vocabulary of Professional Management (COMVOC), and was prepared the direction of Louis A. Allen, President of Louis A. Allen Associates, Incorporated.”

“The organization... is not an end in itself. Organization, properly designed, can help improve teamwork and productivity by providing a framework within which people can work together most effectively. But we must relate the people to the design. In many cases, the organization structure which has technical excellence is, for practical purposes, quite useless because it is not fitted to the needs of the people it is designed to serve, ft is a lifeless pattern.”

“Delegation is the dynamics of management; it is the process a manager follows in dividing the work assigned to him so that he performs that part which only he, because of his unique organizational placement, can perform effectively, and so that he can get others to help him with what remains. How can he best share his burden? First, he must entrust to others the performance of part of the work he would otherwise have to do himself; secondly, he must provide a means of checking up on the work that is done for him to ensure that it is done as he wishes.”

“Organization is a mechanism or structure that enables things to work effectively together. The basic elements of organization are division of labour, a source of authority, and relationships. This is true for all forms of living organizations.”

“Organization is a mechanism or structure that enables living things to work effectively together. The evolution of life and of human society demonstrates the need for organization.”

“Almost any business manager will affirm that sound organization is highly important to business success. Many will characterize organization as the foundation upon which the whole structure of management is built. Unfortunately, there are many differences of opinion as to the precise nature of organization, as of other aspects of management; and there is even less concurrence on what specific work must be accomplished in organizing.”

“Far-reaching changes have been taking place in the economy over the past twenty years. Growth and diversification mark the long-term character of the business climate. Technological improvements have been occurring with startling rapidity. New materials, new products and processes present a host of challenging opportunities to the individuals and the firms ready to exploit them. At the same time, however, short-ages in skilled manpower are prevalent, the costs of doing business have increased sharply, and there is keen competition in every aspect of enterprise.”

“The manager is a new kind of professional, destined to take his place with the scientist and the educator in shaping the society of the future. Expert in a complex, difficult, and most demanding kind of work, the role of the professional manager is critical and his potential is unlimited. In the years ahead, competence in management will mark the difference between the leaders and the also-rans. This will hold true not only in business, but also in government and education, and in all those situations in which people wish to maximize their efforts for their common benefit.”

“A manager is a leader who enables people to work most effectively together by performing primarily the work of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.”

“"Ask any two managers precisely what they mean by 'staff', or 'decentralization,' or 'budget.' The differences in interpretation will make communication difficult. If we are to develop professional practices of management work, semantics requires first attention.”