"The administrative function, therefore, insures the continuance of the existing order with a minimum of effort and risk. Its fundamental aim is to "carry on" rather than to venture along new and untried paths. Administrators are, therefore, the stabilizers of society and the guardians of tradition. They are stabilizers in both a positive and a negative sense, for not only do they make possible the continuance of the ideas which they convert into institutions: they also frustrate many innovations to which they deny their support. With the weight of their authority they confront every attempt to initiate a new development, and test it with a view to its effect on established interests. They resist change and stow down the rate of experimentation so that the main body of society can keep pace with it. The ponderous social machinery which is so irritating to the impulsive initiator is thus a safeguard against sudden changes which paralyze the Jess adaptable members of society and which would result in chaos if subjected to no check."
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Academics from the United StatesPsychologists from the United StatesBusiness theorists from the United States
Original Language: English
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p. 264-8; As cited in Albert Lepawsky (1949), Administration, p. 9-10
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Paul Pigors
1900 – 1994
Paul John William Pigors (1900-1994) was an American , and Professor at the , especially known for his 1969 book Personnel Administration, co-authored with .
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