One hears a great deal today about “the end of hierarchy.” That is blatant nonsense.
To attack industrial society, as would the sentimental equalitarian, because it is based on subordination instead of on formal equality is a misunderstanding of the nature of both industry and society. Like every other institution that coordinates human efforts to a social end, the corporation must be organized on hierarchical lines. But, also, everybody from the boss to the sweeper must be seen as equally necessary to the success of the common enterprise. At the same time, the large corporation must offer equal opportunities for advancement. This is simply the traditional demand for justice, a consequence of the Christian concept of human dignity.
The demand for equal opportunities is not, as is often mistakenly assumed, a demand for absolute equality of rewards. On the contrary, equal opportunities automatically assume an inequality of rewards. For the very concept of justice implies rewards graduated according to unequal performance and unequal responsibility.
ACTION POINT: Does your organization value the contribution of the boss and the sweeper, or just the boss?
Concept of the Corporation
Management Challenges for the 21st Century
A Functioning Society
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker