Page:Hine (1912) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/185

 divisions. If I were you, as between your purchasing agent and your general storekeeper, I would appoint the most experienced an assistant general manager, so that his office file can be logically and consistently consolidated with your own. The other of these two men I would make purchasing agent with a distinct title and a separate office file, because of his large volume of business with outside persons. Such assistant general manager would be in effect manager of supplies and purchases, the trained expert seeing the whole problem of operation and deciding normally what material and supplies the company needs. Under such assistant general manager, would be the purchasing agent, a staff officer, specializing on the technique and psychology of bargaining. Such assistant general manager, as a line officer, would be his own general storekeeper and would hold division superintendents responsible for the stores on their respective divisions. His work would be co-ordinated with that of the other assistant general managers by the chief of staff, the senior assistant general manager.

The organization thus outlined would preclude the necessity for the usual perfunctory