Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1612

Extract (slightly rearranged) from letter to Dr. F.A. Harper

February 9, 1957

     I have thought a great deal about your letter of December 11^th, and I hope you will forgive my apparent disregard of your suggestion that I send you further ideas on the function and influence of top management in industrial and other organizations. I was at the time trying to make a correct analysis of Dr. O. A. Ohmann’s article, “Skyhooks,” reprinted from the May-June issue, 1955, of the Harvard Business Review. I was inclined to think very favorably of Dr. Ohmann’s article, but on more careful reading, I found it exceedingly baffling and came to mistrust the spirit of it and its possible effects. In addition, I had to lay it aside several times for proof-reading and indexing and other matters in connection with the publication of Citadel, Market and Altar, as well as continuing to publicize the Canal proposal. However, in view of your note of February 4^th, which has just come to hand, I am sending my comments on Dr. Ohmann’s article without further revision although it does not quite satisfy me. So you may take it for whatever it may be worth at the present time.

    I ask your attention especially to my last few para­graphs, in which I try to highlight the one “vague intangible” in “top management” that I think is most essential to fine team-work and highest productivity towards the aims desired.

    I surely do hope matters are progressing satisfactorily in your own work and association, and shall be happy indeed if any observations of my own can contribute to it.

    I have just finished reading rather hastily a report on the Chicago Conference in the current number of Faith and Freedom which refers to and quotes considerably from Dr. Ohmann’s article and which I think deals with the question of management and personnel in much the same way as I have done.

   

    Dr. and Mrs. Murray Rothbard and two of his purported followers who are taking Dr. von Mises’ course at N.Y.U. had an interesting conference with me on Sunday, January 27^th. I am very happy to find that property in land in its functional aspect is beginning to have some attention among economists.

    Thank you very much indeed for sending and letting me keep your letter from Mr. John P. Meagher of the State Department, regarding the Suez matter.

                            Sincerely,

 

 

SH/m

Encls: (2 copies) tentative letter to Harvard Business Review.