Alfred Sloan Quotes

“The test of an organization is not genius—it is its capacity to make common people achieve uncommon performance.”

“The business of business is business, and I have always believed that the best way to serve the broader interests of society is to serve the immediate interests of customers.”

“The strategic aim of a business is to earn a return on capital, and if in any particular case the return in the long run is not satisfactory, then the deficiency should be corrected or the activity abandoned for a more favorable one.”

“Good management rests on a reconciliation of centralization and decentralization, or 'decentralization with coordinated control.'”

“An organization does not make decisions; its function is to provide a framework, based upon established criteria, within which decisions can be fashioned in an orderly manner.”

“The biggest problem in big business is to know what you don't know.”

“A car for every purse and purpose.”

“The primary object of the corporation was to make money, not just to make motor cars.”

“[Competition](/mental-models/competition) is the final price determinant and competitive prices may result in profits which force you to your utmost efficiency.”

“The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything.”

“If we are to move ahead, we must not be afraid to take calculated risks.”

“There has to be this balance between the benefits of size and the disadvantages of size. The balance is struck when the advantages of size no longer outweigh the disadvantages.”

“In any organization, the man at the top must bear the responsibility. That responsibility cannot be shared or divided.”

“The essence of the business problem is to achieve continuity of successful adaptation to the changing environment.”

“I have never issued an order since I have been the operating head of the corporation, and I never expect to do so. I work through the committee system.”

“The old notion that it is enough to produce and sell has been superseded by the realization that it is necessary to buy, produce, and sell.”

“Every company has two organizational structures: the formal one is written on the charts; the other is the everyday relationship of the men and women in the organization.”

“Progress is our most important product.”

“The way to sell consumer products is to understand the consumer.”

“If you do it right 51 percent of the time you will end up a hero.”