Francis X. Sutton Quotes

1917–2012 United States

Francis Xavier Sutton (July 7, 1917 - Dec. 18, 2012) was an American social scientist, official of the Ford Foundation, and business theorist. Sutton received his BA at Temple in 1938, his MA at Princeton in 1940, and his PhD in sociology at Harvard in 1950.

United States
Business theorists
Businesspeople
Social scientists

Random Francis X. Sutton quote

5 quotes

A comparative social science requires a generalized system of concepts which will enable the scientific observer to compare and contrast large bodies of concretely different social phenomena in consistent terms.

There is a strong tendency among businessmen to emphasize that their decisions are based on 'facts' and thus to make favorable outcomes the consequence of perspicacity and 'judgment' rather than good fortune.

Businessmen have not shied away from the responsibility implied in Emerson's famous definition of a business as the lengthening shadow of a man. They have readily brushed aside complications and assigned crucial importance to the decisions of the guiding executives.

p. 22; As cited in: David C. McClelland (1961)

The logical reader can only conclude that had Mr. Du Pont been as devoted to the facts as Mr. Sloan alleges, he would have been paralyzed in indecision, or even more, he certainly have discontinued the production of Chevrolets.

p. 23; As cited in: David C. McClelland (1961)

In contrast to such organizations as governments and universities, the prime criteria of business achievement are relatively definite and tangible. These standards include profitability, percentage control of the market, size of firm, and rate of growth.

p. 328; Cited in: Scott Andrew Shane (2002)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Francis X. Sutton (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.