A memo, reprinted in the
Washington Post, from Jack Ward
Thomas, chief of the Forest Service, to his staff:
Subject: Horizontal Behavior.... In two recent situations, we have
responded to requests for information from Congress by asking a single
staff group to prepare information. These incidents have been
identified as the personifications of "linear" as opposed to
"horizontal" behavior in the organization. A previous set of
operative language would have contrasted this as "functional" as
opposed to "corporate" behavior. Please be sensitive to these
perceptions—which do have merit—in assigning or responding to such
requests.
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