804 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY
Cooperation is the object of all these associations. The laborers
have unions, and those who supply the working capital and supervise
the efforts of laborers have their alliances, under various names.
It is slowly becoming obvious that those who most efficiently
apply the principle of cooperative effort survive longest, and that this
principle applies from the lowest form of animal life to the highest
form of human endeavor.
Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Ford have taught the
businessman the value of cooperative effort. That is, they have taught
all who cared to observe, the principle through which they themselves
accumulated vast fortunes.
Cooperation is the very foundation of all successful Leadership.
Henry Ford's most tangible asset is the well-organized network of car
dealerships that he has established. This organization not only pro-
vides him with an outlet for all the automobiles he can manufacture,
but, of greater importance still, it provides him with financial power
sufficient to meet any emergency that may arise.
As a result of his understanding of the value of the coopera-
tive principle, Ford has removed himself from the usual position of
dependence upon financial institutions and at the same time provided
himself with more commercial power than he can possibly use.
The chain-store systems constitute another form of commercial
Cooperation that provides advantage through both the purchasing
and the distributing end of the business.
The modern department store, which is the equivalent of a group
of small stores operating under one roof, one management, and one
overhead expense, is another illustration of the advantage of cooperative
effort in the commercial field.
In Lesson Fifteen you will observe the possibilities of cooperative
effort in its highest form and at the same time you will see the impor-
tant part that it plays in the development of power.