Recruitment of Business Leaders: A Commentary on the Newcomer and Rae Papers1

These interesting papers and the data they present offer further testimony to the increasing study and understanding of the position of the businessman in our society. In general they focus on two topics: the recruitment of the business executive and the influence of recruitment patterns on the occupational role of the business executive. It would be redundant to attempt to elaborate further the careful and concise conclusions reached by the authors. A more rewarding use of this opportunity for discussion might be to make some examination of these data from an alternative point of view, readdressing them from a somewhat different theoretical position. From such an examination it may be possible to explore further the recruitment process in our business system.