The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business

Abstract

* Introduction: The Visible Hand * Modern Business Enterprise Defined * Some General Propositions * Part I. The Traditional Processses of Production and Distribution *1. The Traditional Enterprise in Commerce * Institutional Specialization and Market Coordination * The General Merchant of the Colonial World * Specialization in Commerce * Specialization in Finance and Transportation * Managing the Specialized Enterprise in Commerce * Managing the Specialized Enterprise in Finance and Transportation * Technological Limits to Institutional Change in Commerce *2. The Traditional Enterprise in Production * Technological Limits to Institutional Change in Production * The Expansion of Prefactory Production, 1790--1840 * Managing Traditional Production * The Plantation--an Ancient Form of Large-Scale Production * The Integrated Textile Mill--a New Form of Large-Scale Production * The Springfield Armory--Another Prototype of the Modern Factory * Lifting Technological Constraints * Part II. The Revolution in Transportation and Communication *3. The Railroads: The First Modern Business Enterprises, 1850s--1860s * Innovation in Technology and Organization * The Impact of the Railroads on Construction and Finance * Structural Innovation * Accounting and Statistical Innovation * Organizational Innovation Evaluated *4. Railroad Cooperation and Competition, 1870s--1880s * New Patterns of Interfirm Relationships * Cooperation to Expand Through Traffic * Cooperation to Control Competition * The Great Cartels * The Managerial Role *5. System-Building, 1880s--1900s * Top Management Decision Making * Building the First Systems * System-Building in the 1880s * Reorganization and Rationalization in the 1880s * Structures for the New Systems * The Bureaucratization of Railroad Administration *6. Completing the Infrastructure * Other Transportation and Communication Enterprises * Transportation: Steamship Lines and Urban Traction Systems Communication: The Postal Service, Telegraph, and Telephone * The Organizational Response * Part III. The Revolution in Distribution and Production *7. Mass Distribution * The Basic Transformation * The Modern Commodity Dealer * The Wholesale Jobber * The Mass Retailer * The Department Store * The Mail-Order House * The Chain Store * The Economies of Speed *8. Mass Production * The Basic Transformation * Expansion of the Factory System * The Mechanical Industries * The Refining and Distilling Industries * The Metal-Making Industries * The Metal-Working Industries * The Beginnings of Scientific Management * The Economies of Speed * Part IV. The Integration of Mass Production with Mass Distribution *9. The Coming of the Modern Industrial Corporation * Reasons for Integration * Integration by Users of Continuous-Process Technology * Integration by Processors of Perishable Products * Intergration by Machinery Makers Requiring Specialized Marketing Services * The Followers *10. Integration by the Way of Merger * Combination and Consolidation * The Mergers of the 1880s * Mergers, 1890--1903 * The Success and Failure of Mergers *11. Integration Completed * An Overview: 1900--1917 * Growth by Vertical Integration--a Description * Food and Tobacco * Oil and Rubber * Chemicals, Paper, and Glass * The Metal Fabricators * The Machinery Makers * Primary Metals * Growth by Vertical Integration--an Analysis * The Importance of the Market * Integration and Concentration * The Rise of Multinational Enterprise * Integration and the Structure of the American Economy * Determinants of Size and Concentration * Part V. The Management and Growth of Modern Industrial Enterprise *12. Middle Management: Function and Structure * The Entrepreneurial Enterprise * American Tobacco: Managing Mass Production and Distribution of Packaged Products * Armour: Managing the Production and Distribution of Perishable Products * Singer and McCormick: Making and Marketing Machinery * The Beginnings of Middle Management in American Industry *13. Top Management: Function and Structure * The Managerial Enterprise * Standard Oil Trust * General Electric Company * United States Rubber Company * E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Powder Company * The Growing Supremacy of Managerial Enterprise *14. The Maturing of Modern Business Enterprise * Perfecting the Structure * The Professionalization of Management * Growth of Modern Business Enterprise Between the Wars * Modern Business Enterprise Since 1941 * The Dominance of Modern Business Enterprise * Conclusion: The Managerial Revolution in American Business * General Patterns of Institutional Growth * The Ascendancy of the Manager * The United States: Seed-Bed of Managerial Capitalism * Appendixes * Notes * Index

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