Teaching Plan


Evolution of Modern Management

 


The module on the evolution of modern management briefly traces the development of Western commerce, capitalism, and eventually, "management" from the ancients to the 20th century. While most textbooks begin management history with Frederick Taylor, the professor believes that the student needs a broader perspective and, at least, a casual interpretation to the development of capitalism, especially in America, to appreciate the unique evolution of "management", professional managers, and the business school in this country. The intent is to demonstrate that "management" is defined in the business context and to provide the student with the rudiments of an historical perspective on "business" and its creation, "management". This module will span Week 2 and the material will cover Teaching Note 1.

 

OUTLINE

(Read the Full Text Teaching Note)

D. The role of changing values in transforming the European economy.

1. Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic hypothesized that the Protestant Reformation created new values that disdained old authority in favor of individualism and linked personal salvation to a life of "good works" demonstrated through worldly activism and self-discipline.

2. "Protestant ethic" defined: duty to work, use wealth wisely, depend on one's own moral compass, and live modestly

3. Weber argued that these new values were the basis for the emergence of modern capitalism with its focus on individual wealth creation as opposed to the older economy of state mercantilism.

 

IV. Industrial Revolution: Why Great Britain?

A. Industrial Revolution defined: a period from 1750 to roughly 1870 in which much of Western Europe experienced rapid economic development attributable to technological innovations, principally in the use of steam for manufacturing.

B. Key events that created economic change:

1. Institutional changes - issuance of currency and laws favoring private business

2. Inventions - steam engine (James Watt)

V. Adam Smith: The Economics of Capitalism

A. Characteristics of laissez faire economics:

1. The means of production, land and capital, are privately owned. "Capital", here, means the plant and equipment used to produce goods and services.

2. The economy is organized and coordinated through the interaction of buyers and sellers (or producers) in markets.

3. Suppliers, the owners of land and capital as well as laborers, pursue their own self-interests in seeking maximum gain and profits from the use of their resources. Buyers of goods and services similarly spend their money to yield the greatest satisfaction.

4. With suppliers and buyers pursuing self-interest the market is constructed in which the value (or price) of goods and services is determined through the "haggling" of seller and buyer.

5. With a competitive market of buyers and sellers following self-interest, the economy is self-regulating and there is little role for government. The sovereign is necessary mainly to protect society from foreign attack, uphold the rights of private property, guarantee contracts, and assist, where necessary, in the building of "infrastructure", to include roads, canals, and similar "public" goods.

B. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776) is an inquiry into the nature and causes of economic development that concludes:

1. Individuals are bound together by market exchanges -- buying and selling

2. Economic development is dependent upon manufacturing with higher productivity attributable to "division of labor", or specialization of work performed by workers.

3. Higher productivity is also dependent upon use of technology by which one person can do the work of many.

VI. Capitalism in America


 America begins as incorporated colonies. Lassiez faire capitalism fits with a nation without a strong central government. The "interstate commerce" clause, patent protection, and the Fifth (and Fourteenth) amendment's protection of property through "due process" lay the foundation of American capitalism.

VII. The Rise of the Professional Manager in America

A. The Civil War created a stronger national government and market, with increased technological development through the Second Industrial Revolution that lasted until the 20th century.

(1) The rise of the railroads were key in this development, nationalizing markets by providing for movement of goods and people and urbanizing America through increased manufacturing which required concentrated labor markets.

(2) Unlike the experience in Europe, where national markets are smaller and many competitors operated short lines, in the U.S. railroads become "big business" to be able to provide service to a much larger national market.

B. Railroads also created new problems for business:

1. Increased demand for capital led to use of stock markets for raising capital.

(a) The stock markets become a key source of capital for building "big business"

(b) The use of "equity" financing (selling stocks or ownership) divorces "ownership" and "management" functions - the demise of the single "owner-manager", as stock owners increase in numbers.

2. The divorce of "ownership" and "management" functions gives rise to the need for the "professional manager" who is adept at running a specialized business for the stock-holders.

3. The national market expansion of railroads required the use of "middle managers", or train superintendents, to supervise the business in key markets, or at key rail terminals.

C. To coordinate and control the large scale enterprise, railroad managers, such as Daniel McCallum, developed a new organizational form:

1. The original organizational form used by business is the "functional" form which is departmentalized by function, such as production, personnel, and accounting. This form works well for single product, single market firms under the "owner-manager"

2. To organize business operations in multiple markets across great distances, the multi-divisional form was evolved. The MDF type of organization divides the firm into its market or product divisions, each headed by a manager responsible for the division's success. The divisional managers report to the corporation's headquarters. The "headquarters" is an innovation in assume responsibility under the Chief Executive Officer, accountable to the stockholders, for the overall policies and financial performance of the business.

D. The success of railroad management is copied by other businesses:

1. There is a demand for an increasing number of professional managers.

2. In 1881 Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania becomes the first business school in history, in response to the demand to create new managers.

 


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