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Honoré Blanc (1763-1801)
Gunsmith Honoré Blanc had made a thousand muskets and put all their parts in separate bins. He called together a group of academics, politicians, and military men. Then he assembled muskets from parts drawn at random from the bins. By then, Jefferson had already visited Blanc's workshop and written back to America about the method. This was 18 years before Eli Whitney. (Alder, 1997) -
Interchangable Parts (United States)
Eli Whitney saw the potential benefit of developing "interchangeable parts" for the firearms of the United States military. In July 1801 he built ten guns, all containing the same exact parts and mechanisms, then disassembled them before the United States Congress. He placed the parts in a mixed pile and, put all of the weapons back together in front of Congress. (MIT, 2000) -
Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915)
Motivated to create the ultimate, efficient work environment, Frederick Winslow Taylor devised a system he termed scientific management. While industrial revolution-era innovators like Samuel Slater and Francis Lowell advanced quality control in the workplace, Taylor formalized these principles and promoted them to eager industrial managers striving to increase performance.(Freeman, 1992) -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free" (General Records of the United States Government, 2013). -
Henry Ford (1863-1947)
In 1907, Henry Ford purchased mostly all of the stock of theFord Motor Company from his associates. By cutting the costs of production, by adapting the conveyor belt and assembly line to automobile production, Ford was soon able to outdistance all his competitors and become the largest automobile producer in the world. He came to be regarded as the apostle of mass production. (Columbia University Press, 2013) -
Interstate Commerce Act
In 1887 Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, making the railroads the first industry subject to Federal regulation. Congress passed the law in response to public demand that railroad operations be regulated. This is because after the Civil War the railraods were private and unregulated. They soon became a monopoly and charge the public whatever they wanted. (General Records of the United States Government, 2013) -
Scientific Management Theory (1890-1940)
Frederick Taylor developed the "scientific management theory" which espoused this careful specification and measurement of all organizational tasks. Tasks were standardized as much as possible. Workers were rewarded and punished. This approach appeared to work well for organizations with assembly lines and other mechanistic, routinized activities. (McNamara, 2013) -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
242 Votes - 0 Votes in the U.S Congress. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts. It was named after Senator John Sherman of Ohio.A trust was an arrangement by which stockholders in several companies transferred their shares to a single set of trustees therefore destroying competion. (General Records of the United States Government, 2013) -
Mass Production
On the road to mass production, many improvements were made that speeded up the process and optimized the use of skilled labor. The first assembly line for mass production of automobiles was set up by Ransom E. Olds for the Olds Motor Works in 1901. (Klepper, 2002) -
Federal Trade Commission Act
The Act established the Federal Trade Commssion (FTC). The FTC Act was one of President Woodrow Wilson's major acts against trusts, and the Clayton Antitrust Act would be signed three weeks later. (General Records of the United States Government, 2013) -
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
It was passed by U.S. Congress as an amendment to clarify and supplement the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The act prohibited "exclusive sales contracts, local price cutting to freeze out competitors, rebates, interlocking directorates in corporations capitalized at $1 million or more in the same field of business, and intercorporate stock holdings" (General Records of the United States Government, 2013). -
The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes
This class action suit challenged the Butler Act, a 1925 Tennessee law making it unlawful to deny the divine creation of man as written in the Bible and to teach instead the theory of evolution. This forever changed not only the job of a Science Teacher, but teachers of all all subjects forever. (Herndon, 1997) -
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (Sakichi Toyoda)
In 1926, Sakichi Toyoda founded the company Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. This will become the Toyota that we know today (Wren, Greenwood 1998). "At this time, Ford was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Japan with General Motors as the second largest manufacturer, together producing over 90% of the vehicles manufactured in Japan" (Wren, Greenwood, 1998). -
Bureaucratic Management Theory (1930-1950)
Max Weber embellished the scientific management theory with his bureaucratic theory. Weber focused on dividing organizations into hierarchies, establishing strong lines of authority and control. He suggested organizations develop comprehensive and detailed standard operating procedures for all routinized tasks. (McNamara, 2013) -
Human Relations Movement (1930-Present)
More attention was given to individuals and their unique capabilities in the organization. A major belief included that the organization would prosper if its workers prospered as well. Human Resource departments were added to organizations. The behavioral sciences played a strong role in helping to understand the needs of workers and how the needs of the organization and its workers could. (McNamara, 2013) -
Securities and Exchange Act
"The Securities and Exchange Act is a law governing the secondary trading of securities (stocks, bonds, and debentures) in the United States of America" (General Records of the United States Government, 2013). This Amendment was a major landmark in the history of regulation of business. It regulated financial markets in recation to he stock market crash and Great Depression. -
Just-In-Time (Kiichiro Toyoda)
Kiichiro, son of Sakichi, posessed a greater interest in engines and automobiles then his father ever did. He convinced his father in 1936 to establish an automobile operation. While touring the Ford plant in Detriot, he had the idea of Just-In-Time manufacturing. JIT is the process of ordering parts right when they're needed for manufacturing therefore cutting down on inventory. (Wren, Greenwood, 1998) -
Robinson Patman Act
Robinson Patman Act is an amendment to the Clayton Anti-Trust Act prohibits anticompetitive practices by producers, specifically price discrimination. It grew out of practice when chain stores were allowed to purchase goods at lower prices than other retailers. (General Records of the United States Government, 2013) -
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
This theory hypothesizes that as needs on one level are satisfied, the next level of needs becomes dominant. Maslow classifies these needs into higher and lower order needs. (McGraw-Hill, 2013) -
Kaizen "Continuous Improvement" (Eiji Toyoda)
Eiji, a nephew of Sakichi Toyoda, was named Managing Director of the Toyoda Automotive Works when the Japanese government forced Kiichiro Toyoda into reorganizing the Toyoda Group in 1950. An important process learned during the trip to the U.S, was the Ford Motor Company suggestion system. Eiji instituted the concept and it is considered to be one of the major building blocks of the Toyota Production System of continuous improvement "Kaizen". (Wren, Greenwood. 1998) -
Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act
The Antimerger act was passed to once again stregthen the Antri-Trust Laws in the United States. It was passed to close a "loophole regarding asset acquisitions and acquisitions involving firms that were not direct competitors" (General Records of the United States Government, 2013). -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the landmark decision that declared segregated or “separate but equal” schools unconstitutional, is hailed as a watershed moment in the civil rights movement and as one of the most important decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. (United State Courts, 2013) -
Consumer Credit Protection Act
The federal wage garnishment law, Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), protects employees from discharge by their employers because their wages have been garnished for any one debt, and limits the amount of an employee's earnings that may be garnished in any one week. (General Records of the United States Government, 2013) -
Lois E. Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.
It is notable for being the first sexual harassment class action lawsuit in U.S. history. The outcome of the case not only changed state and federal laws protecting workers but also set precedence for more class actions demanding an end to harassment and discrimination on the job. Northwestern University, 2013) -
NFL - Rooney Rule
In 2003 the NFL, facing the threat of potential lawsuits, enacted what has become known as the “Rooney Rule,” named after the chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dan Rooney. The rule stated that for all coaching and general manager job openings, a minority candidate had to at the very least get an interview. (Burke, 2013)
