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Carnegie Steel Company
The Carnegie Steel Company becomes the leading U.S. steelmaker. Because Andrew Carnegie's company performed all the steelmaking operations in one location, steelmaking costs were dramatically reduced. The U.S. steelmaking industry was revolutionized and the price of steel was reduced from $135 a ton to $12 a ton. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 44) -
Germany's burgeoning industrial revolution
The principles of bureaucracy were developed by Max Weber. Bureaucracy is a formal system of organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 45) -
Fayol's 14 principles of management
Henri Fayol identified 14 principles of management that he, as the CEO of Comambault Mining, knew to be important to improve the efficiency of management. Most of these principles are still a part of contemporary management. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 46-47) -
Scientific Management
By 1910 Scientific management is nationally known. Although some managers fully embraced this practice, others were more selecitve with its implementation. Scientific management, founded by Frederick W. Taylor, is the study of the relationships between people and tasks in order to better the work process. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 39-40) -
Highland Park car plant
The Highland Park car plant began production in 1910. (Witzel, 2006) Henry Ford's team of production managers created the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt was used to aid in the mass production of the Model T. Each worker in the production line was given a specific task or tasks which increased efficiency and reduced costs. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 41) -
"Creative Experience"
Mary Parker Follett writes the book "Creative Experience". The content of this book provided a humanisitic approach to management in a time when management was dominated by the scientific managament movement. (Witzel, 2006) -
The Hawthorne Studies
Experiments were done to investigate how a work setting affects worker performane and fatigue. It is discovered that the level of worker's performance is affected by the worker's attitudes toward their managers. This became known as the Hawthorn effect. From this finding, the human relations movement emerged. The Hawthorn Studies shed light on the importance of understanding behavior in organizations. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 52-53) -
Norris-Laguardia Act of 1932
Because of this act, employers cannot force job applicants to exchange employment for the promise to never join a union, contracts known as Yellow Dog Contracts. (Norris Laguardia, n.d.) -
The Wagner Act
The Wagner Act gave employees the right to join and form unions. It is an important source of regulation for human resource departments. (The 1935 passage, n.d.) -
Theory X and Theory Y
The two different assumptions about worker's attitudes, Theory X and Theory Y, were developed by Douglas McGregor. For Theory X it is assumed that the worker is lazy and requires close supervision and control. Theory Y assumes that the worker is willing to do what is good for the company and should be provided encouragement and opportunities. (Jones &George, 2014, p. 53-54) -
Open-Systems View
Daniel Katz, Robert Kahn, and James Thompson developed a view of an external environment's affect on an organization, known as an open view. It involves a system of stages that explains the conversion of resources into goods and services. These resources are taken from the external environment and then sold back into that environment as goods and services. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 56) -
Contingency Theory
Burns, Stalker, Lawrence, and Lorsch developed the contingency theory. For this theory, managers take the external environment into consideration when choosing control systems and organizational structures. The idea of this flexible approach is that organizing does not have to be done one specific way. Environments are not static and thus organizing should not be either. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 57) -
Occupational Safety and Health Act
This act enforces a safe and healthy workplace and holds oraganizations accountable for the safety of employees. (OSH Act, n.d.) -
"An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change"
Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter wrote the book "An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change". Nelson and Winter wrote of the importance of routines. Routines reduce uncertainty as well as create truces among people within an organization, which allows work to be done. (Duhigg, 2012, p. 160-162) -
Howard Schultz buys Starbucks
Starbucks, with a total of six stores at the time, was purchased by Howard Schultz. Since its purchase by Schultz, Starbucks has become quite popular. At Starbucks the employees have a greater sense of authority. The company develped training in which routines are used to deal with difficult situations, so that the best customer service can be provided. The LATTE method is one system Starbucks uses to deal with tough situations. (Duhigg, 2012, p. 145, 148) -
Paul O'neill becomes CEO of Alcoa
Paul O'Neill becomes the new CEO of the Aluminum Company of America. He created a culture where safety was highly valued. Workers were encouraged to bring up safety issues. Not only did workers express concerns about safety, they made suggestions of how to make the work place more efficient. Alcoa's annual income was five times larger at the time of O'Neill's retirement, in 2000, than it was before he became CEO. (Duhigg, 2012, p. 97-100, 117, 121) -
The Civil Rights Act
The amendment made it illegal to descriminate against the race, color, religion, sex, and national origin of employees or potential recruits. In the case that discrimination is discovered, punitive and compensatory damages will be awarded as well as back pay. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 137) -
The Family and Medical Leave Act
This act helps out employees, who are unable to work for reasons to include medical and family reasons, by requiring employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 137) -
Rhode Island Hospital
Three neurosurgery errors occured at Rhode Island Hospital, which eventually lead to reform. Before the changes took place there was an abundance of dysfunctional habits, such as the doctors treating nurses as if they were expendable. (Duhigg, 2012, p. 159) The hospital now encourages the reporting of errors, near misses, and any unsafe conditions. (Surgical Safety, n.d.) -
Tim Cook becomes CEO of Apple
It comparison with the previous CEO, Steve Jobs, Cook is more approachable. While Jobs kept teams separate and was secretive of what the products would look like, Cook is about the flow of information between product units. Both methods may have been best for the time period in Apple's life. (Jones & George, 2014, p. 3-5)