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Business Law
1870 John D Rockefeller a businessman incorporated the Standard Oil and bought other oil companies creating the first trust and starting the process for monopolies to form. The practice of the Standard Oil company was regarded as ruthless and hostile to smaller businesses. The Standard Oil company caused Congress to pass the Sherman Antitrust act in 1890. -
Technology and Management
In 1872 Aaron Montgomery Ward created the first mail-order business in the United States; the Montgomery Ward & Company. Starting with two employees and a total capital of $1,600. By 1904 his mailing list included 3 million customers. -
The Interstate Commerce Act
In 1887 Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first major piece of regulatory legislation. It was passed in response to the widespread practice in which the railroads gave rebates to some customers but not others. The Interstate Commerce Act forced railroads to publish their rates and forbade them to change rates without notifying the public. It also established the Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC) to supervise the railroads. -
The Sherman Act
Was known as an Antitrust Law, which was passed in 1890. Making it illegal for companies to create monopolies. In order to restore competition at a time when monopolies had taken over many industries. -
Scientific Management
In 1909 Scientific Management was published. Frederick Taylor proposed that by optimizing and simplifying jobs, workforce will be productive. This system analyzes and improves efficient production processes. Managers overview workers making sure everything is flowing smoothly. This changed management by allowing the higher authority to overview the work process and lower employees keeping everything going smoothly. -
Centralized Versus Decentralization Management
Within a centralized company, the concentration of power is among a few key decision-makers. To compete with Ford, General Motors decided to decentralize its operations by having decisions being made by managers at various levels within the company. In the 1920s Alfred Sloan broke the company up into five divisions. This decision allowed GM to better target different kinds of customers, and managers to make decisions that central managers had once made. -
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Introduced in Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Maslow later refined this theory in 1954 with his book, “Motivation and Personality.” His hierarchy of needs is categorized by physical or psychological needs, safety or security needs, love or social needs, ego or status needs, self-actualization, self-realization, and self-fulfillment. -
Total Quality Management
In 1950, the idea of total TQM was created. Total quality management is the idea of detecting where errors may come from in the process of creating products. Then reducing and correcting errors to maximize the quality of the products they produce. This helps management by optimizing the company as a whole. -
Theory X and Theory Y
In 1960, Douglas Mcgregor came up with Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes employees do not like to work, they don’t take responsibilities and will not get done what they need to unless motivated by fear and money. On the other hand, Theory Y assumes employees are self-motivated and thrive with responsibilities. Theory X and Y impacted management by allowing managers to direct their employees as they see fit. Some will be strict and some will be more friendly depending on their employees. -
Theory Z
Developed the Theory Z in the 1980s. Theory Z is a management theory that integrates Japanese and American business practices. Theory Z incorporates the Japanese emphasis on collective decision-making and concern for employees on individual responsibility.