Rise of Big Business & Labor

Scientific management

• The management of business, industry, or economy, according to the principles of efficiency derived from experiments in methods of work and production

• The classical outlook of management which focused on devising the best ways of doing work and thereby increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of work

“The Wizard of Menlo Park”

• Edison soon because of the miraculous nature of his inventions which so radically changed how people lived

• In 1878 Edison built his famous laboratory in Menlo Park

• His lab was the world’s first such research and development facility

Nikola Tesla

• Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer and futurist

• Best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system

• Patented a device to induce electrical current in a rototr spinning between two electrified coils of wire

Andrew Carnegie

• He was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist

• He led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century

• Became one of the richest Americans in history

• He was one of the captains of the industry of 19th century America

J.P. Morgan

• American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the gilded age and progressive era

• Good at making failing companies into profitable ones

• Helped the railroad industry recover

• Incredibly important in helping create the modern American economy

Cornelius Vanderbuilt

• He was an American businessman who built his wealth in railroads and shipping

• Best known fro his business tactics and strategies which allowed him to create a transportation empire

• Wealth was in the railroad industry

John D. Rockefeller

• American businessman and philanthropist

• One of the wealthiest americans of all time

• Founder of the Standard Oil company, which was dominated by the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust

• He got his wealth by taking control of the oil industry

Trust Co.

• Legal entity that acts as a fiduciary, agent or trustee on behalf or business for the purpose of administration, management, and the eventual transfer of assets to a beneficial party

• New type of industrial organization, in which the voting rights of a controlling number of shares of competing firms were entrusted to a small of men or trustees, who thus were able to prevent competition among the companies they controlled

Vertical Integration

• The combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies

• Involves the acquisition of a key compnent of the supply chain that hte company has previously contracted for

• It reduces the company’s costs and gives it greater control of its products