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A Brief Analysis of The Steel Industry Essay example

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Steel Industry
In the early part of this century was a time when industry was booming with growth around the installation of major railroads. With this growth came the transatlantic cable, the telegraph, and a whole lot of steel. Steel would be needed in the construction of these new transportation systems and communications were now possible between businesses and industries. (Wren, 2005)
This paper will first discuss the development of the steel industry. Next, it will examine steel, and in the impact it had on the transportation industry. Finally, it will discuss systematic management practices of this time and how they gave birth to the scientific approach that is still in use today.
Steel
The steel industry was needed for …show more content…

Chandler understood that company’s needed to have a minimum efficient scale. By keeping track of costs he could lower prices and gain a competitive advantage over his rivals. (p. 96-97) However it was Andrew Carnegie who realized that the development of steel needed to be improved. He would later adopt England’s method of iron production through subjecting it to a shot of hot air in a special furnace which would be much faster than the old pudding iron. This method also lowered costs from $100.00 to $12.00 a ton. (Wren, 1976/2005) Carnegie would go on to later combine England’s new steel production methods with Daniel McCallum management theories of systematically managing large organizations such as railroads. (American Experience, 1999)
Transportation
Railroads were the first big business in the United States. Daniel McCallum developed a means to organize and manage this early mass transport. By separating and identifying each job and job description and later hiring specifically to fill each position Daniel McCallum organized a hierarchy of management and subordinates. He then saw the need to give each employee a specified uniform so that one could visually determine the rank of each worker.
According to Wren:
To MCCallum, good management was based on good discipline, specific and detailed job descriptions, frequent and accurate reporting of performance, pay, and promotion based on merit, a clearly defined hierarchy of authority of

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