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
The article, “Creating the System: Railroads and the Modern Corporation”, informs us all about the development of the transcontinental railroad and how it helped drive the nation west and also transformed western North America into a economy that had many opportunities. The railroads have always interested me when it comes to this period of time. What I learned from the reading that I didn’t know before was that the Western railroads were primary carriers of grain, other agricultural produce, livestock, coal, lumber and minerals. Also seeing the prices that the farmers shipped their products for, and what they paid for the freights rates was very interesting. Overall, if the railroads wouldn’t have been built in a time when there was so little
Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men in America but his wealth didn’t come without hard work and dedication. Carnegie was born in “Dunfermline, Scotland on November 25, 1835” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle, the invention of the weaving machine unfortunately pushed Carnegie’s family in to poverty “In 1848, Carnegie’s family left Scotland and moved to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, where his father and eventually him worked in a cotton factory” (Tyle). After leaving the cotton factory “Carnegie became a messenger boy for the Pittsburgh telegraph office and eventually made his way up to telegraph operator” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle “Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the western division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, made Carnegie his secretary at the age of eighteen.” Later, Carnegie took over Scott’s position of the railroad. Furthermore Carnegie “began to see that steel was going to replace iron and by 1873 he organized a steel rail company” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle he continued to build his company when he “cut prices, drove out competitors,
Without Carnegie, the steel industry, and the second industrial revolution in general, would never have progressed as much as it did. Carnegie did what was necessary to make the steel industry more productive and more efficient, for less money. He was a shrewd, ruthless, businessman who’s aggressiveness made the steel, railroad, and oil industries so economically successful. These characteristics, though not always looked upon as nice or sympathetic, were sometimes necessary. He had paid his time as a poor factory boy, and now it was his turn to live comfortably and aid others less fortunate to work towards the same success.
The Carnegie Steel Company was a successful factory, which employed many hundred of workers. Andrew Carnegie, who was the owner of the company, wanted a large successful business, which he had achieved already, but he was always looking for ways to save and make more money. By 1892, unions had been formed
Let us first look at Mr. Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was a mogul in the steel industry. Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie built his fortune out of nothing, clawing his way to the top and making his fortune by seeing the expanding usage of steel and quickly jumping on the opportunity, becoming one of the first and biggest steel producers in America, and later the world[2]. With this massive corporation
Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization caused significant changes in many people’s lives. First, the development of a new railroad system help settle the west and made it more accessible to people. Second, public transit systems in big cities provided an outlet from congested cities. Last, the discovery of a method for transmitting electricity helped to light up our daily lives. I feel that these are three of the most important changes in people’s lives caused by industrialization.
When Carnegie decided to go into business for himself, he chose the steel industry, but his success came at the expense of his workers. He decided he should own the entire supply chain from iron mines and coal fields (to supply his raw materials) to ships and railroads (to deliver his products). He expanded rapidly; not
It illustrated the poor conditions of labour, which contributed to industrialization and a labour union, which took care of fighting for benefits and the working conditions of these child labourers. Andrew Carnegie’s article (as seen in document D) proposes the idea of the rich using their wealth to improve society, as he believed that the fact that a person was rich, showed that he was more fit than others. Carnegie acknowledged that the living conditions were poor and wanted to help change that. This introduced industrialization into the Gilded Age. In the late 19th Century, Carnegie led the enormous expansion of the American steel
As the cost of transportation decreased, the opportunity for industrialization grew. The North began industrialization first by processing raw materials, but soon the north industrial factory adopted the “disassembly line.” This “disassembly line” would transform how factory work evolved forever, because with this more efficient way of working, “competition from cheaper less-skilled workers… created job insecurity and few opportunities for advancement.” (Norton, et. al., Mindtap, 10-3a) American factories soon developed the American System of manufacturing which “used machinery to produce interchangeable parts.” (Norton, et. al., Mindtap, 10-3a) This system promoted the
Well Carnegie steel business was a great success but all he was trying to accomplish was to be richer than John D. Rockefeller and make him pay for the mistake of cutting of his apprentices railroad business. While working for the railroad company Carnegie began making investments. He made
One of the greatest discovers that transformed cities to what they are now is steel industry. The rise of the steel industry in the United States drove America's growth as a world economic power. “The industrialization of America made steel the number-one selling product. Steel was used in the construction and maintenance of railroads as well as nearly every other industry of the day (Carnegie, Andrew).” Even thou steel had been used during the early days of European settlement began it was not until the 19 century when new technological advances that allowed steel industry to produce tons of steel for cheap.
The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the most ambitious engineering projects, economic stimulants, and efficient methods of transportation in the early United States. If completed, the United States would be truly be united from east to west. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Transcontinental Railroad helped develop new opportunities for many aspects of American life.
The largest floor covering product is carpet and rugs followed by ceramic tile, vinyl, hardwood, stone, laminate and rubber floorings.
Even in spite of the economic recession in 1991, Nucor still appeared to be one of the fastest growing steel companies in America, even considering the spending levels regarding disposable income among Americans. This is especially true since September 11, attacks, because economic levels in America have tended to exhibit a slight disability. After the attacks on 9-11 markets, as well as the overall financial climate of the United States took on immediate hits. Yet, after President Bush’s tax cuts made in 2002, the country rebounded from a mild recession which dated back to the Clinton administration and has since sought to recover. The steel industry worldwide was mired in one of its most unprofitable periods ever when 9-11 hit. The recovery from the recession, as well as an attempt to pull through current financial hard times due to the war in Iraq have added extra strains on Americans and their ability to spend, which in turn affects the steel industry.