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Quotes from The Visible Hand — Alfred D. Chandler Jr.

1918–2007 United States

← All quotes by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.

9 quotes

Men's mind and abilities grow and expand with use of responsibilities.

The Visible Hand (1977)

To maintain and continue a high volume of flow demanded organizational innovation. It would be achieved only by creating an administrative hierarchy operated by many full-time salaried managers.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Effective coordination of throughput required the placing of vigorous management controls over these despots.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Multi-unit business enterprise replaced small traditional enterprise when administrative coordination permitted greater productivity, lower costs, and higher profits than coordination by market mechanisms.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Modern factory management (but not it must be stressed the management of large modern multi-unit enterprises) had the genesis in the United States in the Springfield Armory.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Complete accountability is established and enforced throughout; and if there there is any error committed, it will be discovered on a comparison with the books and can be traced to its source.

The Visible Hand (1977)

The systems and controls developed at the armory were as critical to the development of what became known as the 'American System of Manufacturing' as the new metalworking machinery and machine tools.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Increase on productivity and decrease in unit costs (often identified with economies of scale) resulted far more from the increases in the volume and velocity of throughput then from a growth in the size of the factory and plant.

The Visible Hand (1977)

The minutest details of cost of materials and labor in every department appeared from day to day and week to week in the accounts; and soon every man about the place was made to realize it. The men felt and often remarked that the eye of the company were on them through the books.

The Visible Hand (1977)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Alfred D. Chandler Jr. (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.