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  • 8/18/2019 Chandler, Alfred 1981 “The United States: Seedbed of Managerial M4 Capitalism” in eds. Alfred Chandler and Her…

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    TH

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    16

    3

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    ES

    SA

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    th

    e m

    od

    ern

    b

    us

    ine

    ss e

    nte

    rp

    ris

    e, w

    ith

    i

    ts

    m

    an

    ag

    er

    ial

    hi

    era

    rc

    hy

    and

    v

    er

    tic

    al

    an

    d

    h

    ori

    zo

    nta

    l in

    teg

    ra

    tio

    n,

    s

    up

    er

    sed

    es t

    he

    m

    ar

    ke

    t

    p

    ro

    ces

    s a

    nd

    th

    e

    in

    vis

    ib

    le

    h

    an

    d

    of

    th

    e

    m

    a

    rke

    t.

    B

    ut h

    ow

    d

    oe

    s

    t

    he

    m

    od

    er

    n

    b

    us

    in

    ess

    en

    ter

    pr

    ise

    su

    pe

    rs

    ed

    e th

    e

    m

    ar

    ke

    t p

    ro

    ce

    ss

    w

    h

    en  

    is f

    orm

    e

    d

    an

    d

    run

    b

    y

    p

    eop

    le

    in

    th

    e

    m

    ark

    et f

    or

    t

    he

    so

    le p

    ur

    po

    se

    of a

    ch

    ie

    vin

    g

    s

    uc

    ce

    ss

    in

    the

    m

    a

    rke

    t?

     

    nd

    ho

    w do

    es

    th

    e

    m

    od

    er

    n e

    nte

    rp

    ris

    e

    s

    up

    ers

    ed

    e

    the

    in

    vi

    sib

    le

    h

    an

    d o

    f t

    he

    m

    ar

    ke

    t

    w

    h

    en

    ,

    to m

    ak

    e

    pr

    ofits,

    the

    enterprise

    must

    cater

    to

    the

    desires

    of

    consumers?

    Chandler

    w

    rit

    es

    :

    16

    6

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    ESSAYS

     N

    E ONOMI

    ND

    BUSINESS

    HISTORY

     2000

    closely

    with demand,

    to use

    its

    working force

    and

    capital

    equipment

    more

    intensively,

     nd

    thus

    to

    lower

    its

    unit

    co

    sts

     ”

     

    But

    if the market

    is

    the

    primary

    generator

    of

    demand,

    wh t

    is

    it th t

    impelled

    entrepreneurs

    and top

    managers

    to

    organize

    their

    firms

    along the

    lines

    of

    the modern enterprise

    but

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of

    the

    market?

    The

    case

    th t

    these

    general

    observations

    actually

    make

    is

    that

    the

    modern

    enterprise

    was

    developed

    by profit-seeking

    entrepreneurs

    searching

    for

    more

    efficient

    ways

    to

    satisfy

    consumer

    demands.

    That

    is

    not

    a phenomenon

    different

    from

    the invisible

    h nd

    of

    the

    market;

    th t is

    the invisible

    h nd of

    the market.

    The

    Visible

    Hand

    has

    import nt

    observations

    on firms

    th t

    grew

    through

    vertical

    integration.

    The

    history

    of such

    firms

    reveals,

    Chandler

    writes,

    th t

    “the

    nature

    of

    the

    market

    was

    more

    important

    th n

    the methods

    of

    production

    in

    determining

    the

    size

    and

    defining

    the activities

    of

    the

    modern

    industrial

    corporation.”

    In other

    words,

    the

    market

    ultimately

    determined

    what

    form

    of

    organization—vertical integration,

    hori

    zontal

    integration,

    or

    neither—was

    profitable.

    For

    vertical

    integration

    to be

    profitable,

    a

    market

    had

    to

    be

    large

    and consumers

    had

    to

    have

    a

    preference

    for

    mass

    produced

    and

    mass

    distri uted

    goods.

    The

    methods

    of

    production

    were

    also

    important—o

    mass

    produce

    a good,

    the

    technology

    to

    do so must

    exist—but,

    if

    a

    market

    was small

    or

    consumers

    did not

    prefer

     

    mass

    produced

    good,

    vertical

    integration

    was

    not

    profitable

    even

    if

    mass

    production

    technology

    existed.

    The

    Visible Hand

    concludes:

    Markets

    and

    technology;

    therefore,

    determined

    whether

    the

    manufacturer

    or

    the

    marketer did

    the coordinating.

    They had

     

    far

    greater influence in

    determining

    siz

    and

    concentration

    in

    American

    industry than

    did

    the

    quality

    of

    entrepreneurship,

    the

    availability

    of

    capital,

    or public

    po

    lic

    y

     

    This

    is

    anything

     ut

    a

    description

    of

    a type of business

    organization

    superseding

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of the

    market.

    What it

    is

    a description

    of

    is

    the invisible

    h nd

    in

    its

    purest

    form.

    In some

    markets,

    the modern

    business

    enterprise

    proved

    to

    be

    the

    most

    efficient

    means of

    organizing

    production

    to

    satisfy

    consumer

    demand.

    In

    those

    m

    ar

    kets,

    firms

    that

    vertically

    integrated

    thrived;

    firms

    th t

    didn’t,

    failed.

    In

    other

    markets,

    vertical

    integration

    proved

    not

    to be

    the

    most

    efficient

    way

    to

    satisfy

    consumer

    d

    e

    mand;

    in those

    markets, the

    smaller,

    tr dition l

    firms

    thrived,

    while

    firms

    th t

     

    tempted

    vertical

    integration

    failed.

    Not

    even

    the

    most

    brilliant

    or

    the

    most

    ruthless

    entrepreneurs

    could

    make

    the modern

    enterprise

    profitable

    where

    market

    conditions

    were

    not

    favorable

    to vertical

    i

    nte

    gr

    ati

    on

     

    The

    case

    histories

    of

    The

    Visible

    Hand

    also

    support

    the argument

    th t

    the modern

    firm does

    not

    supersede

    the

    invisible

    h nd

    of

    the

    market.

    Consider

    Chandler’s

    account

    of

    James

    Duke.

    James

    Duke’s

    company

    began

     s

    a small

    cigarette

    producing

    enterprise.

    In

    1884,

    Duke

    adopted

    technology

    th t enabled

    his

    firm

    to

    mass

    produce cigarettes.

    He

    then

    built

    an

    extensive

    network

    of

    sales

    offices

    th t

    were

    responsible

    for

    the

    marketing and

    distri ution

    of his

    product.

    At

    the same

    time,

    he developed

    an

    extensive

    purchasing

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    ESSAYS

    IN E ONOMI

    ND

    BUSINESS

    HISTORY

     2000

    better

    serving

    customers.

    Duke’s managers

    were

    the

    critical

    input

    to

    his

    entrepreneurial

    vision.

    Chandler

    writes

    that

    Duke “realized

    the

    importance

    of

    his

    organization.

    According

    to

    his

    bi

    og

    rapher, he

    always

    considered

    that

    his

    major

    task

    was

    to

    find

    and bring

    forward

    compe

    tent

    m

    an

    ag

    ers

     ”

     

    There

    was

    no

    superseding

    the

    market

    here. Ultimately,

    the

    services

    of

    those

    managers

    were

    purchased

    in

    the

    market

    for

    managers.

    Chandler’s

    account

    of

    James

    Duke’s enterprise

     s

    not

    an

    account

    of

      modern

    enterprise

    replacing

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of the

    market.

    It

     s an

    account of

    a modern

    firm

    enhancing

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of the

    market.

    It

     s

    an

    account

    of extraordinary

    entrepre

    neurship

    and

    a substantial

    amount of

    resources

    all

    directed

    toward

    the goal

    of

    long-

    term

    profitability;

    which

     s achieved

    by

    reducing

    costs

    and

    serving

    customers.

    Chandler’s

    account

    of James

    Duke’s

    enterprise

     s

    an account

    of the

    invisible

    hand of the

    market

    at

    work.

    The Managerial

    Revolution

    in

    American

    Business:

    The

    Evolution

    of

    the Invisible

    Hand

    of

    the Market

    There

     s nothing

    peculiar

    about

    the Duke history;

    The

    Visible

    Hand

     s

    packed

    with many

    similar

    histories.

    The

    Visible

      nd  s

    indeed

    a

    history

    of

    “The

    Managerial

    Revolution

    in

    American

    Business.” But

    it  s

    not

    a

    history

    of how the

    modern managerial

    enterprise

    “took

    the

    place of market

    mechanisms

    in

    coordinating

    the

    activities

    of

    the economy

    and

    allocat

    ing

    its

    resources.”

    That

    interpretation

     s

    based

    on

    the

    false

    premise

    that price

    compe

    tition

    between

    small,

    traditional

    enterprises

     s

    the

    invisible

    hand of

    the market.

    Recognizing

    the

    invisible

    hand of the

    market

    for what

    it truly

    is—the

    effect of

    the

    market

    process

    in

    which

    business

    firms are impelled

    by

    competition

    to

    search

    for

    the

    most

    efficient

    ways

    to serve consumers—leads

    to

    an

    entirely

    different

    understanding

    of

    the

    history

    of

    the

    modern managerial

    enterprise.

    It

    leads

    to

    the

    understanding

    that

    the

    modern

    enterprise

     s not

    a

    substitute

    for

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of the

    market;

    it

    does

    not

    supersede

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of the

    market.

    Rather, the modern

    enterprise

     s

    subject

    to

    the

    invisible

    hand of

    the market.

    And the

    modern

    enterprise

     s

    part

    of

    and

    an integral

    part

    of,

    the

    invisible

    hand of

    the

    market.

    The

    coming

    of

    the

    modern

    managerial

    enterprise

    may

    well

    have been,

     s

    Chandler

    believes,

    “the

    major

    innovation

    in the

    American

    economy

    between the

     

    880s

    and the

    turn

    of

    the

    c

    en

    tu

    ry

      But

    its coming

    was

    a product

    of

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of

    the market,

    and

    its

    evolution has

    been

    part

    of

    the

    evolution

    of

    the

    invisible

    hand

    of

    the market.

    The

    Visible

      nd

     s

    actually

    a

    history

    of

    the

    invisible

    hand.

    It  s the

    history

    of how

    the

    organization

    of

    business firms

    evolved

    to

    enhance

    economic

    calculation,

    to

    make

    better use

    of

    input

    and

    capital

    markets,

    and

    to

    reduce

    costs and

    better

    serve customers.

    It

     s the

    history of

    the

    integral

    role

    the modern

    managerial

    enterprise

    plays

    in the

    invisible

    hand

    of

    the

    market.

    In

    that

    light,

    it

    remains

     

    great

    work

    in business history.

    172

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    11/12

    TH

      V

    IS

    IB

    L

    E

    H

    AN

    D

    ? TH

      ON

    O

    M

    I

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    OF

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    ED

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    d

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    ic

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    is p

    ap

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    o J

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    ick

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    pri

    l

    1

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    99

    9.

    Jac

    k

    w

    as a pa

    st

    president

    of

    EBHS,

    a

    great scholar,

    and

    a

    great

    friend. He

    will be sorely missed.

    1 T

    h

    om

    as K

    .

    M

    c

    Cr

    aw

    ,

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    .,

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    sse

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    res

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    .

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    lfr

    ed

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    bi

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    P

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    i

    ses

    , H

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    i

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    In

    sti

    tut

    e,

    19

    98

     ,

    25

    8.

    Joseph

    T

    Salerno,

    “Mises

    and Hayek Dehomogenized,”

    The

    Review

    ofAustrian

    Economics

    no.

    2:

    1

    13

    -46

    .

    10

      L

    ud

    w

    ig

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    ise

    s,

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    ov

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    C

    ity

    :

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    er

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    es

    s In

    c.,

    19

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    .

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      Ibi

    d.

    , 23

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    he

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    lli

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    A

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    C

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    r, “D

    ec

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    ak

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    Change,”

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    The

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    98

     :

    41

    -4

    6.

    20

    .

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    ise

    s, Bu

    rea

    uc

    ra

    cy

    ,

    39

    -40

    .

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    ,

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    sib

    le

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    a

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    2

    2. Ib

    id

    ., 6

     

    2

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    Ib

    id

    ., 2

    86

    .

    2

    4. Ib

    id

    .,

    3

    73

    .

    25

    .

    Ib

    id

    .

    26.

    Ibid., 391.

    2

    7.

    Ib

    id

    .,

    39

    0.

    2

    8.

    I

    bi

    d.

    29

    .

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    fre

    d

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    “T

    he B

    eg

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    se

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    ch

    oo

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    res

    s,

    19

    88

     ,

    73

    .

     7

     

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