Author:
Yates, JoAnne, 1951-
Imprint:Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, c1989.
Descriptionxx, 339 p. : illus. ; 24 cm.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references.
Note:Yates (MIT) furnishes expert and penetrating analysis of the development of US firms, 1800-1920. Her assiduous exploitation of archives harks back to traditional scholarship: there are nearly 1,100 notes. The volume opens with three substantial chapters on internal corporate communication in general, and the coming of systematic, impersonal managment; the extensions and contributions of technology (telegraph, typewriter, duplicating, and filing methods); and "genres" and functions (specific means of communicating downward and upward). Then five chapters review the evolution and the use of communications at Illinois Central Railroad, Scovill Manufacturing, and E.I. du Pont de Nemours. Yates's study is rooted in techniques of internal communication and information flow, and her historical analyses recount corporate responses to growth, advances in communication technology, geographical dispersion, and even past (and present) concerns for safety and regulation. Hers is a first-class example of the value of business history research as a means to understand modern management practices. Highly recommended for its fascinating contemporary coverage and its significant (if specialized) content, as well as for its demonstration of the optimal use of a still-potent historical approach. -- Choice Reviews
Note:Recommended in Best Books for Academic Libraries
