This reference book details the top 100 groundbreaking events in the history of American business, featuring case studies of successful companies who challenged traditional operating paradigms, historical perspectives on labor laws, management practices, and economic climates, and an examination of the impact of these influences on today's business practices. Throughout history, important commercial developments in the United States have made it possible for American companies to leverage tough economic conditions to survive-even thrive in a volatile marketplace. This reference book examines the top 100 groundbreaking events in the history of American business and illustrates their influence on the labor laws, business practices, and management methodologies of corporate America today. The 100 Most Significant Events in American Business: An Encyclopedia depicts the chronological order of events contributing to the evolution of American business, with an emphasis on the commercial innovations of each period. The book explores the origins of successful brands, including Apple, Wal-Mart, and Heinz; demonstrates the successful collaboration between public and private sectors illustrated by the Erie Canal, Hoover Dam, and the interstate highway system; and depicts the commercial impact of major economic events from the Panic of 1857 to the Great Recession of 2010. Chronology of key events in the history of American business from 1630 to the present Helpful sidebars of the evolution of key terms used today Comprehensive index includes category, company names, personal names, and cross references to other events Suggestions for further reading for each article 10 relevant charts and tables Appendix of relevant sources 80 key primary documents supporting major events in American business

Covering events such as banking crises, economic bubbles, natural disasters, trade embargoes, and depressions, this single-volume encyclopedia of major U.S. financial downturns provides readers with an event-driven understanding of the evolution of the American economy. The United States has fairly recently experienced the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But crippling financial crises are hardly unusual: economic emergencies have occurred throughout American history and can be seen as a cyclical and "normal" (if undesirable) aspect of an economic system. This encyclopedia supplies objective, accessible, and interesting entries on 100 major U.S. financial crises from the Colonial era to today that have had tremendous domestic impact-and in many cases, global impact as well. The entries explore the history and impact of major economic events, including banking crises, economic shortages, recessions, national strikes and labor upheavals, natural resource shortages, panics, real estate bubbles, social upheavals, and the collapse of specific American industries such as rubber and steel production. Students will find this book an essential ready-reference on key events in American economic history that documents how and why these events led to significant financial and economic problems throughout the United States and around the globe. Supplies up-to-date information on financial crises from crashes to natural disasters that is relevant to high school and college students in history, government, business, and economics classes Offers a look at causes, responses, and ultimate outcomes of financial crises decades later, allowing readers to perceive unintended consequences of free trade agreements or new technology Documents how events far outside average American citizens' awareness can culminate in a financial crisis that greatly impacts their everyday lives, and the cyclical nature of the nation's economy Includes key primary documents, a chronology of key dates, an appendix of relevant sources, and an index organized by category, company names, and personal names

Ford and Carver had a unique friendship and a shared vision of. This book details their paths to ""green"" manufacturing and the start of the chemurgic movement in America. It covers a number of little known projects such as their efforts to use ethanol as a national fuel, the use of soybeans for plastic production, and the use of waterpower for factories. The story shows how capitalism can drive the green movement and expand American industry.

In the 1890s, the Carnegie Veterans Association began as a group of boyhood friends and older Andrew Carnegie steel partners united to share business ideas, but it evolved into a powerful secretive network in American business circles. By 1925, these Carnegie lieutenants controlled more than 60 percent of the country's industrial assets. Haunted by their past with Carnegie Steel, they demanded a new ethical relationship with labor and adopted a philanthropic philosophy of paternal capitalism, building libraries, churches, schools, and hospitals. Ultimately, their experiments in industrial democracy and ""progressive industrialism"" failed, but their efforts formed the root of future cooperative management and employee participation. This chronicle of the evolution and legacy of this influential association offers a new, more complex perspective on Carnegie and demonstrates how he and his lieutenants helped to shape America's view of capitalism.

The book offers a unique view of the populism and republicanism of Ohio and the Midwest, which resulted in the election of Ohio Presidents from 1866 to 1920. Ohio claims eight presidents (one Whig and seven Republicans) during a period from 1841 to 1923: William Harrison (1841-1841), U. S. Grant (1869-1877), Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881), James Garfield (1881-1881), Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), William McKinley (1897-1901), William Taft (1909-1913), and Warren Harding (1921-1923). What is unique about the Ohio presidents is that their industrial policies, nationalism, and social beliefs formed unified philosophy and a legacy. It was a shared view of a Midwestern educational system. It was not the idea of any one president but the people that elected them. From 1860 to 1930, Ohio republicanism dominated politics across the America. The simple definition of that legacy might be called Ohio republicanism. While it was integral to the Republican Party of the period, it cannot be viewed through the eyes of the Republican Party alone. Ohio republicanism was an alliance of social, Christian, populism, nationalism, industrialism, and conservative economics. It initially was populism in search of a party with pieces from the Whig, Democrat, and Republican Parties. It morphed from the Whig Party of Abe Lincoln to end slavery and swallowed up a group of specific purpose parties under a national banner, such as the Abolition and Free Soil Parties. The ghost of Ohio republicanism is still seen today.

The rubber industry was an industry born in bankruptcy and built through bankruptcies. Many of the great rubber barons found themselves or company in bankruptcy courts. Bankruptcies defined the very nature and structure of the rubber industry we know today. Fortunately, the rubber industry has always proven as elastic as its product. The very man that invented rubber, Charles Goodyear, started out in a Philadelphia debtor's prison after failing in the hardware business. Amazingly near the end of his life he would return to prison again for debt problems over his failing rubber enterprise. Bankruptcy and failure would become part of the story of rubber. Harvey Firestone entered the rubber business after failing in other businesses, B. F. Goodrich after failing in earlier business endeavors such as oil drilling moved his failed rubber company from New England to start over in Akron, and F. A. Seiberling, founder of Goodyear Rubber, was forced out of the company he founded to avoid a total bankruptcy of the company and lost most of his personal wealth. Rubber proved far from an elastic gold, but it would be an industrial jewel, once conquered. In the early years, it was a search for an American location to process the rubber of the tropics. The industry would shift from its roots in New England to Akron, Ohio. The collapse of the industry is the story of the de-industrialisation of America.

The history of aluminum takes in metallurgy, engineering, global business and politics and the advance of civilization itself. The earth's most abundant metal, aluminum remained largely inaccessible until after the Industrial Revolution. A precious commodity in 1850s, it later became a strategic resource: while steel won World War I, aluminum won World War II. A generation later, it would make space travel possible and the 1972 Pioneer spacecraft would carry a message from mankind to extraterrestrial life, engraved on an aluminum plate. Today aluminum-along with oil-is the natural resource driving geopolitics, and China has taken the lead in manufacture.

Throughout history, the use and workmanship of metal has been used as a defining characteristic of civilization. Never was this more important than during the Metallurgic Age which coincided with England's Victorian Age and the Gilded Age in America. This period of 100 years, covering essentially the 19th century, saw unprecedented advances in a number of areas. This work explores in depth the connection between Victorian creativity and the advance of engineering. In many ways the entire mindset of the Victorian age revolved around invention and innovation. This new passion for technology and learning resulted in a period not only of discovery but practical application of the sciences. Intense interest of amateurs as well as professionals gave rise to numerous inventions, many of which were arrived at simultaneously often resulting in disagreements and patent battles. This volume examines this age of accelerated invention and the evolution of new fields such as metallurgy, automotive engineering, aerodynamics and industrial arts. The author discusses the ways in which metallurgy permeated all areas of Victorian life and affected changes - literally from the kitchen to the battlefield. Topics include the birth of scientific publications which provided direction for the inventors of the day and the inspiration received from international technological competition. Forgotten inventors, who were often lost historically due to the Victorian need to assign a winner to any contest, are remembered here along with the concept of the meta-invention. The final chapter provides an overview of inventions of the age.

The "Pig Iron Aristocracy" of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Pennsylvania not only was the foundation of American manufacturing, but the root of our present day political parties. It is a little known story, but it has popular appeal throughout the Midwest

St. Benedict's Rule is one of a handful of documents, such as the Magna Carta and U.S. Constitution, that make up the foundation of Western civilization. Benedict's Rule is an organizational blueprint for success; Benedict's original organization is the oldest in the world, spanning more than 1,500 years. The beauty of The Rule is its organizational genius, which has wide application beyond monastic groups. The Rule is a basic textbook showing how to create and maintain effective organizations. It offers today's reader insights into some of the most difficult resource management issues in business.

Though Heinz Ketchup is one of the most recognized corporate symbols in the world, few people know anything at all about the founder of this global brand, H. J. Heinz. Whereas industrial giants Rockefeller, Carnegie, Westinghouse, and Mellon are household names, Heinz has slipped into obscurity. Yet during a time of great transfers of wealth brought about in part by these famous robber barons, Heinz was well known for his humane treatment of his employees, customers, and suppliers. At the same time Heinz built a commercial empire by his use of industrialized food processing before Henry Ford. This book includes over forty photographs many of which are being published for the first time. Quentin R. Skrabec, Jr., lives in Maumee, Ohio.