Globalization and Alfred D. Chandler's modern (American) firm: an essay

Abstract

Purpose

Alfred D. Chandler was the most important business historian of the twentieth century, who described and analyzed how large industrial firms are organized and managed in the USA from the late nineteenth to late twentieth centuries.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a personal memoir and tribute to Dr Chandler and examines his methods, selected writings, and his legacy.

Findings

His concepts and models are widely accepted and applied to North America, Western Europe, and most advanced industrial economies, taking on an air of universality. At the close of the twentieth century, however, a rise of high‐tech industries and rapidly growing, non‐western economies challenged many of the universalistic assumptions embedded in Chandler's work. At the beginning of the twenty‐first century, Chandler's writings suggest nothing more than how much time, place, and people matter.

Originality/value

This paper adds a more personal touch to Dr Chandler.

Citation

Fruin, W.M. (2009), "Globalization and Alfred D. Chandler's modern (American) firm: an essay", Journal of Management History, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/17511340910964126