The Rise of Big Business in America - Essay Example

As a means of understanding this dynamic and mutually exclusive relationship that existed between ruthless, exploitative, and unreasonably competitive business practices, the following analysis will engage the reader in helping to understand how the approaches that these industrialists engaged was represented in so many of the business decisions that they made on a nearly daily basis. Taking Andrew Carnegie as an example, it must be understood that Carnegie realized that efficiency and pushing the resources under his disposal to the ultimate maximum was one of the most effective means of attaining the desired result.

Embracing the model he had learned from his earlier career at the railroad, the textbook has the following to say concerning Carnegie’s approach: “He applied to steel production the management lessons he learned from the railroad, embracing the latest technological innovations while pushing his managers relentlessly to cut costs so he could charge less than his competitors and gobble up the steel market for himself.” (Mooney 33 – emphasis provided). . ative of the way in which Carnegie pressured his employees, it must also be understood that a relentless drive to defeat all competitors was also a hallmark of Carnegie’s approach.

Says the textbook, “After failing to fix prices through informal ‘pools’, he pressed his competitors into an "alliance" under his influence that set price and production schedules and made joint shipping and purchasing arrangements” (Mooney, 36). Once again, the sheer determination and obstinacy that Carnegie approached the business world with proves that his drive for profits and demand for further efficiency would ultimately stop at nothing towards achieving this goal. In such a way, it can obviously be understood why Carnegie’s motto was, “Cut the prices; scoop the market,; run the mills full” (Cherny PAGE NUMBER).

Yet, it must not be understood that Carnegie alone should stand as the gold standard of how management and industrialism took place during this period. Perhaps the best known industrialist is that of John D. Rockefeller. Whereas Carnegie may have come across as obstinate, cut-throat, and demanding, the sheer drive and levels of manipulation that Rockefeller engendered ultimately put Carnegie to shame. One of the ways in which this was effected was with regards to the fact that Rockefeller would use strong armed tactics in order to maximize profitability and ultimately ensure a monopoly.

For instance, Rockefeller engaged directly with the shippers of a specific product; ensuring that it could not reach the market in time. Such an underhanded tactic ensured that Rockefeller’s different industries could then provide the given product to the customer whereas the other supplier/producer could not. (Tarbell PAGE NUMBER). Yet, it must not be understood that