Lessons from Lowell, Massachusetts (1821–62): The Shifting Sands of Managerial Beneficence

Abstract

Far more than a mechanism to voyeuristically delve into the past to satisfy trivial interests, management history can be used to provide insight into contemporary practices and guide us away from repeating past mistakes. Using historiography, this paper offers a glimpse into the nature of the employer–employee relationship, comparing events from the earliest days of industrialization to the present. Set in the historical site of Lowell, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, this research addresses the progression of events that seem to predictably occur when well-meaning entrepreneurial enterprises face environmental turbulence and subsequently alter their labor philosophy from paternalism to social Darwinism. In the early 1800s, Lowell's textile mills represented a progressive environment. A close-knit, planned community was created which allowed the women opertives to grow socially and intellectually. However, economic downturns resulted in cycles of wage-cutting and cost-saving efforts. Eventually, the women were replaced with immigrants who were willing to tolerate substandard working conditions. By the 1860s, the owners had completely abandoned their concept that corporations should have souls. In history, market forces are continually in flux and often so is management's perception about whether the worker is a valuable asset or an easily discarded econom ic liability. Reactions to this unpredictability are addressed.