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Alfred D. Chandler Jr.

アルフレッド・ディー・チャンドラー・ジュニア

Arufureddo D. Chandorā Junia

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1918-09-15 （Guyencourt, Delaware, United States）
Died
2007-05-09 （Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States） age 88
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Guyencourt, Delaware, United States → Baltimore, Maryland, United States (Johns Hopkins affiliation) → Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (Harvard/MIT affiliation)

Career

Occupations
business historian, historian, professor, author
Active Years
1946-2007
Affiliations
Harvard Business School, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society
Influenced By
Frederick Merk (doctoral advisor), Henry Varnum Poor (ancestor and source material), Alfred P. Sloan
Influenced
Numerous business historians and management scholars, Wallace Williams, Milorad Novicevic

Education

Phillips Exeter Academy
Period: 〜1936
Year of Graduation: 1936
Country: United States
Preparatory school; graduated 1936
Harvard College (Harvard University)
Degree: BA
Period: 1936–1940
Year of Graduation: 1940
Country: United States
Bachelor of Arts (BA), graduated 1940
Harvard University
Degree: MA
Period: 1945–1946
Year of Graduation: 1946
Country: United States
Returned from WWII naval service and obtained MA
Harvard University
History
Degree: PhD
Period: 1946–1952
Year of Graduation: 1952
Country: United States
PhD in history; doctoral advisor: Frederick Merk

Awards

Bancroft Prize
1978
Organization: Columbia University (Bancroft Prize committee)
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for History
1978
Work: The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business
Category: History
Organization: Columbia University (Pulitzer Prize committee)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise

1962 business history / economic history

A seminal study examining how corporate strategy drove the development of organizational structures, using cases such as Du Pont, Standard Oil, General Motors, and Sears.

business strategyorganizational structuremulti-divisional form

The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business

1977 business history / economic history

Argues that managerial coordination within large firms—enabled by technological and infrastructural changes—became a central force in the American economy; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History.

role of managersSecond Industrial Revolutionscale and scope of firms

Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism

1990 economic history / business history

Further develops themes about firm growth, integration, and technological change shaping industrial capitalism.

firm growthtechnological changeindustrial capitalism

Inventing the Electronic Century: The Epic Story of the Consumer Electronics and Computer Industries

2001 economic history / history of technology

Traces the development of consumer electronics and computer industries and the transition to the information age.

informatizationhistory of technologyindustrial transformation

Shaping the Industrial Century: The Remarkable Story of the Evolution of the Modern Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries

2005 economic history / industrial history

A detailed account of the development of the modern chemical and pharmaceutical industries from an industrial-historical perspective.

industrial historychemical industrypharmaceutical industry

Bibliography

  • Chandler, Alfred D. "The beginnings of 'big business' in American industry" Business History Review 33#1 (1959): 1-31.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., 1962, Strategy and Structure.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., and Stephen Salsbury, 1971, Pierre S. Du Pont and the Making of the Modern Industrial Corporation.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., 1977, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., 1990, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., 2001, Inventing the Electronic Century.
  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., 2005, Shaping the Industrial Century.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
academic and analytical prosecomparative-historical methodcase-study based narrative
Recurring Motifs
role of managers and hierarchical organizationscale and scope of firmsimportance of railroads and infrastructuredevelopment of industrial capitalism

Legacy

Chandler established the foundations of business history and substantially advanced understanding of corporate organization and the role of managers. His work influenced management studies, organizational sociology, and economic history; he has been called the doyen of American business historians.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Philosophical Society

Archives

  • Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School (Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. papers)
  • Radcliffe Institute (Schlesinger Library) — Poor family papers

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in management textbooks and business history courses
  • The Visible Hand became a canonical work in business history and prompted interdisciplinary debate

Quotes

  • the doyen of American business historians
    Source: The Economist (obituary) (2007)

Trivia

  • He was a descendant of Henry Varnum Poor and used Poor's papers in his doctoral work.
  • The family use of "Du Pont" derives from a familial connection through his great-grandmother.
  • Served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before returning to complete graduate studies.
  • Won the Pulitzer Prize for History for The Visible Hand (awarded 1978).