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The Du Pont Experiments in Scientific Management: Efficiency and Safety, 1911–1919

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  • Stabile, Donald R.

Abstract

In this article, Professor Stabile examines the experimentation with Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management by managers at the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company. Despite their initial interest in efficiency, those managers quickly recognized that there was a direct relationship between efficiency and safety, an issue Taylor had not considered. When it was alleged that the efficiency methods had been a factor in two explosions, the emphasis in the company shifted to a more systematic approach to promoting safety. As a consequence, the company was able to manage a full-scale expansion of its production during the First World War with little disruption resulting from safety problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Stabile, Donald R., 1987. "The Du Pont Experiments in Scientific Management: Efficiency and Safety, 1911–1919," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 365-386, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buhirw:v:61:y:1987:i:03:p:365-386_05
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    Cited by:

    1. Provan, David J. & Woods, David D. & Dekker, Sidney W.A. & Rae, Andrew J., 2020. "Safety II professionals: How resilience engineering can transform safety practice," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    2. Daniel Nelson, 1995. "Industrial Engineering and the Industrial Enterprise, 1890-1940," NBER Chapters, in: Coordination and Information: Historical Perspectives on the Organization of Enterprise, pages 35-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Donald R. Stabile & Andrew F. Kozak, 2012. "Markets, Planning and the Moral Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14979.

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