Management During the First Industrial Revolution: European Pioneers—The Genesis of Modern Management

From the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century a combination of technological invention, innovation and improvement in multiple industries, underpinned by favourable institutional structures and processes, led to a transformation of the British economy, followed by industrial development across Europe and parts of the United States, and became known as the First Industrial Revolution. Mechanisation and the standardisation of systems and processes were at its heart, with dynamics that were mutually reinforcing across industrial, commercial and infrastructure sectors. As the First Industrial Revolution gathered momentum, agents, general managers, under-managers and supervisors were involved in initiating new technology projects, implementing new systems and processes—and all whilst recruiting and training people to work in this new controlled, factory environment. In this dynamic context, managerial attitudes, perceptions, competences and understanding of production and economic opportunities were central to success. The challenge facing managers at this time was to harness the potential of technological developments to reskilled human resources in new economic and social structures. To do so, they needed to have contextual competences that were particularly of their time and aligned to the political and social mores of this early period in industrialisation. However, other competences—change management, planning, execution and workforce management—were ones that could be applied across the years. This was the genesis of modern management.