The topic of this cache is the organizational concept utilized by the automobile manufacturer General Motors in the 1930's to manage the rapidly growing firm. Under the leadership of Alfred P. Sloan, GM assembled itself into “divisions” which consisted of the various automobile manufacturers they acquired as they grew. The method was used instead of more traditional forms of organization including regular departmentalization, where the firm is split into “departments” based on their function; and plain divisionalization in which “divisions” are created to reflect a firms operations which are significantly different in nature e.g. very different product lines, facilities located long distances apart, etc. Under departmentalized divisionalization, certain major functions of the firm may also be combined into a division, as was the case of the creation of Delco-Remy, which manufactured the electrical components for all the other GM divisions.
Further <Per the ubiquitous Wiki>, “'Sloan is credited with establishing annual styling changes, from which came the concept of planned obsolescence. He also established a pricing structure in which (from lowest to highest priced) Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac—referred to as the ladder of success—did not compete with each other, and buyers could be kept in the GM 'family' as their buying power and preferences changed as they aged. These concepts, along with Ford's resistance to the change in the 1920s, propelled GM to industry-sales leadership by the early 1930s, a position it retained for over 70 years. Under Sloan's direction, GM became the largest industrial enterprise the world had ever known.”
As a business major, I studied departmentalized divisionalization in my Organizational Theory class; and on the job I had the opportunity to work on a project involving the concept, as well as to publish a paper on the project. Interestingly, in researching the topic I ran across a publication by a GM manager, who had married a DuPont girl and had been given a position in the firm under the Sloan administration (the DuPont family historically maintained a large GM stock holding and could muster significant influence within the firm). I was going to college in Delaware, and actually went to the DuPont Library at Winterthur (one of the DuPont mansions in the area now preserved for historical purposes) to review the notes of the fellow firsthand. When I asked to see them, the librarian said she would retrieve them out of the archives for me...provided I turned over to her ALL my ball point pens!!!?? (She was certainly a “no stray marks” kind of gal!!?)
In any case, what is the meaning of all this??? For one thing, it gave me an excuse to put a cache here, where there has been significant economic growth west of town. Also for “Bob the Business Major” to discuss one of his more favorite topics. One thought that certainly jumps out here, too, is that if you want a really good job in management, marry a DuPont girl!!? And finally, remembering Al Capp, “What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the U.S.A.”!!!