Management information and management practices : freight train operation in inter-war Britain
This thesis seeks to explore how management practices developed in the U.K. using three of the big four railway companies as case studies. It will be argued that the managers in the UK, whilst aware of the debates on ~Systematic~ management and US practices, pioneered their own approach. Many of these practices were begun before amalgamation in 1923, but were only fully developed afterwards. We begin by exploring the history of management with an outline in Chapter Two on management ideas from the turn of the 20th century to 1939. This is followed by an analysis of management practices from circa 1900 to the amalgamation of 1923 in Chapter Three. Chapter Four introduces the railway companies within the context of their commercial environment. Chapter Five addresses the problem of achieving control of conveyance operations was addressed using similar methods by all companies. The key difference lay in the extent to which techniques were applied: the LMS developed centralised Train Control which enabled a systematic analysis of information to be made. The GWR and LNER introduced localised Traffic Control which did not allow such systematic analysis. In Chapter Six we see how the LMS employed management consultants
Edwards, Roy A.
History
Management information and management practices : freight train operation in inter-war Britain. This thesis seeks to explore how management practices developed in the U.K. using three of the big four railway companies as case studies. It will be argued that the managers in the UK, whilst aware of the debates on ~Systematic~ management and US practices, pioneered their own approach. Many of these practices were begun before amalgamation in 1923, but were only fully developed afterwards. We begin by exploring the history of management with an outline in Chapter Two on management ideas from the turn of the 20th century to 1939. This is followed by an analysis of management practices from circa 1900 to the amalgamation of 1923 in Chapter Three. Chapter Four introduces the railway companies within the context of their commercial environment. Chapter Five addresses the problem of achieving control of conveyance operations was addressed using similar methods by all companies. The key difference lay in the extent to which techniques were applied: the LMS developed centralised Train Control which enabled a systematic analysis of information to be made. The GWR and LNER introduced localised Traffic Control which did not allow such systematic analysis. In Chapter Six we see how the LMS employed management consultants
management information management practice train operation inter_war britain seek_explore management_practice develop use big railway company case_study argue manager whilst aware debate systematic management_practice pioneer approach many practice begin amalgamation fully developed afterwards begin explore history management outline management idea turn follow analysis management_practice circa amalgamation three_four introduces railway company within_context commercial environment address_problem achieve control operation address use similar method company key difference lay extent technique_apply develop centralise train control enable systematic_analysis information make introduce localise traffic control allow systematic_analysis see employ management