Moreover, when men enter business they hazard not only their time and a definite amount of wealth in the enterprise, but perhaps other wealth that was intended to be kept separate. Indeed, embarking on a business venture may be but the beginning of the loss of the income of future years when all chance of profits has ceased and the business represents nothing but a lot of debts that remain to be liquidated.
Risk is an important element that is varied by the form of organization selected. This section traces briefly the rise of the corporation through the individual enterprise, the partnership and the joint stock company, and states the advantages and disadvantages of each of these forms of conducting business, as well as those of the corporation. This section of the Course constitutes the first step in the study of corporate finance.
Plant Management
The basis of modern industry Fundamental industrial principles Characteristics of modern industry Methods of organization and administration Coordinative influences Purchasing Storing material Planning and production departments Insuring results—securing industrial data Standards The control of quality—inspection Rewarding labor—older methods Rewarding labor—new methods Comparison of wage systems—profit sharing Statistical records and reports Location of industrial plants Arrangement of industrial plants Practical limitations in applying industrial principles Problems of employment Employes' service Science and management
Modern management of industrial plants is characterized by planning and system. Old processes and old methods no longer command respect because they are old. They have been subjected to searching analysis in the hope of finding better ways of doing things. We look today not for the history, but for the reasons of every phase of plant management.
This is our aspect of the general industrial changes which have transformed modern industry and made it a high-powered productive instrument. It is not an isolated thing, but just as significant a part of modern business methods as are improved transportation, increased credit and present-day banking.
In this part of the Course, the relation of plant management to the characteristic development of modern life is first traced, and then the changes displayed which scientific methods have made in the conduct of manufacturing processes. These affect the structural organization of business, the relations of the directing and managing organs to one another. They also affect the operations of these managing units, the purchase and storage of materials, the routing and sequence of work, the best utilization of machinery and the like.
The keynote of the volume is efficiency in productive effort and the principles which underlie it.
Marketing and Merchandising
Marketing: Modern distribution The field of marketing Study of the product Study of the market Trade channels Selling to the jobber Wholesale middlemen Selling to the retailer Selling through exclusive agencies Influencing retail sales Selling to the consumer Good-will and price maintenance Reaching the market and the complete campaign Merchandising: The jobber Modification of the jobber's service Problems of the jobber Retail competition Retail types Chain stores Mail-order selling Training the sales force Buying Stockkeeping Cooperation for service