Adam Smith's Key Ideas

Adam Smith

• Invisible Hand: Individuals acting in their own interests unintentionally promote societal benefits, advocating for the self-regulating nature of the market.
• Division of Labor: Increases productivity by improving worker dexterity, saving transition time between tasks, and fostering invention of labor-saving machines, but can also diminish workers' intellectual and social faculties.
• Role of Government: Advocates for public education to mitigate the adverse effects of labor division, emphasizing that manufacturers rely on labor division for productivity gains.

Critique of Joint-Stock Companies

• Criticizes the management of joint-stock companies for being less vigilant with investors' money compared to private partnerships, predicting potential negligence and waste.

Market Ethic

• Promotes private initiative, competition, and innovation over mercantilism and protectionism, aligning with Enlightenment values and the interests of entrepreneurs.

Robert Owen

Utopian Socialist Vision

• Calls for a "new moral order" through social reorganization, aiming to create a society combining agricultural and industrial communes to counteract the dehumanizing effects of industrialism.

Practical Reforms

• Improved working conditions at New Lanark: reduced working hours for children, better living conditions, and safety measures, advocating for better sanitation, housing, and education for workers.

Moral Management

• Introduced the "silent monitor" system for worker discipline, using color-coded blocks to rate performance without verbal reprimands, viewing labor force management akin to maintaining machinery and emphasizing the importance of worker welfare for productivity.

Economic and Social Views

• Believed manual labor was the source of wealth and prosperity, proposing agricultural reforms and labor value standard to boost employment and consumption.

Charles Babbage

Scientific Approach to Management

• Applied a systematic method to industrial operations, analyzing tools, machines, labor, and expenses, advocating for efficient factory systems to reduce production costs.

Profit-Sharing Plan

• Proposed workers receive a fixed salary plus a share of factory profits and bonuses for productivity improvements, believing this would align workers' interests with employers' and prevent waste and mismanagement.

Mutual Interests

• Stressed the importance of cooperation between workers and factory owners for mutual benefit, seeing profit-sharing as a means to avoid labor disputes and promote a harmonious work environment.

Pioneering Management Thought

• Emphasized the value of technological advancements and the need for new incentives to enhance labor cooperation, recognizing the importance of cooperation between workers and factory owners.

Andrew Ure and Charles Dupin's Contributions

Andrew Ure

• Studied at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities, receiving an MD from Glasgow in 1801, and was elected to the Chair of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s Institute in Glasgow in 1804.
• Contributed to industrial education, teaching "the whole range of human knowledge" at Anderson’s Institute, the first technical college for the "artisan class."