MANAGEMENT AND PROFIT BEFORE THE INDUSTRI AL-REVOLUTION - THE CASE OFA PRIVATE ROAD BETWEEN NEW-YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, 1815-1828

Are today's management techniques a simple continuation of the techniq ues already used before the Industrial Revolution? The study of the wa y a private (turnpike) road linking New York and Philadelphia was mana ged between 1816 and 1829 would rather lead to the opposite conclusion . The owners of the road were divided into two competing groups, one l ocally based, the other from Philadelphia. Both groups fought to contr ol the company in order to pocket the considerable profits it generate d through complex systems of subcontracting, and accordingly both grou ps spent their time consolidating these systems without paying much he ed to rules of good management as we understand them today.