David A. Hounshell published his book From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States forty years ago, in 1984. The purpose of this panel is two fold: to celebrate this anniversary of an important text that has been greatly influential in business history, the history of technology, and other fields, and to consider how scholars from these scholarly communities would approach these topics today, given our current understanding and the new research that been done over the intervening decades.
The panel will focus on three papers that explore and probe different aspects of From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932. Duran, Nanda, and Sorenson examine the issue of industrial agglomeration in Detroit, with the focus on how mass production may have contributed to inter-firm coordination and, thereby, agglomeration. Pillai explores the issue of scaling in the automotive industry and finds that it began earlier than a Ford-centered narrative would suggest. Finally, Esch approaches the history of mass production at Ford Motor Company from a labor perspective that especially focuses on the role of racial hierarchies in the companies factories in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States. The organizers, Kirsch and Vinsel, also have perspectives on the text and will share them depending on the amount of audience feedback and other factors of time. David Hounshell has agreed to participate in the panel.
Proposed Structure
Introduction and Impact of From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932, by David Kirsch
Presentation of Papers
Response by David A. Hounshell (Prof. Hounshell will attend, circumstances permitting)
Appreciation by Lee Vinsel
Q&A
Abstracts of Papers
Paper 1
Xavier Duran, Universidad de los Andes, Columbia
Ramana Nanda, HBS
Olav Sorenson, UCLA
Why did US auto assemblers agglomerate in Detroit? The role of industrial organization of the city and mass production
Why did US auto assemblers agglomerate in Detroit? We explore this question by examining contemporary accounts of the evolution of the industry and identify key factors overlooked in the discussion of this question. The narrative explores the role of two different forces on the agglomeration of the US auto industry in Detroit. First, we explore the role that the industrial organization of the city played inducing innovation in the auto industry and generating agglomeration forces. Particularly important for assembly intensive manufacturing like that of the early auto industry is inter-firm coordination. Our narrative highlights the development of hand-to-mouth inventory systems (similar to just in time) and the prevalence of auto parts supplier’s credit. At the turn of the 20th century only a relatively tight spatial and social network facilitated physical movement of parts from one site to another and trust for credit to flow where most experimentation was needed: auto product development. Second, we explore the influence of mass production on agglomeration. Once the uncertainty of auto (product) design and the financial constraints to experimentation were reduced (at least to some firms), integration within a single firm of production of many auto parts and coordination of workers and specialized machines led to new assembly methods and even tighter spatial agglomeration of auto production. In sum, industrial organization of the city facilitated inter-firm coordination of auto assembly in an initial stage of the industry while mass production contributed to within firm coordination in the following stage. Both led to tighter levels of spatial agglomeration of production. This explanation to agglomeration of the auto industry in Detroit complements others like those that emphasize fights within firms that generated spin-offs and preexistence of a local strong wagon industry (Klepper 2007; Cabral et al 2018).
Paper 2
Sandeep Devanatha Pillai, Bocconi
Scaling in the Early American Automobile Industry
This study uses the early history of the American automobile industry to explore the phenomenon of scaling. Scaling innovation refers to technology, production, and market related changes that firms engage in with the explicit purpose of increasing output. It occurs in the emergent stages of an industry and must address the simultaneous occurrence of market uncertainty, industry takeoff, and the tension between technical novelty and familiarity. We distinguish scaling innovation, a firm level construct, from the industry level constructs of product and process innovation not only because scaling innovation may require changes that are not innovative from a product or process perspective, but also because product and process innovations may not necessarily enable expansion of firm output. Revisiting the emerging American automobile industry using qualitative and quantitative historical data, our study suggests that scaling innovation is the best explanation for firm performance.
Paper 3
Elizabeth Esch, University of Kansas
Title and Abstract To Follow Here
[Note: Prof. Esch initially committed to participating in the symposium but was not able to provide a title and abstract by the date of this submission. We will resubmit the revised symposium description when we receive it. Prof. Esch’s work on the ideology of Fordism as it diffused around the globe highlights aspects of “mass production” that are missing from Hounshell’s study. Her 2018 book, The Color Line and the Assembly Line: Managing Race in the Ford Empire (UC Press), introduces perspectives and voices that we believe will provide an interesting counterweight to the conversation. In the event that Prof. Esch is unable to participate, we have several other potential speakers in mind; in each case, we would seek to bring out approaches that were not part of Prof. Hounshell’s initial study.]