"Formation of U.S. Railroad Companies’ Management Systems: Analyzing the American Railroad Journal in 1849–1862"

U.S. railroads established large, formal management systems in the 1850s. This study investigates this development by examining the American Railroad Journal (ARJ) in 1849–1862, at a time when complex business management practices were being established. U.S. railroad companies started developing management systems in the 1850s. This era coincided with the ARJ changing its concept from an engineering to a business-oriented magazine because of the multitude of U.S. railroad companies establishing financing and management systems. Generally, many investors, managers, and others in the U.S. railroad industry sought to access these companies’ information.
In this era, U.S. railroad companies developed immense businesses and published a multitude of ARJ articles. The research questions of this study are as follows:
(1) Why did U.S. railroad companies need to establish a management system in 1849–1862?
(2) When these companies became big businesses, was this related to the changes in financing?
(3) What were the well-defined and less clear approaches in U.S. railroad companies’ innovative management systems of the time?
This research reveals how U.S. railroad companies grew in 1849–1862. During this time, an increasing number of American railroad companies developed by prioritizing revenue, which improved the conditions of the American economy and railroad companies alike. As U.S. railroad companies diversified, this expanded the country’s economy and allowed vast business empires to grow. The 1850s saw many railroad companies develop financing and business activities, thereby attracting numerous U.S and European investors. In the 1850s, these companies developed financing and high-value securities that led to management challenges, thereby amplifying significant issues that impacted the economy, society, and investors. As these companies began issuing securities in the U.S., they grew in significance to the American capitalist economic system, thereby expanding related banking and the resulting network and management of financing.
This study analyzes this historical background and its effects on the management and strategies of U.S. railroad companies.