Synopses & Reviews
This book examines the changes in General Motors' organization between 1924 and 1970.
Synopsis
Drawing on primary historical material, The Struggle for Control of the Modern Corporation provides a historical overview of decision making and political struggle within one of America's largest and most important corporations. Freeland examines the changes in the General Motors organization between the years 1924 and 1970. He takes issue with the well-known argument of business historian Alfred Chandler and economist Oliver Williamson, who contend that GM's multidivisional structure emerged and survived because it was more efficient than alternative forms of organization.
Table of Contents
1. The modern corporation and the problem of order; 2. Creating corporate order: conflicting versions of decentralization at GM, 1921-1933; 3. Administrative centralization of the M-Form, 1934-1941; 4. Participative decentralization redefined: mobilizing for war production, 1941-1945; 5. The split between finance and operations: postwar problems and organization structure, 1945-1948; 6. Consent as an organization weapon: coalition politics and the destruction of cooperation, 1948-1958; 7. Consent destroyed: the decline and fall of General Motors, 1958-1980; 8. Conclusion.