Lillian Gilbreth and the mental revolution at Macy’s,  1925‐1928

Graham, Laurel D.

doi:10.1108/13552520010359306

Cited by 17 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Indeed, Lillian Moller Gilbreth applied her vast experience with scientific management in manufacturing at Macy's, New York, in the 1920s (Graham, 2000).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic human resource management in department stores: An historical perspective

Miller

2006

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

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“…Indeed, Lillian Moller Gilbreth applied her vast experience with scientific management in manufacturing at Macy's, New York, in the 1920s (Graham, 2000).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic human resource management in department stores: An historical perspective

Miller

2006

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

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“…It is clear to see how the development of the concept of human factors, both physiological and psychological, advanced the theories of scientific management and, as suggested by Wren (2005, p. 174), "our understanding of work and the worker". Further, Gilbreth's work served to link scientific management with the Social Person Era and the works of theorists such as Mayo and Follett to come (Graham, 2000). Gilbreth brought a human element to scientific management and her book, The Psychology of Management, helped to establish the field of industrial psychology.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viewing the work of Lillian M. Gilbreth through the lens of critical biography

Gibson

Clayton

Deem

et al. 2015

JMH

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the significant contributions of Lillian M. Gilbreth through the lens of critical biography to put her work in the context of her life events, her key roles, the turning points in her life and the societal context within which her contributions to management thought were made. Design/methodology/approach -Critical biography examines the interaction of a person's life events with the social, economic and political contexts surrounding his or her life and draws inferences as to why the person made specific decisions and contributions. Findings -Key contributions to management thought made by Lillian M. Gilbreth are linked to her biographical events, including the multiple roles she played as daughter, student, wife, mother, author, engineer, psychologist, breadwinner, domestic scientist and teacher. Various turning points in her life are identified, including being allowed to go to college, taking her first psychology course, marrying Frank Gilbreth, publishing Fatigue Studies and Frank's death. Key societal factors that influenced Gilbreth's contributions were the growing interest in scientific management, the status of women and the increased interest in domestic science. Research limitations/implications -The qualitative technique of critical biography is demonstrated as a useful methodology for examining individual contributions to management history. The authors acknowledge the limitation of subjective interpretation. Practical implications -The reasons behind Lillian Gilbreth's contributions, which were considered a precursor to the human relations era, are extrapolated from this research.Originality/value -This paper provides a critical biography of Lillian M. Gilbreth and her work within the context of her life and times.

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“…Concomitant with the formalisation and acceptance of an organisational structure suited to the downtown department store was the introduction of scientific principles of management to the shopfloor, often driven by time and motion studies (Graham, 2000). Non customer-facing store organisation was enhanced with the introduction of the retail price inventory method (Filene, 1930;Savitt, 1999), along with credit and store overhead control (Jeacle, 2004).…”

Section: The Downtown Department Store: Organisational Structure and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Organisational rigidities and marketing theory: examining the US department store c.1910–1965

Wood

2011

The Service Industries Journal

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By analysing the US department store between c. , this article deepens our understanding of the nature of the transition to phases of 'maturity' and 'decline' that are fundamental to models of retail change (retail wheel, retail life-cycle). By employing a close reading of key marketing and management writing of the period, it finds that "lockin" to an organisational structure associated with a single downtown store posed significant obstacles to suburban branched expansion. Only partial organisational centralisation occurred with the formation of holding companies in the 1920s, which contrasted with chains of general-merchandise and some department store retailers that were efficiently structured and better able to exploit suburban growth. When major department store companies finally embraced branched expansion they were forced to significantly revise their operational structures.

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Lillian Gilbreth and the mental revolution at Macy’s, 1925‐1928

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

Strategic human resource management in department stores: An historical perspective

Strategic human resource management in department stores: An historical perspective

Viewing the work of Lillian M. Gilbreth through the lens of critical biography

Organisational rigidities and marketing theory: examining the US department store c.1910–1965

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