The Premises of the American System of Manufactures

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the nature of the American system of manufactures in a descriptive and critical manner, to analyze its entrenched paradigm, and then to uncover its rational inadequacy. In particular, the paper first describes the dominant model embodied in the American system in terms of job design, organizational structure, and organizational technology, and reveals its shortcomings through examining these components in terms of their generalizability and universality. Second, it analyzes the main features of sociological intellectual frameworks of thought in order to pinpoint the exact rational position of the American system of manufactures. It shows that the functionalist paradigm is an indelible intellectual attribute of the American model. Finally, the paper highlights the inadequacy of the American model to deal with the complex and multifarious problems of organizations. It should be noted that the Human Relations Movement, which is a significant property of the American system, will not be considered in this paper. The paper merely deals with the nature of the American system of manufactures in the early twentieth century. JEL Classification Codes: D20, D29.