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Harvard. Business Organization and Control. Sydney Alexander 1948-49.

Sydney Stuart Alexander (1916-2005) [Harvard S.B., 1936; A.M., 1938; Ph.D. 1946] taught the popular undergraduate course on Business Organization and Control before it was taken over by John Kenneth Galbraith and Carl Kaysen. While waiting for a delivery of material one day in the Harvard Archives, I thumbed through the 25th anniversary report of the Class of 1936 and came across Alexander’s report to his class (1961). You can see him standing in the front-row of the Department of Economics (MIT) group picture taken in 1976.

I was touched by the philosophical reflection in his 1961 report to his class that I have transcribed and now post before his syllabus for Economics 161.

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“My professional life since graduation can be told as a tale of three cities: Cambridge, New York and Washington, each with a multiple exposure. Three tours of duty in Cambridge as teacher and research worker, two in New York, once in empirical research and once in business, and two in Washington, once in wartime intelligence-oriented economic research, and once as an international civil servant for the International Monetary Fund….the many job shifts have simply been alterations between theory and practice. Now I juggle both theory and practice at the same time. I teach economic theory to practically oriented students of management at the School of Industrial Management at M.I.T…

“…I try to balance my interest in applied economics with the study, as yet embryonic, of the foundations of welfare judgments…There is a substantial body of economic doctrine, in the theory of economic welfare, which deals with the problem of how given wants of individuals can be best (most economically) satisfied. But the doctrine starts from the assumption of given want, and it leaves open the question of how important it is to satisfy those wants. Once the problem is viewed more broadly, it becomes obvious that the merit of want satisfaction depends on the desirability of the wants. The wants themselves are generated largely by the social framework, not least by the economy itself as it operates to satisfy the wants.

Inquiry into this range of problems runs counter to the last fashion but one in the social sciences—that of positivism, which scorned the questions that could not be expressed in operational terms. It is my thesis that the most important social issues cannot be handled in operational terms like problems in physics, nor yet in analytical terms, like problems in mathematics, but only by a sort of discussion which is more like literary criticism. That discussion cannot be based on the authority of experimental evidence or logical truth, though it may draw upon both. Its foundations, however, must be in the non-operational field in which terms like important, better, or worse have meaning…”

Source: Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, Harvard Class of 1936. Cambridge, 1961, pp. 11-12

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[Economics 161, 1948-49: Enrollment]

161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control. (Full Co.) Assistant Professor Alexander.

(F) 1 Graduate, 68 Seniors, 147 Juniors, 31 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 10 Radcliffe:   Total 261.
(Sp) 66 Seniors, 126 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 7 Radcliffe: Total 214

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1948-49, p. 77.

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Economics 161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control
Full Course. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Assistant Professor Alexander.

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 75.

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Economics 161
1948-49
Business Organization and Control

 

I. Fundamentals of Economic Organization

September 28

 Introduction Brookings, Ch. 2
Fainsod and Gordon, Ch. 1
Meade and Hitch, Part D, Chs. 1 and 2

October 1

 The Free Enterprise System

II. Nature and Origin of the Corporation

October 4

 The legal character of the corporation: Buchanan, Ch. 3
B & M, Book II, Ch. 1
Dewing, Book I, Chs. 1 and 2

October 6

 The history of the corporation:

III. Financial Structure and Operation of the Corporation

October   8

 Structure and Operation MLPF & B (entire pamphlet) and
Dewing, Book I, Ch. 4 to p. 83, Ch. 7, 8, 9 to p. 218, and 230-242
Dewing, Book III, Chs. 1 and 2

11

13

14 or 15

 Section

IV. The Large Corporation

October 11

 The extent and consequences of concentration: Gordon, Ch. 2, 4, and 5
Baker, Ch. IVB & M: Book I, Ch. I; Book IV, Chs. I through IV
Burnham, Chs. VI-IX, & XVI

20

 The operation of the large corporation:

22

 Section

25

 The separation of ownership from control:

27

 The managerial revolution?

29

 Section

V. Active Governmental Regulation of the Corporation

November 1

 New issues and the securities markets: Cherrington, Chs. 9 & 10 and
Dewing, Book IV, Ch. 9 & 6

3

5

 Section

8

 The holding company & its regulation: Allen, Ch. 9

10

 Corporate reorganization: Buchanan, Ch. XV or
Dewing, Book V, Chs. 3, 5, & 6

12

 Section

VI. Theory of Markets

November 15

 Competition, perfect and monopolistic: Boulding, Chs. 24 and 27
F & G, Ch. 9

17

 Duopoly and oligopoly:

19

 Section

VII. Markets and Their Regulation

November 22

 Railroads and their Regulation: Locklin, Chs. VIII, XV, & XVI

24

26

 Section

29

 Agriculture and the Government: Black & Kiefer, Chs. VIII, IX, XI, XVIII, XX, XXI, XXV, and XXX.

December 1

3

 Section

6

 The Petroleum Industry Rostow, Parts I, II, III and V.

8

10

 Section

13

 Lumber industry and trade associations: Burns, Ch. II and IV

15

 The meat industry

17

 Section

Reading period

 

References

Allen, Frederick L., The Lords of Creation, 1935.
Baker, John C., Directors and Their Functions, 1945.
Berle, A. A., and Gardiner C. Means (B & M), The Modern Corporation and Private Property, 1932.
Black, John D., and M. E. Kiefer, Future Food and Agricultural Policy, 1948.
Boulding, Kenneth E., Economic Analysis.
Brookings Institution (Lyon and associates), The Government and Economic Life, Vol. I, 1939.
Buchanan, Norman S., The Economics of Corporate Enterprise.
Burnham, James, The Managerial Revolution (Penguin, 1945).
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition.
Cherrington, Homer V., Business Organization and Finance, 1948.
Dewing, Arthur S., Financial Policy of Corporations, 1941, 2-vol. edition.
Fainsod, Merle, and A. L. Gordon (F & G), Government and the American Economy, 1941.
Gordon, Robert A., Business Leadership in the Large Corporation, 1945.
Locklin, D. Philip, Economics of Transportation, 1947.
Meade, J. E., and Charles Hitch, An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy.
MLPF & B: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beans, How to Read a Financial Report.
Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, 1947.

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Reading Period — Economics 161 — December 1948

Read 5 articles in FORTUNE, all from within one of the following groups. Within your chosen group read at least two articles from subgroup a, the remaining three articles may be chosen freely from either subgroup a or b. For brevity, titles are not given verbatim. Bracketed items should be read together as a group.

All copies of FORTUNE needed for this course may be found with the other bound periodicals on the open shelf.

Group I—Transportation

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. British Rys., p. 87, April ‘47 1. Penns. R.R., I, p. 67, May ‘36

2. Penns. R.R., II, p. 87, June ‘36

3. Penns. R.R., III, p. 84, March ‘48
2. Rate Battle, p. 149, Oct. ‘44
3. Railroads, p. 50, Aug. ‘39
4. Inland Waterways, p. 39, Oct. ‘31 4. Young & Ce & O., p. 97, May ‘46
5. R.R. Consolidations, p. 39, Mar. ‘30 5. Santa Fe, p. 122, Nov. ‘48
6. Rock Island, p. 140, Dec. ‘44

7. Keeshin Trucking, p. 47, Feb. ‘36
8. Pullman I, p. 39, Jan ‘38

9. Pullman II, p. 73, Feb. ‘38
10. Southern Pacific, p. 91, Nov. ‘37

 

Group II—Petroleum and Gas

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Oil Shortage? p. 94, Jan. ‘44 1. Amerada, p. 128, Jan. ‘46
2. Oil Play, p. 69, Aug. ‘48 2. Engineers of Energy, p. 107, Nov. ‘48
3. Pipelines, p. 125, Jan. ‘45 3. Sun Oil, p. 51, Feb. ‘41
4. Natural Gas, p. 56, Aug. ‘40 4. Socony, I, p. 111, Nov. ‘42

5. Socony II, p. 114, Feb. ‘43
5. Ickes Arab. Nights, p. 121, June ‘44
6. Oil Abroad, p. 37, March ‘31 6. Standard (N.J.)I, p. 49, April ‘40

7. Standard (N.J.)II, p. 79, May ‘40

8. Standard (N.J.)III, p. 61, June ‘40
9. Gulf, p. 79, Oct. ‘37
10. Sinclair, p. 60, Nov. ‘32

 

Group III—Steel

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Steel in War, p. 121, May ‘46 1. Labrador Venture, p. 115, Dec. ‘48
2. Basing Point Muddle, p. 73, Sept. ‘48 2. Spark in Steel, p. 95, Dec. ‘48
3. Iron Ore Dilemma, p. 129, Dec. ‘45 3. Steel in West, p. 130, Feb. ‘45
4. Steel I, p. 85, May ‘31 4. Great Lakes I, p. 31, July ‘40
5. Steel II, p. 52, July ‘31 5. Great Lakes II, p. 43, July ‘40
6. Steel III, p. 41, Sept. ‘31 6. Bethlehem, p. 61, April ‘41
7. National, p. 31, June ‘32
8. Republic, p. 54, Sept. ‘33
9. U. S. Steel I, p. 59, March ‘36

10. U.S. Steel II, p. 127, April ‘36

11. U.S. Steel III, p. 113, June ‘36

 

Group IV—Agriculture

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Agriculture, p. 68, July, ‘40 1. Garm Co-ops, p. 153, Aug., ‘45
2. Planning for Plenty, p 61, Oct., ‘41 2. Cotton I, p. 138, Nov. ‘45

3. Cotton II, p. 159, Dec., ‘45
3. Agriculture, p. 80, March, ‘36
4. Cattle, p. 88, April, ‘43
5. Wingate, p. 72, Oct. ‘41
6. Farm Income, p. 89, Oct. ‘37
7. Milk in Chicago, p. 80, Nov. ‘39

8. Grade A, p. 83, Nov., ‘39

 

Group V—Food Processing, etc.

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Continental Baking, p. 67, July ‘38 18. Pineapple, p. 33, Nov. ‘30
2. Nabisco, p. 86, June, ‘48

3. Nabisco, p. 64, Aug., ‘36

 19. Armour and Co., p. 59, June ‘34

20. Hormel and Company, p. 127, Oct. ‘37

21. Swift and Co., p. 55, Feb. ‘30
4. Standard Brands, p. 77, Jan. ‘38
5. Life Savers, p. 94, Feb ‘38 22. Procter and Gamble, p. 77, April ‘39
6. Planters’ Peanuts, p. 78, Apr. ‘38 23. General Mills, p. 117, April ‘45

24. General Mills, p. 81, Nov. ‘30
7. Del Monte, p 77, Nov. ‘38
8. Corn Products, p. 55, Sept. ‘38 25. Nestle’s, p. 117, Feb. ‘46
9. Coca-Cola, p. 65, Dec. ‘38
10. Cream of Wheat, p. 68, Jan. ‘39
11. Frozen Foods, p. 61, June ‘39
12. Wessen Oil, p. 67, Sept. ‘39
13. General Goods, p. 69, Oct. ‘34
14. Hershey Chocolate, p. 72, Jan. ‘34
15. Ralston, p. 84, Jan. ‘48
16. Beech Nut, p. 85, Nov. ‘36
17. Campbell Soup, p. 69, Nov. ‘35

 

Group VI—Public Utilities

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Power to Burn, p. 141, Feb. ‘45 1. I. T. & T., p. 145, Sept. ‘45
2. A. T. & T., p. 37, Sept. ‘30 2. A. G. & E., p. 165, Dec. ‘45
3. Com & Sou., p. 83, May ‘37
4. TVA, p. 167, May ‘35
5. TVA, p. 92, Oct. ‘33
6. Cal. G. & E., p. 77, July ‘30
7. Niagara Hudson, p. 43, June ‘31

 

 

Group VII—Retail Trade

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Marshall Field, p. 143, Dec. ‘45

2. Marshall Field, p. 79, Oct. ‘36

 9. May Stores, p. 109, Dec. ‘48
10. Bergdorf-Goodman, p. 62, June ‘31
3. Allied Stores, p. 123, March ‘47 11. Neiman-Marcus, p. 133, Nov. ‘37
4. Sears Roebuck, p. 84, Aug. ‘48

5. Sears Roebuck, p. 43, Feb. ‘32

 12. Woolworth, p. 63, Nov. ‘33
13. A & P, p. 41, July ‘30

14. A & P, p. 53, March ‘33

15. A & P, p. 93, April ‘38
6. Montgomery Ward, p. 69, Jan. ‘35
7. Macy’s, p. 82, May ‘30

8. Macy’s, p. 23, April ‘33

 

Group VIII—Coal and Coke

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. British Coal, p. 118, Oct. ‘46 1. Koppers, p. 73, April ‘37
2. Coal I, p. 86, March ‘47 2. Pittsburgh, p. 57, Oct. ‘33
3. Coal III, p. 99, April ‘47 3. Island Creek, p. 87, March ‘38
4. Anthracite, p. 72, Feb. ‘31

 

Group IX—Distilling and Brewing

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Whiskey, p. 28, Nov. ‘33 1. Seagram’s, p. 97, Sept. ‘48
2. Liquor Reviewed, p. 98, Oct. ‘34 2. Schenley, p. 99, May ‘36
3. Econ. of Repeal, p. 47, May ‘32 3. Anheuser-Busch, p. 42, July ‘35
4. Ballantine’s, p. 64, June ‘38
5. Hiram Walker, p. 68, March ‘39

 

Group X—Automobiles

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Ford, Chev., Plym., p. 86, Oct. ‘31 1. Studebaker, p. 89, Feb. ‘35
2. General Motors I, p. 41, Dec. ‘38 2. Chrysler, p. 103, Oct. ‘48
3. General Motors II, p. 37, Jan., ‘39 3. Chrysler, p. 57, Dec. ‘40
4. General Motors IV, p. 45, March ‘39 4. Willys, p. 80, Aug. ‘46
5. Kaiser, p. 91, Dec. ‘47
6. Nash, p. 125, Sept. ‘45
7. Borg-Warner, p. 109, June ‘46
8. Ford, p. 63, Dec. ‘33
9. Ford, p. 82, May ‘46
10. C.I.T., p. 71, Jan. ‘33
11. Auto Selling, p. 38, Dec. ‘31
12. Packard, p. 55, Jan. ‘37
13. Used Car, p. 39, June ‘38

 

Group XI—Ferrous Metals

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Aluminum Co., p. 20, Nov. ‘32
2. Aluminum Co., p. 46, Sept. ‘34
3. Anaconda, p. 53, Jan. ‘42

4. Anaconda, p. 83, Dec. ‘36

5. Anaconda, p. 71, Jan. ‘37

6. Copper Ind’y., p. 70 April ‘30

7. Phelps Dodge, p. 40, July ‘32
8. St. Joseph Lead, p. 93, June ‘37
9. U.S. Smelting, p. 74, July ‘35
10. Climax Molybdenum, p. 105, Oct. ‘36

 

Group XII—Housing

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Mr. Wyatt’s Shortage, p. 105, April ‘46 1. Metro. Life in Housing, p. 133, April ‘46
2. Fed. Housing Policy, p. 76, June ‘35 2. Where is Prefabrication? p. 127, April ‘46
3. Slum Clearance, p. 27, Feb. ‘34 3. Ind’y. Capitalism Forgot, p. 61, Aug. ‘47
4. Housing Survey I, p. 61, Feb. ‘32
5. Housing Survey III,   p. 35, April ‘32
6. Housing Survey VI, p. 60, July ‘32

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Spring Term, 1948-49
Economics 161—Business Organization and Control

 

Text: Burns, required; Purdy, optional.

Outline and Assignments

Date

 Lecture

Reading
Feb. 9 Integration Purdy, Ch. 22, and Burns, Ch. IX and pp. 76-92, 140-145; TNEC No. 21, pp. 121-132.
Feb. 11 Price Leadership
Feb. 14 Price Discrimination and the Basing Point System Burns, Ch. VI and VII
Feb. 16
Feb. 17 & 18 Sections
Feb. 21 Patents TNEC No. 21, pp. 158-165, 215-224;
Brookings, V 1, Ch. VI;
Purdy, Ch. 24; Stocking, Ch. 3
Feb. 23 Cartels
Feb. 24, 25 Sections
Feb. 28 Competition among Giants Hamilton, Section II; F& G, pp. 636-654
TNEC, No. 21, pp. 31-39, 48-51, 24-26, 194-198 and pp. 179-182, 170-172
March 2 Too Much Competition?
March 3 and 4 Sections
March 7 Housing, Problem Industry TNEC No. 8, Ch. IV; 20th Century, Housing. Chs. 5 and 6; TNEC No. 21, pp. 287-293
March 9 Non-Price Competition Burns, Ch. VIII
March 10-11 Sections
March 14 Chain Stores 20th Century, Distribution, pp. 133-141, and pp. 146-165; F&G 595-608
March 16 Problems of Small Business Kaplan, Chs. II, VIII, X
March 17-18 Sections
March 21 Anti-Trust History Purdy, Chs. 15, 16, and 17
Readings, Chs. 1 and 2
March 23
March 24-26 Sections
March 28 Recent Landmarks in Anti-Trust Purdy, Ch. 11; TNEC No. 21, p. 185-189; Oppenheim, Ch. 5 and pp. 310-328
March 30
Mar 31/Apr 1 Sections
April 3-10 Vacation
April 11 Unfair Competition and the F.T.C. F & G, Ch. 14

Burns, Ch. X
April 13 The N. R. A.
April 14-15 Sections
April 18 O. P. A. and W. P. S. U. S. at War, pp. 50-63, and Chs. 5, 9, and 10 (excluding pp. 281-298)
April 20
April 21-22 Sections
April 21 (sic) Price Flexibility Economic Report, January, 1948, pp. 75-79; Economic Report, January, 1949, pp. 43-45, 65-66
N.R.C., Part II, pp. 27-34; TNEC No. 1, ch. II; Nourse, Ch. XI
April 28-29
April 28-29 Sections
May 2 Modification of Competition and Full Employment Wallace, Entire Article
May 4 Workable Competition
May 6 Summary of Course

Reading Period Assignment to be Announced

 

References

Brookings Institution (Lyon et al.), Government and Economic Life, Vol. I
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition
Economic Report, Economic Report of the President, January, 1948 and January, 1949
F. and G., Fainsod and Gordon, Government and the American Economy
Hamilton, Walton H., Price and Price Policy
Kaplan, A. D. H., Small Business: Its Place and Problems
Nourse, Edwin, Price Making in a Democracy
N. R. C., U. S., National Resources Committee, Structure of the American Economy, Part II (Note that the assignment is in Part II, a volume separate from part I)
Oppenheim, S. Chesterfield, Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws (1948)
Purdy, Lindahl and Carter, Corporate Concentration and Public Policy
Readings in the Social Control of Industry (Blakiston Press)
Stocking and Watkins, Cartels or Competition? (Not to be confused with Cartels in Action by the same authors)
TNEC: U. S., Temporary National Economic Committee Monographs.

No. 1, Price Behavior and Business Policy
No. 8, Toward More Housing
No. 21, Competition and Monopoly in American Industry

20th Cent.; Distribution, Dewhurst et al., Does Distribution Cost Too Much?
20th Cent., Housing
U. S. at War, U. S. Bureau of the Budget, The United States at War
Wallace, Donald, “Industrial Markets and Public Policy,” in Public Policy, 1941, edited by Friedrich and Mason, pp. 59-129

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1948-49 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source: Harvard Album 1950.