{"product_id":"endless-novelty-specialty-production-and-american-industrialization-1865-1925-9780691070186","title":"Endless Novelty: Specialty Production and American Industrialization, 1865-1925","description":"\u003cp\u003eFlexibility, specialization, and niche marketing are buzzwords in the business literature these days, yet few realize that it was these elements that helped the United States first emerge as a global manufacturing leader between the Civil War and World War I. The huge mass production-based businesses--steel, oil, and autos--have long been given sole credit for this emergence. In \u003ci\u003eEndless Novelty\u003c\/i\u003e, Philip Scranton boldly recasts the history of this vital episode in the development of American business, known as the nation's second industrial revolution, by considering the crucial impact of trades featuring specialty, not standardized, production. Scranton takes us on a grand tour through American specialty firms and districts, where, for example, we meet printers and jewelry makers in New York and Providence, furniture builders in Grand Rapids, and tool specialists in Cincinnati. Throughout he highlights the benevolent as well as the strained relationships between workers and proprietors, the lively interactions among entrepreneurs and city leaders, and the personal achievements of industrial engineers like Frederic W. Taylor. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Scranton shows that in sectors producing goods such as furniture, jewelry, machine tools, and electrical equipment, firms made goods to order or in batches, and industrial districts and networks flourished, creating millions of jobs. These enterprises relied on flexibility, skilled labor, close interactions with clients, suppliers, and rivals, and opportunistic pricing to generate profit streams. They built interfirm alliances to manage markets and fashioned specialized institutions--trade schools, industrial banks, labor bureaus, and sales consortia. In creating regional synergies and economies of scope and diversity, the approaches of these industrial firms represent the inverse of mass production. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Challenging views of company organization that have come to dominate the business world in the United States, \u003ci\u003eEndless Novelty\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to historians, business leaders, and to anyone curious about the structure of American industry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Philip Scranton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/23\/2000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.13w x 0.89d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691070186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Scranton\u003c\/b\u003e is University Board of Governors Professor, History of Industry and Technology, at Rutgers University in Camden. His most recent book is \u003ci\u003eFigured Tapestry: Markets, Production, and Power in Philadelphia Textiles, 1885-1941.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40087125360755,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":61.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_21c9129f-2bbd-4dcb-ad96-2e9a8a80a966.jpg?v=1652538297","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/endless-novelty-specialty-production-and-american-industrialization-1865-1925-9780691070186","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}