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“You are the Company:” The Demands of Employment in the Emerging Corporate Culture, Los Angeles, 1900–1930
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 December 2011
Abstract
In recent years, business historians have expressed increasing interest in the development and evolution of corporate cultures. This study carries forward this body of scholarship by exploring a fundamental point of tension in the construction of corporate cultures—the meaning and demands of salaried employment. In a period in which the workings of corporations were uncertain and rapidly evolving, leaders sought to define the meaning and duties of corporate employment in varied but always expansive terms. Corporations wanted employees to act like limited partners, or stakeholders. Whatever the specific tasks of their jobs, the ideal employee was expected to be salesperson, ambassador to the community, and political activist on die firm's behalf. This article probes the ways in which leaders of emerging corporations in Los Angeles struggled to persuade salaried employees to act with such a sense of ownership in the firm.
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References
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15 I explore these issues in broader contexts in my dissertation, “Living on the Ladder: Work and Culture in the Emerging Corporate Order, Los Angeles, 1900–1930” (Ph.D. diss., University of Southern California, 1994).
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26 “How Big is Your Job,” Security First News Bulletin 1 (1 July 1929): 2.
27 Lupke, Paul, “Expanded Loyalty,” Edison Current Topics (July 1912): 1.Google Scholar Southern California Edison corporate communication records were housed in the company's Corporate Communications Department at its headquarters in Rosemead, California.
28 T. A. Graham, “Tardy Reports” memo of 1 April 1922. Pacific Mail Steamship Company (PMSS) box 6A, file 439.
29 See for instance [general agent] letter to Mr. T. A. Graham, c. 4/22, in which the sociability of a new employee was discussed as central to the company's expectations of his performance. PMSS collection, box 34A, Los Angeles file.
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32 Ibid.
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34 “Electrical Christmas Campaign,” Edison Energy 2 (Dec. 1928): 5.
35 “Better Home Lighting; A Textbook for Power Company Employees and their Families,” pamphlet issued by Southern California Edison in 1930, SCE Archives.
36 In a 1929 report, the company proclaimed: “Two of the SCE districts now have 100 percent of married employees using electric ranges.” “Statement by SCE Company in Respect of its Accomplishment during the year 1928 for consideration in the Award of the Charles A. Coffin Medal for that year,” unpublished manuscript, 1929, SCE Archives.
37 Union Oil, for instance, printed numerous “travelogue” articles outlining scenic automobile trips and vacations. See: “Visiting ten county seats in twenty-four hours,” Union Oil Bulletin 7 (June 1927): 12–13.
38 “Our interest in aviation,” Union Oil Bulletin 7 (Aug. 1927): 1.
39 See for instance, “Western asphalt association,” Union Oil Bulletin 6 (Feb. 1927): 18; “Riding on Rubber,” Union Oil Bulletin 5 (June 1925): 4; Woodhams, George H., “Oil Sprays for Insect Pest Control,” Union Oil Bulletin 8 (April 1928): 11.Google Scholar
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47 Pacific Mutual had systematic training programs designed to help its agents become more effective salesmen. Beginning in 1914, for instance, the firm began a correspondence school in sales for all agents. See, “Pacific Mutual School for Salesman: An Important Announcement,” Pacific Mutual News 13 (May 1914): 108.
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50 Mansel Blackford has traced the extent to which California firms proactively maneuvered to mold government policies to their benefit in: The Politics of Business in California, 1890–1920 (Columbus, Ohio, 1977). William Issel has detailed how California businessmen helped shape public policy in favor of their business interests through various community organizations and citizens leagues in, “Citizens Outside the Government: Business and Urban Policy in San Francisco and Los Angeles, 1879–1932,” Pacific Historical Review 57 (1987): 117–145. Texts arguing that business maneuvered to secure government support include Kolko's, GabrielThe Triumph of Conservatism: A Reinterpretation of American History, 1900–1916 (New York, 1963)Google Scholar, and Sklar, Martin, The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism: The Market, the Law, and Politics (New York, 1988).Google Scholar Arguing against this thesis, at least with respect to railroads, is Martin, Albro, Enterprise Denied: Origins of the Decline of American Railroads, 1897–1917 (New York, 1971).Google Scholar
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65 Blackford, The Politics of Business in California, 40–59.
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76 Kennedy, S. M., Winning the Public (New York, 1921), 136.Google Scholar
77 “Statement of the Southern California Edison Company of its claims for the Charles A. Coffin Medal Effort for the Year 1922,” unpublished manuscript, 1923, SCE Archives; Minutes, Management Committee meeting, SCE, 12 April 1923, SCE Archives. On service clubs, see Charles, Jeffrey A., Service Clubs in American Society: Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions (Urbana, Ill., 1993).Google Scholar
78 Kennedy, Winning the Public, 51.
79 “Your responsibility” Pacific Mutual News 23 (April 1924): 168.
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84 The company used this system at least through 1910. Jess Stoddard, untitled speech, Proceedings of the Sixteenth Convention of the California Bankers Association, 1910, 71–74.
85 “Personality is an Asset in Trust Relations,” News of the Los Angeles First National 5 (12 Feb. 1928): 4.
86 “The Boss,” Security First News Bulletin 1 (1 Sept. 1929): 2.
87 In the first two weeks of April 1929, bank employees spoke to ten different groups including the Arnama Club, the Vermont Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Bellflower Real Estate Board, the Los Angeles Chapter of the League of American Pen women, and classes at the Venice High School and Sentous Junior High School. “Speakers Division promotes good will: MacLennan in Charge of Bureau providing Security-First National Men and Women for organization and club programs,” Security First News Bulletin 1 (1 Aug. 1929): 3; “Security First National Speakers,” Security First News Bulletin 1 (15 April 1929): 3.
88 In the spring of 1929, for instance, bank president Joseph Sartori began contributing a weekly column about matters of local business and economic needs to the Los Angeles Examiner. “Our Greatest Need: President starts unique series of weekly articles in Examiner on Civic Necessities,” Security First News Bulletin 1 (1 May 1929): 4. Like most large corporations, banks also believed participation in charities would boost their image. L.A.’s Security First even organized its own charity fund-The Los Angeles Community Foundation. Evidencing the bank's public relations ambitions for the Foundation, the booklet given to employees read: “Perhaps nothing can build more general good will for our institution.” “Read the Foundation Booklet,” Securitu First News Bulletin 1 (15 June 1929): 2.
89 See, for instance, “Courtesy in Business,” Union Oil Bulletin 3 (Jan. 1924): 17.
90 1926 issues of Union Oil Bulletin, for instance, contain numerous articles devoted to the company's “Outdoor campaign for safety and courtesy on the highways.” As an example, see: Clair, L.P. St., “Be Careful,” Union Oil Bulletins (Feb. 1926): 3–6.Google Scholar
91 “Our New Year's Resolution,” Pacific Electric Magazine 6 (10 Jan. 1922).
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