The American Management Association (AMA) is an American
non-profit educational
membership organization
A membership organization is any organization that allows people or entities to subscribe, and often requires them to pay a membership fee or "subscription". Membership organizations typically have a particular purpose, which involves connecting pe ...
for the promotion of management, based in
New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world.
It offers its members a wide range of training programs, seminars, conferences, studies, and publications, which cover topics as diverse as industrial or
commercial management
Commercial management is "the identification and development of business opportunities and the profitable management of projects and contracts, from inception to completion".
Commercial management within an organization is applied only at policy ...
, communication, finance and accounting,
human resources management
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
, leadership, international management, marketing and sales.
As a corporate training and consulting group, it provides a variety of educational and management development services to businesses, government agencies, and individuals.
History
Origins
The origins of the American Management Association dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when the training of industrial workers became a concern for large American companies. In 1913, 35 of the most important professional schools, led by the
New York Edison Company, joined forces to create The National Association of Corporation Schools (NACS).
It came to life at a convention held at the
New York University on January 24, 1913, at which a constitution was adopted, officers were elected and provision were made for the appointment of working committees.
As first president was elected
Arthur Williams, an electrical engineer and executive at the New York Edison Company, as first vice-president
E. St. Elmo Lewis
Elias St. Elmo Lewis (March 23, 1872 – March 18, 1948) was an American advertising advocate. He wrote and spoke prolifically about the potential of advertising to educate the public. He was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame posthumously ...
, as second vice-president
Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz, April 9, 1865 – October 26, 1923) was a German-born American mathematician and electrical engineer and professor at Union College. He fostered the development of alternating c ...
, as secretary
Lee Galloway, and as treasurer
E. J. Mehren.
Frederick C. Henderschott was elected assistant secretary-treasurer.
The first national convention of the association was held in September that year in
Dayton, Ohio, under the auspices of the
National Cash Register Company. In the first year already 30+ major corporations had joined, with in total over 500.000 employees.
[ F.C. Henderschott,]
The National Association of Corporation Schools
" Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers 32.2 (1913): 1413-1416.
Under the influence of Taylor's methods, the aim of the association was to promote vocational training as a factor in the competitiveness of industrial activity. After the
First World War, The National Association of Corporation Schools moved closer to another recently created association, the Employment Managers' Association.
The Employment Managers' Association was in 1920 reorganized into the Industrial Relations Association of America, which in 1922 merged with The National Association of Corporation Schools to form the National Personnel Association.
[Tina Grant, ''International Directory of Company Histories,'' Volume 76. 2006. p. 24]
Early years
In 1923 the association changed its name into the current American Management Association. Some of the founders of the American Management Association were
Meyer Bloomfield,
Henry S. Dennison
Henry Sturgis Dennison (March 4, 1877 – February 29, 1952)Morgen Witzel (2005). ''Encyclopedia of History of American Management.'' p. 116 was an American progressive business man, president and owner of Dennison Manufacturing Co. Paper Box Fac ...
,
William J. Graham
William Johnson Graham (February 7, 1872 – November 10, 1937) was a United States representative from Illinois and Presiding Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
Education and career
Born on February 7, 1872, in ...
and the first president
Sam A. Lewisohn (1884-1951).
At the end of the war, there were movements in industry to spread socialist ideals and to revive trade unionism. The American Management Association made it their mission to help managers manage social relations in order to cope with them. However, with the
Great Depression of 1929, the American Management Association adopted more progressive positions to limit direct policy interventions in the management of enterprises.
With
World War II the American Management Association began to advocate greater equality of treatment at work. In 1942, it published a study that called for better integration of black workers into the world of work. In 1943 it published a similar study on women's work. During these war years the American Management Association brought together a large number of business leaders, and was very close to the political power. The American Management Association Vice-President
Lawrence A. Appley was one of the directors of the
War Manpower Commission.
After the war the influence of American Management Association remained high, and they successively published recommendations on the quality of financial reporting in 1946, and on cooperation with the trade unions in 1948. By the time
Lawrence A. Appley started his presidency, in 1948, the American Management Association offered a forum for debates, a network of influence, and a platform for the leaders in the training of business leaders.
Further developments
Throughout the 1950s, the American Management Association continued to link the world of big business with government. It was in 1961 that it began its international expansion with the opening of a European center in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. It then opened one in
Mexico City in 1966,
Canada in 1974,
Japan in 1993,
Shanghai in 1995 and Latin America in 1996. During this period, several centers were also established in the United States in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
In 1963, the American Management Association established the
Operation Enterprise, a program designed for high school and college students. From the 1960s on, it also increased its editorial activity and created a publishing house, Amacom, in 1963. In 1972, it founded a newspaper, ''Organizational Dynamics'', and launched a second in 2000, ''MWorld''. The American Management Association sold Amacom to
HarperCollins in 2018.
To date, the American Management Association has 25,000 members and 3,000 organizations in 90 countries. The current President and CEO of the American Management Association is Manny Avramidis.
Past presidents
Presidents of the American Management Association, and some notable other functions, have been:
* 1923–26:
Sam A. Lewisohn, first president.
[Sam A. Lewisohn, 1884-1951](_blank)
Stamford, Conn. : The Overbrook Press. 1951. p. 11
* 1927 :
Frank L. Sweetser
* 1928 :
William W. Kincaid[American Management Association, ''Special Papers,'' Nr. 17, 1928. p. 21.]
* 1929 :
Cyrus S. Ching
* 1930–33 :
William Joseph Graham
* 1934–36:
Malcolm C. Rorty
Malcolm Churchill Rorty (1875 – January 18, 1937) was an American engineer, economist, statistician and manager for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. He is known as one of the founding members of the Econometric Society, and co ...
* 1936–48:
Alvin E. Dodd;
["Alvin Dodd Dead: Industry Expert," in ''New York Times,'' June 3, 1951] James O. McKinsey
James Oscar McKinsey (June 4, 1889 – November 30, 1937) was an American accountant, management consultant, professor of accounting at the University of Chicago, and founder of McKinsey & Company.Flesher, Dale L. and Tonya K. Flesher.McKinsey, Ja ...
, chairman, 1936-37.
[Flesher, Dale L. and Tonya K. Flesher.]
McKinsey, James O. (1889-1937)
." In ''History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia,'' edited by Michael Chatfield and Richard Vangermeersch
Richard G.J. Vangermeersch (born 1940) is an American economist, and Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Rhode Island, particularly known for his ''History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia,'' edited with Michael Chat ...
. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. pp. 410–411.
* 1948–68 :
Lawrence A. Appley.
* 1968 :
Alexander Trowbridge
Alexander Buel (Sandy) Trowbridge III (December 12, 1929April 27, 2006) was an American politician and businessman. He was the United States Secretary of Commerce from June 14, 1967, to March 1, 1968, in the administration of President Lyndon B. ...
* 1968–70 :
James Keith Louden
* 1971–81 :
James L. Hayes.
* 1982–90 : Thomas R. Horton
* 1991–97: David Fagiano.
* 1998–00: George B. Weathersby
* 2000–01: Barry Lawson Williams (interim) and CEO
* 2001–17 : Edward T. Reilly.
[Allyson Stewart-Allen, Lanie Denslow. ''Working with Americans: How to Build Profitable Business Relationships.'' 2002. Back cover.]
In 2017 Manny Avramidis was named 18th President and Chief Executive of the American Management Association.
[AMA. "American Management Association International Names New CEO; Reilly to Pass the Reins After 16 Years of Leadership," at ''amanet.org'', 6/16/2017.]
See also
*
Henry Laurence Gantt Medal The Henry Laurence Gantt Medal was established in 1929 by the American Management Association and the Management section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for "distinguished achievement in management and service to the community" in h ...
References
Further reading
*
F.C. Henderschott,
The National Association of Corporation Schools" ''Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers'' 32.2 (1913): 1413-1416.
*
Jacoby, Sanford M. ''Employing bureaucracy: Managers, unions, and the transformation of work in American industry, 1900-1945.'' Columbia University Press, 1985.
* Lange, William H. ''The American Management Association and Its Predecessors: Significant Evidence of Trends in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.'' Special paper no. 17. New York: American Management Association, 1928.
External links
American Management Association official site
{{Authority control
Trade associations based in the United States
Management organizations
Organizations established in 1913
1913 establishments in the United States