Leon Pratt Alford (Jan. 3, 1877 – Feb. 2, 1942) was an American

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

organizational theorist Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...

, and administrator for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. known for his seminal work in the field of industrial management.William Jaffe (1957).'' L.P. Alford and the Evolution of Modern Industrial Management''. New York University Press.

Biography

Born in Simsbury, Connecticut, Alford graduated from the High School of

Plainville, Connecticut Plainville is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 17,525 at the 2020 census. History Plainville first was inhabited by Europeans around 1650. By the 1660s, the land was incorporated as land for nearby Farm ...

, and in 1896 from the

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now has 14 ac ...

. After ten years in the industry in various functions,"Prof. Alford of N.Y.U. dies, administrative engineer expert was 65." in: ''The Sun'' New York City, 2 January 1942. he received his ME from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1905.
The Tech News Volume
' 25, Issue 6, November 8, 1933 In 1896 Alford started as shop foreman at the McKay Metallic Fastening Assn. in Boston, which merged to McKay-Bigelow Heeling Assn. in 1897. After another two years as shop foreman, he found employ as production superintendent at the

United Shoe Machinery Corporation United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC) was a U.S.-based manufacturer of various industrial machinery, particularly for the shoe manufacturing industry and monopolized the American shoe machinery business. It was an important federal govern ...

in 1899 in Boston. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation, formed in 1899 out of the merger of three shoe machinery companies, developed revolutionary new shoemaking equipment, which revolutionized the shoe industry. The company employed 9,000 workers and in its best days supplied 85% of all shoemaking machines in the United States. In 1902 Alford got promoted to mechanical engineer, and invented and patented some new constructions for the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. In 1907 Alford started working in engineering journalism for the Engineering Magazine company. From 1907 to 1911 he was engineering editor at the '' American Machinist'', and from 1911 to 1917 editor-in-chief. Sequentially he was editor for the ''Industrial Management'' from 1917 to 1920, from 1921 to 1923 editor for ''Manufacturing Industrial Management,'' and from 1923 to 1928 consulting editor for the ''Factory and Industrial Management'' and vice-president of the Ronald Press Company in New York. Alford co-developed the theory called systematic management, and was an advocate of this management style within the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In 1929,

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

appointed a president's commission to investigate the current state of the economy. Alford served on this panel and was the principal co-author of the committee's report, ''Recent Economic Changes'' (1929). From 1935 to 1937 he joined the Federal Communications Commission, where he was assistant engineer-in-charge of the manufacturing costs unit. In 1937 Alford jointed the faculty of New York University, where he became chairman of the department of administrative engineering. Alford was elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and was its former vice-president, and fellow of the Institute of Management and its former president. He was awarded the first Melville Medal in 1927ASME Honors Manual
. Accessed 14 October 2013. and in 1929 the

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 ...

from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Work

Systematic management and scientific management

Alford was a practitioner of systematic management and an advocate of this management style within the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This systems of management principles, partly based on the ideas of Charles Babbage, was developed together with

Alexander Hamilton Church Alexander Hamilton Church (28 May 1866 – 11 February 1936) was an English efficiency engineer, accountant and writer on accountancy and management, known for his seminal work of management and cost accounting. Biography Church was born in U ...

, would paved the way to modern industrial management. Their views clashed with the scientific management approach advocated by

Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer. He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consultants. In 1909, Taylor summed up ...

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 ...

(1996)
Church, Alexander Hamilton (1866-1936
" In ''History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia,'' edited by

Michael Chatfield Michael Chatfield (1930s-2004) was an American economist, accounting historian, and Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the Southern Oregon University, known for his work on the history of accounting and accounting thought, and particularly for hi ...

and

. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. p. 124. In 1912, Alford published a critique of scientific management that undermined Taylor's claims of success. Alford argued that labor efficiency improvements at the

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plant of the Link-Belt Company were due to the personality of company's president, James Mapes Dodge. Dodge had won much respect and trust from the workers because of arrangements and incentives he offered so that they would accept Taylor's changes. Later in 1912, Alford sat on the ASME committee that considered whether or not to publish Taylor's book, ''The Principles of Scientific Management''. Alford's criticisms of Taylor and his management techniques moderated the committee's position on the text. Because the committee's report was ambivalent about the merits of Scientific Management, the ASME declined to publish Taylor's book.

Industrial management

Alford published his own management text, ''Industrial Management''. He advocated a reformist approach to labor and to unionism. In 1920, he co-founded the Management Division within the ASME. Alford advocated flexibility in "

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

" and " human engineering" and rejected fixed and rigid approaches to labor management such as scientific management. His approach to labor soon became the dominant accepted practice of corporate liberal management. Because of this approach, the Management Division soon became the largest division within the ASME.

Selected publications

Books, a selection: * Alford, Leon Pratt.
Bearings and their lubrication
' (1911) * Alford, Leon Pratt.
Manufacture of artillery ammunition
'' (1917) * Alford, Leon Pratt. ''Ten Years Progress in Management.'' American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1922. * Alford, Leon Pratt, ed. ''Management's handbook: by a staff specialists''. The Ronald press company, 1924. * Alford, Leon Pratt.
Laws of management applied to manufacturing
'. Hive Publishing Company, 1928; 1981. * Alford, Leon Pratt.
Henry Laurence Gantt: Leader in Industry
'. Harper & brothers, 1934 * Alford, Leon Pratt.
Principles of industrial management
'. Ronald Press Company, 1940; 1951. * Alford, Leon Pratt, and John Robert Bangs, eds. ''Production handbook''. Ronald Press Co., 1948. Articles, a selection: * Alford, Leon P. "Scientific Management in Use." ''American Machinist'' 36 (April 4, 1912): 550. * Alford, L. P., and A. H. Church. "Principles of Management." ''American Machinist'' 36 (May 30, 1912): 857–862.

Patents

* 1909
Patent US936690
Fixture-support for concrete-steel constructions.

References

External links

Leon P. Alford
WPI Journal: People of the Century, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, Leon P. 1877 births 1942 deaths American business theorists American mechanical engineers Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients