Professionals and Productivity.
The Diffusion of Soft Technologies during and after WWII
Traditionally, World War II has been considered the source of “an extraordinary surge of growth” in the US, thanks to the advancements in science and technology it pushed. Professionals and Productivity argues that wartime was also a major inflection point in the history of American business. The large-scale diffusion of innovative management practices to US firms involved in war production acted as a technology that put them on a higher growth path for decades, but also helped creating the “American Way” of business. In the following decade, the transfer of soft technologies to war-torn European and Japanese economies revolutionized their production methods, with positive, long-lasting effects on adopting companies.
Professionals and Productivity employs state-of-the-art econometric methods to provide new evidence on the effects management practices on firm productivity. Based on newly-collected firm-level data, it analyzes the changes in firm organization driven by management practices adoption, the diffusion of managerial knowledge within firms and across the supply chain, and the complementarities between soft and hard technologies. The core of management innovation developed during World War II, despite a few changes, has persisted over years and has shaped today's firm best practices.
Professionals and Productivity employs state-of-the-art econometric methods to provide new evidence on the effects management practices on firm productivity. Based on newly-collected firm-level data, it analyzes the changes in firm organization driven by management practices adoption, the diffusion of managerial knowledge within firms and across the supply chain, and the complementarities between soft and hard technologies. The core of management innovation developed during World War II, despite a few changes, has persisted over years and has shaped today's firm best practices.