A 1946-1960: Post-war Years
In the years immediately following World War II, business culture and leadership appeared to follow a military model. This basically gave absolute power to the person on top of the hierarchy and people further down the chain followed orders without question. Loyalty during the late forties was not a real problem, despite the military style of management. People returning from the war needed jobs, and those who were working during the depression were happy to have any job at all.
The predominant attitude of most Americans during the 1950s was that America is Number 1: we won the war, we figured out how to make everything, and after we made it during the day, we could go home and watch television. The boss, by mere virtue of his position, had an implied authoritarian status; that is, the boss was the boss, and he was always right. One article mentioned that managers have a responsibility to make use of their “God-given talents…in maintaining and strengthening our free society.” This went on to imply that as managers, you are “better” than the workers are and have a responsibility to make the most of your position.
It is common knowledge that the 1950sare known for employee loyalty. However, we feel that this has less to do with the authoritarian boss and more to do with the concept of the “Company Man”. Mortgage rates were low and the concept of suburbs was born. Young men stuck with mortgages & responsibilities of family, signed on to companies for life, and assumed all the good and bad that that meant over their life with the company. Thus, the idea of assigning “good” traits to the boss was almost illogical; the boss by definition was good at being a boss.
Although bosses in this period seemed to have the upper hand, progressive theorists in management theory recognized the potential danger and consequences of their unchecked arrogance and tried to set forth more integrative policies for managers. Among them:
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Be “among” the workers to get to know them and their issues
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It’s good for a worker just to hear “hello” from the boss.
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Ask workers about the details of their job.
The goal was to focus on post war issues of moving factory workers away from an “Us vs. Them” mentality, a mindset that had evolved from the military way of thinking. This would ideally empower employees to think for themselves and to communicate valuable knowledge from the factory floor to management. This gave the manager more accountability because presumably information about working conditions, productivity, etc., would reach more than one level of management.
In contrast, one small article focused on the need for communication between management and labor, but discussed the danger to a worker of being seen by fellow workers as a “snitch” or a favorite employee. Thus, the major problem facing theorists here was how to implement “Open Door” policies without alienating the workers who walk through them. This was exacerbated by the fact that since most workers—blue and white collar—had just returned from the war, or had war exposure, the military style was not unfamiliar. Again, despite best intentions by theorists, aclear boss/worker dichotomy existed.
