Bomber businessmen: The Army Air Forces and the rise of statistical control,1940-1945.
详细信息
- 作者：Hay ; David Lowell.
- 学历：Doctor
- 年：1994
- 导师：Critchlow,Donald T.,eadvisorMiscamble,Wilson D.,eadvisor
- 毕业院校：University of Notre Dame
- CBH：9422401
- Country：USA
- 语种：English
- FileSize：16965351
- Pages：416
文摘
The U. S. Army Air Forces AAF) Statistical Control Division was created in early 1942 by far-sighted civilian and military leaders who employed quantitative planning and control methods to mobilize and manage American air power in World War II. A year before Pearl Harbor,they saw that our involvement would generate unprecedented logistical demands and that typical " chronic unpreparedness" could not persist. "Stat Control" was the AAFs logistical scorekeeper,based at the Pentagon and linked to over 70 domestic and overseas offices. Stat Control became vital to the AAF,which grew from a strength of 100,000 in 1940 to 2.5 million by 1944. Stat Control was formed by Charles "Tex" Thornton under the patronage of Assistant Secretary of War for Air Robert Lovett,and AAF Commanding General Henry "Hap" Arnold. More than 3,000 "statistical officers" were trained at Harvard Business School and then served field commanders in special "Statistical Control Units." Stat Control used the best business methods and data processing technology available to give Allied leaders timely and accurate information on the strength and status of AAF planes,personnel,and supplies. Buoyed by unequivocal wartime success,Stat Control veterans transplanted their skills to postwar enterprises. Thornton and nine associates joined Ford Motor Co. in 1946. Managing "by the numbers," the Ford "Whiz Kids" profoundly changed how Americans worked,waged war,and saw the world. Limitations of their methods became clear only in the 1960s. The dissertation addresses three issues: 1) why the AAFs leaders adopted quantitative management methods,2) the history and use of those methods,and 3) how they were used to administer American air power. Methods and mindsets from private enterprise played a key role in Americas most momentous public enterprise--waging World War II. Business management and military command converged in Stat Control,a potent weapon in the logistical campaigns that helped decide the war. Thornton and his "bomber businessmen" helped the Army Air Forces grow into the best-equipped,best-trained,and best-informed military force the world had ever seen.