Publications
Publications
- July 1991 (Revised May 1995)
- HBS Case Collection
Samuel Slater, Francis Cabot Lowell, and the Beginnings of the Factory System in the United States
Abstract
Deals with the coming of the mechanized textile industry to the United States, and with it, the nation's first factories. Considers the introduction of small spinning mills in Rhode Island, and the appearance of large integrated spinning and weaving mills in Massachusetts. These basic business and technological innovations are best presented by comparing ways in which each set of enterprises were financed, carried out processes of production, marketed goods, trained labor, and managed their enterprises. Based partly on cases by N.S.B. Gras and T.R. Navin.
Keywords
Technological Innovation; Business History; Production; Industry Growth; Manufacturing Industry; Rhode Island; Massachusetts
Citation
McCraw, Thomas K. "Samuel Slater, Francis Cabot Lowell, and the Beginnings of the Factory System in the United States." Harvard Business School Case 792-008, July 1991. (Revised May 1995.)