Abstract
Literature on contributions made by minority entrepreneurs is in short supply. Charles Clinton Spaulding, an African American businessman in the early twentieth century, offers a view of leadership and management that is worthy of discussion. As the head of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, Spaulding built one of the most successful enterprises of his time, laying the foundation for other entrepreneurs to follow. His writings on the subject, particularly his eight “necessities” for big business, deserve attention from today’s scholars of the subject.
Innovative leadership and management, aspects of the modern business enterprise which connects governance structure with production,[1] were extremely important in early twentieth century United States and other parts of the western world. Chandler’s research on the dynamics of industrial capitalism focused on industrial enterprises (food, textiles, printing, etc.) noting that major innovations production processes around the turn of the century established new industries and transformed several old industries by exploiting unprecedented cost advantages found in the scale and scope of these economies.[2] The same may be said of other businesses enterprises, when exploring entrepreneurship between 1900 – 1929. Recognizing that contributions made by African Americans and other minorities in business administration is woefully lacking in the literature, Prieto and Phipps (2016) attempt to bridge the gap by focusing on insurance magnate Charles Clinton Spaulding, his contributions within the African American community, and the business community at-large.[3]
It is imperative for students and practitioners in management to pay close attention to individuals who have excelled in the field of business, thus Spaulding served as an exemplary figure for this post. He came from humble roots. Born just ten years after emancipation, Spaulding was one of fourteen children raised to farmers who instilled a sense of discipline combined with industriousness and faith that would help shape the course of his life. Influenced by Booker T. Washington’s gospel of self-help in the black community, Spaulding left the family farm for Durham, North Carolina to finish his education, working a variety of jobs. His work ethic attracted the attention of John Merrick and Dr. Aaron Moore who brought him on to work with them at the insurance company they founded, North Carolina Mutual. Under Spaulding’s leadership the company was reorganized, gaining a reputation as “The World’s Largest Negro Business.”[4] Spaulding went on to become influential through his article “The Administration of Big Business” which summarized eight fundamental “necessities” for managing large business enterprises.
The methodology used by Prieto and Phipps (2016) relied on reviewing and synthesizing several writings including published works by Spaulding himself, which was largely qualitative in scope. This qualitative approach is useful due to Spaulding’s own body of work. Returning to Chandler for comparison, it was easy to discover similarities between his and Spaulding’s “necessities” for big business. Spaulding’s “necessity” number one is cooperation and teamwork, noting this as essential among business executives as it relates to policy and professionalism within the cadre.[5] This corresponds with Chandler’s take on the subject where cooperation spurred development in large enterprise (his example is railroads), as well as fostering a sense of professionalism in executive leadership.[6] Another “necessity” was authority and responsibility, in essence, these were outcomes that relied on each other to accomplish work[7] but juxtaposes neatly with Chandler’s interpretation of authority that as ensuring sufficient power to carry out responsibilities.[8] A third example may be found in necessity number eight on conflict resolution, which held to Spaulding’s belief that personal and business contacts relied on mutual goodwill to prevent conflicts, and this too, lines up with Chandler’s supposition entrepreneurs and their associates in large companies often develop close bonds with one another.[9] This personal connection was so in line with Spaulding’s leadership style, that most Mutual employees referred to him as “Papa.”[10]
In the postbellum discussion, Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropic endeavors were found to line up with Christian teaching. A devout Christian, Spaulding management style was a direct reflection of his faith and he was attributed for stating that “before every board meeting, I stop outside the boardroom to ask myself this question: Am I fit to be an executive? This repeated check on humility always reminds me that I am an instrument of God. His ideas direct our company policy.”[11] These are lessons for Christian students in management today!
Spaulding considered himself a modern, “scientific,” businessman, reading much of what was available in his time on management and life insurance to make his business an enduring one. Many of his ideas were ahead of his time and North Carolina Mutual served as a model for what people of color could achieve in American enterprise. This despite the impact of racism and discrimination that existed, and Prieto and Phipps (2016) shared an incident where he was attacked by a white fountain clerk for drinking a soda inside the establishment rather than outside – in a building that was owned by African Americans. The man once dubbed “Mr. Negro Business” and “Mr. Cooperation” has been considered by many to be the Father of African American Management. Why not? The company is still in existence. It is a legacy that deserves to be remembered.
Bibliography
Chandler Jr., Alfred D. 1994. Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism. London: Harvard University Press, 14-46. ProQuest eBook Central.
Chandler Jr., Alfred D. Visible Hand Harvard University Press, 1993. https://hdl-handle-net.ezproxy.liberty.edu/2027/heb.00628.
Prieto, Leon C., and Simone T. A. Phipps. “Re-Discovering Charles Clinton Spaulding’s “The Administration of Big Business”: Insight into Early 20th Century African-American Management Thought.” Journal of Management History (2006) 22, no. 1 (2016): 73-90. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1108/JMH-01-2015-0004.
[1] Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., 1994, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism, London: Harvard University Press, 14.
[2] Ibid., 21.
[3] Leon C. Prieto and Simone T. A. Phipps, “Re-Discovering Charles Clinton Spaulding’s “The Administration of Big Business: Insight into Early 20th Century African-American Management Thought,” Journal of Management History) 22, no. 1 (2016), 73.
[4] Ibid., 76.
[5] Ibid., 77.
[6] Alfred D. Chandler Jr., Visible Hand, Harvard University Press, 1993, 130.
[7] Prieto and Phipps, 2016, 78.
[8] Chandler, 1993, 102.
[9] Ibid., 9.
[10] Prieto and Phipps, 2016, 82.
[11] Ibid., 81.
Todd Elliott, Writer 