Alfred Sloan, a Brief Biography

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Alfred Sloan

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was born in May 1875 in New Haven, Connecticut, as the first of five children to Alfred P. Sloan, Sr. and Katherine Sloan. In 1885, he moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York. Once there, Alfred became known for his academic prowess in public schools and at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (Who Was Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.?, 2014). After initial delays in acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he went on to receive his Electrical Engineering degree in 1892.

After graduation, Alfred began working in a small machine shop in Newark, New Jersey, called the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company. During his time as an employee, Alfred looked for a way to improve the company share and was able to convince the company to begin manufacturing antifriction bearings for automobiles. In 1899, at the age of 24, Alfred Sloan became president of Hyatt Roller Bearing Company and assumed responsibility for all aspects of the business. Under his leadership and direction, Hyatt grew rapidly and the company’s bearings became the standard for the automobile industry. In fact, Oldsmobile was the first automotive customer for Hyatt, with other manufacturers soon following. In 1916, Hyatt Roller Bearing Company along with other automotive manufacturers, merged with United Motors Corporation. Alfred Sloan, Jr. was appointed president of the newly formed entity. After two years of continued growth, United Motors merged with General Motors Company to form General Motors Corporation. Again, Alfred assumed a leadership role with the merge, becoming Vice President in Charge of Accessories and serving as a member of the Executive Committee. His success in the company continued and he became President of...

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...up receiving a government loan or bailout in order to maintain operations because it was so resistant to change.

Of the two styles, I believe that Henry Ford’s is the more successful and lasting of the two. He had the ability to build upon his failures and never lost sight of the bigger picture.

Bibliography

Crowther, S. (1922). My Life and Work. Garden City, New York, USA: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc.

Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration. (1998, November 30). Washington Post, A0.

Guest, E. A. (1923, July). Henry Ford Talks About His Mother. American Magazine, pp. 11-15, 116-120.

McDonald, J. (1964). My Years with General Motors. Garden City, New York, USA: Doubleday.

Who Was Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.? (2014, April 13). Retrieved from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: http://www.sloan.org/about-the-foundation/who-was-alfred-p-sloan-jr/

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