Wedgwood
Subtitle: the first tycoon
By: Brian Dolan.
Publisher: Viking Penguin; Viking
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 396
Subjects: Wedgwood, Josiah, -- 1730-1795; Potters -- Great Britain -- Biography; Industrialists -- Great Britain -- Biography
Genres: Biography.
Description: Wedgwood has been one of the most recognizable brand names in the world for more than two hundred years--the epitome of quality and luxury--and is also the Enlightenment's most remarkable success story. Born into a poor family of potters, Josiah Wedgwood amassed a fortune that would today make him a billionaire, and created a multinational corporate empire. He combined rationality with bold experimentation, revolutionizing the business model of his time with a series of innovations: organizing skilled labor in one of the world's earliest factories; encouraging employee loyalty by offering long-term contracts that included health insurance and pension plans; and changing the very notion of shopping by utilizing showrooms and traveling salesmen.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-388) and index.