Frank Loel Sweetser (June 2, 1873 – December 17, 1953) was an American pioneer

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations g ...

, and

organizational theorist Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...

. He was general manager of the Dutchess Manufacturing Company, and served as president of the

American Management Association The American Management Association (AMA) is an American non-profit educational membership organization for the promotion of management, based in New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world. It o ...

, and of the National Association of Cost Accountants, now

Institute of Management Accountants The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), formerly known as the National Association of Cost Accountants (NACA), is a professional organization of accountants. History IMA was founded in 1919 in Buffalo, New York as the National Associ ...

.''Management News,'' Volumes 26-32. 1953. p. ix

Biography

Sweetser was born in 1873 in

Wilton, New Hampshire Wilton is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,896 at the 2020 census. Like many small New England towns, it grew up around water-powered textile mills, but is now a rural bedroom community with some m ...

, son of Harrison Cole Sweetser, a traveling salesman, and Abby Ann (Walton) Sweetser.Philip Starr Sweetser. ''Seth Sweetser and His Descendants.'' 1938. p. 282 Sweetser came into prominence early 1920s as author of a series articles on

cost accounting Cost accounting is defined as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, al ...

, published in the ''System'' magazine. In those years he served as general manager of the Dutchess Manufacturing Company, a trouser manufacturers at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. In 1925 Sweetser was elected president of the

for 1927 at their recent annual meeting, as successor of

Sam A. Lewisohn Samuel Adolph Lewisohn (March 21, 1884 – March 13, 1951) was an American lawyer, financier, philanthropist, art collector, and non-fiction author.James Karman, ''The Collected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, with Selected Letters of Una Jeffers: ...

and was in 1928 succeeded by William W. Kincaid.''Factory: The Magazine of Management,'' Volume 38. 1927. p. 40: In 1927 he also served as new chairman of the International Garments Manufacturers' Association, and in the year 1928-29 he served as president of the National Association of Cost Accountants. In 1930 Sweetser became partner in the consulting firm of Stevenson, Harrison & Jordan, and later senior partner. He also became partner in the National Photo Laboratories.

Family and deaths

Sweetser married Lura Hill Parker on June 22, 1897, and they had 3 children and lived in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

. Sweetser died on December 27, 1953, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the age of 79 after a brief illness. His son, Frank L. Sweetser Jr. (1913–1994), became a notable sociologist, at the department of sociology at the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

.Mark S. Gaylord, John F. Galliher. ''The Criminology of Edwin Sutherland.'' 1988. p. 129.

Selected publications

* Frank L. Sweetser. ''Financial management of the Dutchess Manufacturing Company,'' 1925. * Paul W. Herring, F. L. Sweetser, Joseph M. Meyers. ''Following Up Complaints and Errors.'' American Management Association Office executives' division. Committee on salary standardization, 1925. ; Articles, a selection * Sweetser, F. L., "Things We Learned from Making Over a Business," ''System'', November, 1923. * Sweetser, F. L., "Why Our Labor Costs Are Low," ''System'', December, 1923. * Sweetser, F. L., "Coaching Our Workers to Meet 1924 Labor Costs," ''System'', February, 1924. * Frank L. Sweetser.
Operationg data for line officials
" in: ''Handbook Of Business Administration,'' Leona Powell (ed.). 1931. p. 681-702 * Frank L. Sweetser.
Essentials in Budgeting
" in: ''Handbook Of Business Administration,'' Leona Powell (ed.). 1931. p. 1536-1554 * Sweetser, F. L. 1937. "Standard costs simplified for garment manufacturers." ''N.A.C.A. Bulletin'' (August 1): 1309–1330.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetser, Frank L. 1873 births 1953 deaths American business executives American management consultants People from Wilton, New Hampshire Presidents of the American Management Association