Oliver Sheldon (1894–1951) was a director of the
Rowntree's
Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands, ...
in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, England. He wrote on principles of public and business administration in the 1920s.
Life
Oliver Sheldon was born on 13 July 1894.
He was educated at
King's College School
King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...
and
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...
.
In
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he served as an officer in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
, and was
mentioned in despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
.
He joined
Rowntree's
Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands, ...
in 1919 as Personal Assistant to
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH (7 July 1871 – 7 October 1954) was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He is known in particular for his three York studies of poverty conducted in 1899, 1935, and 1951.
The fi ...
, and in 1931 was appointed to the general Board of Directors at Rowntree.
[Rosamund Thomas, ''The British Philosophy of Administration: A comparison of British and American ideas 1900-1939'', 1978, p.255-7] At Rowntree's, Sheldon was a colleague of
Lyndall Urwick
Lyndall Fownes Urwick (3 March 1891 – 5 December 1983) was a British management consultant and business thinker. He is recognised for integrating the ideas of earlier theorists like Henri Fayol into a comprehensive theory of management admi ...
and, like Urwick, was an active member of the
Taylor Society
The Taylor Society was an American society for the discussion and promotion of scientific management, named after Frederick Winslow Taylor.
Originally named The Society to Promote The Science of Management, the Taylor Society was initiated in 191 ...
. He founded York Georgian Society in 1939 and was one of the four men who founded York Civic Trust in 1946. The University of York's Borthwick Institute for Archives cites Sheldon as its inspiration and creator in 1949 and 1950; and the Borthwick Institute was one of the founding elements of the University in 1963. The Civic Trust named
Oliver Sheldon House after him.
Management philosophy
Sheldon was closely involved in restructuring the management and organization of the growing confectionery company at a stage where its growth meant by necessity it had to move away from the personal, family-centred management of its founder,
Joseph Rowntree, towards a more professional culture. Under the chairmanship of Joseph's son,
Seebohm, the company adopted Sheldon's proposals for a more functional style of organisation, but he tempered this with a belief, shared by the Rowntree firm's senior managers, that industry existed for more than the profit of shareholders. Sheldon held that good management was about more than technique - it should be concerned with human understanding. "The leadership of men calls for patience, courage, and, above all, sympathy." Service to the community was the primary motive and fundamental basis of industry.
Human relations approach
Consequently, Sheldon advocated a
human relations
The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...
style of management which placed the individual in a human context involving a range of emotional and psychological needs. In this, he disagreed fundamentally with contemporaries such as
Frederick Taylor, who saw economic need as being the primary motivator of workers.
Anticipating later writers such as
Elton Mayo
George Elton Mayo (26 December 1880 – 7 September 1949) was an Australian born psychologist, industrial researcher, and organizational theorist.Cullen, David O'Donald. ''A new way of statecraft: The career of Elton Mayo and the development o ...
and
Frederick Herzberg
Frederick Irving Herzberg (April 18, 1923 – January 19, 2000) was an American psychologist who became one of the most influential names in business management. He is most famous for introducing job enrichment and the Motivator-Hygiene theory. ...
by some years, Sheldon argued that, while basic economic needs must be met, wider personal and community needs were equally important.
Industry was key to shaping society and the leaders and managers of industry consequently had to work to ethical considerations which were greater than purely financial. While stressing the need for efficiency, he saw service and democracy as complementary to this - reflecting long established Rowntree practices, introduced by Joseph and extended by Seebohm Rowntree and Oliver Sheldon, such as ensuring their workers were paid a "
living wage
A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...
", had decent working conditions and were consulted on and involved in decision making in the workplace. Both the firm and individual directors were closely involved in a range of community work, often motivated by their
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
religious beliefs and/or their
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politics.
Influence on Rowntree's
In 1904,
Joseph Rowntree had given away half his personal fortune and almost two-thirds of the shares in the company to three
Trusts
A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...
to pursue a range of charitable, social and political work. All three continue today in the forms of the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...
, the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. JRF's stated aim is to "inspire action and change that will create a prosperous UK without poverty."
Originally called the ...
(which includes the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust) and the
Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
{{Use British English, date=January 2018
The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home c ...
. All are still based in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
.
[Katherine A. Webb, ''Oliver Sheldon and the Foundations of the University of York'' (York: Borthwick Institute, 2009).]
Although with the passage of time, the Rowntree company was to change and develop in new ways (particularly with new brands and marketing from the 1930s on), and in 1988 was controversially
bought by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
, it retained a tradition of good management throughout, in keeping with the philosophy of its founder and those around him.
Sheldon explored this in his 1923 book, ''
The Philosophy of Management
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', which demonstrated his twin concerns for sound business and ethical practice when he stated: "The cost of building the Kingdom of Heaven will not be found in the profit and loss accounts of industry, but in the record of every man's conscientious service."
Writings
* ''The Philosophy of Management'', London: Pitman, 1923. Reprinted ed., 1930.
* 'The art of management: from a British point of view', ''Bulletin of the Taylor Society'', Vol. 8, No. 6 (December 1923)
* 'Taylor the creative leader', ''Bulletin of the Taylor Society'', Vol. 9, No. 1, (February 1924)
* 'Policy and policy-making', ''
Harvard Business Review
''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...
'', Vol. 4, No. 1 (October 1925)
* (with C. H. Northcott, J. W. Wardropper and
L. Urwick) ''Factory Organization'', London: Pitman, 1928
* 'The significance of rationalization', ''Harvard Business Review'', Vol. 6, No. 3 (April 1928)
References
Further reading
*
Lyndall Urwick
Lyndall Fownes Urwick (3 March 1891 – 5 December 1983) was a British management consultant and business thinker. He is recognised for integrating the ideas of earlier theorists like Henri Fayol into a comprehensive theory of management admi ...
, ''The Golden Book of Management: A Historical Record of the Life and Work of Seventy Pioneers'' (1956)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Oliver
English Quakers
1894 births
1951 deaths
People associated with the University of York
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
20th-century English businesspeople