Daniel McCallum: A Pioneer in Modern Management

Daniel C McCallum was General Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad. He published his six principles of general administration, in the 1855 Reports of the President and Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad. Although designed for his own use in running one of the major US railways, these principles represent some of the first explicit management thinking. Although the language is dated, the clarity of thinking and general applicability of these principles is apparent:

1. A proper division of responsibilities.
2. Sufficient power conferred to enable the same to be fully carried out, that such responsibilities may be real in their character [that is, authority to be commensurate with responsibility].
3. The means of knowing whether such responsibilities are faithfully executed.
4. Great promptness in the report of all derelictions of duty, that evils may be at once corrected.
5. Such information, to be obtained through a system of daily reports and checks that will not embarrass principal officers, nor lessen their influence with their subordinates.
6. The adoption of a system, as a whole, which will not only enable the General Superintendent to detect errors immediately, but will also point out the delinquent.