Forging Ahead in Business.

by Various.

THE LAW OF SUCCESS

During the winter of 1883 a slim, studious young man was working as a.s.sistant foreman in a greasy little machine shop at Aurora, Illinois. He was saving money with a view to spending the next year at the State University, and he was devoting every minute of his spare time to thought and reading. He was not making much of a stir in the world, and only a few of his close friends ever gave a second thought to his ambitions or prospects.

One of these friends was a newspaper reporter, a recent Harvard graduate.

He, too, was interested in study, especially of financial questions, and he found it a pleasure to guide the reading of the young foreman. Many an evening the two friends spent in the discussion of great economic and financial problems. Though both men had their ambitions and dreams, it did not occur to either one that he would ever play a big part in solving these problems.

A few years later the Harvard graduate became financial editor of the _Chicago Tribune_ and brought in the younger man as his a.s.sistant. During their years of newspaper work together they continued to study and think, and their knowledge of business principles and methods gradually broadened. They were fitting themselves almost without knowing it to step forward into positions of leadership.

Today, the former reporter is the head of a great university school of commerce; the a.s.sistant foreman became the president of the largest bank in the United States. One of these men is Joseph French Johnson, now Dean of the New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance. The other is Frank A. Vanderlip, the great financier.

The life histories of most men who have succeeded in a large way are equally simple. They have looked ahead, they have planned, they have equipped themselves with all the business knowledge available, and success has followed. _Success must follow._ The law of success is as definite as the law of gravity. Here it is:

_Prepare in advance for opportunities._

It is not the dramatic moments of life that count. It is the quiet planning and reading of the man who is getting ready now for what is going to happen two, five or ten years from now.

Chapter I

THE MODERN BUSINESS COURSE AND SERVICE

As Dean of New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, Joseph French Johnson had for many years continually received letters requesting advice on what to read on business.

These demands came not only from young men, but from mature and able executives, and sometimes even from the most successful business leaders.

To all such requests Dean Johnson was obliged to reply that the only practical way to study the fundamental principles of business in a systematic manner was to attend the lectures in university schools of commerce.

At that time the literature of business was scanty and for the most part of doubtful value. Working alone, a man could get but little help in his efforts to widen and deepen his knowledge of business principles.

It became evident that there was a great need for an organized, logical statement of the basic principles on which successful business is founded.

It was determined to establish an inst.i.tution which should meet the demand. After years of preparation the Alexander Hamilton Inst.i.tute was established in 1909.

The name

In selecting the name, it was agreed that none could be so suitable as that of Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton is perhaps chiefly remembered for his masterly statesmanship; but he was equally conspicuous as soldier, financier, author, organizer and practical economist.

He was without doubt the greatest manager ever employed by the United States Government. When he became the first Secretary of the Treasury, he found a chaotic government, without money, without credit, and without organization. He secured order, provided funds and created prosperity. He investigated the industries and directed the early commercial development of the United States. "He touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet. He smote the rock of the nation's resources and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth."

Hamilton was a great executive and systematizer; he himself worked out an accounting system for the United States Government which, with but slight modifications, remained in force for more than a hundred years.

The plan

The Modern Business Course and Service is a systematic, time-saving method of bringing to any man's office or home that business knowledge and training which he needs, but which he cannot acquire through his own experience.

It is designed for the benefit of two groups of men:

(1) those who already are in executive or semi-executive positions;

(2) young men who have brains and the ambition to become business executives.

It is intended, in general, for the men who are looking and moving ahead; for live, keen-witted, energetic men; for men who are not satisfied to remain in the ranks or in subordinate positions. These men may or may not have had a thorough school and college training; that is not an essential.

They may or may not have wealth and high position; that is unimportant.

But they _must_ have ability and enough serious purpose to spend a portion of their spare time in reading and thinking about business problems.

The organization

The Modern Business Course and Service is conducted by an organization made up of business and professional men and of university specialists in business subjects. Inasmuch as such an inst.i.tution derives its strength almost wholly from the men who are identified with it, a complete list of these men, with brief biographical notes to show who they are and what they have accomplished, is given in Chapter VII, on pages 97 to 118.

The Inst.i.tute organization consists of four groups:

ADVISORY COUNCIL

AUTHORS AND COLLABORATORS

SPECIAL LECTURERS

INSt.i.tUTE STAFF _a._ CONSULTANT STAFF _b._ ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Business and educational authority of the highest standing is represented in the Advisory Council of the Inst.i.tute.

_This Advisory Council_ consists of Frank A. Vanderlip, the financier; T.

Coleman duPont, the business executive; John Hays Hammond, the eminent engineer; Joseph French Johnson, Dean of the New York University School of Commerce; and Jeremiah W. Jenks, the statistician and economist. The Council has general supervision and direction of the policies and activities of the Inst.i.tute. No important move of any kind is made without the sanction of this body.

_The Authors and Collaborators_ are men prominent in educational and business circles. As authors, co-authors and collaborators they are responsible for the Modern Business volumes. Their writing is done under the guidance and with the cooperation of the Inst.i.tute's Editorial Board.

Each one is chosen because of his particular training and ability in the field he covers.

_The Special Lecturers_, whose business connections are stated on pages 111 to 118, are men of high commercial standing who have devoted time and thought to preparing written lectures for the Modern Business Course and Service. These lectures present some of the results of their successful business experience.

_The Inst.i.tute Staff_ actively conducts the Modern Business Course and Service. Many of the members of the Staff are also members of the faculties of university schools of commerce. Every member of the Staff is a specialist who in some one business subject is ent.i.tled to rank as an authority. Their names, business and university connections and official duties in the Inst.i.tute are stated on pages 100 to 110.

(a) _The Consultant Staff_ are the experts who do not give their entire time to the Inst.i.tute, but who are called upon for special information and advice whenever the occasion requires.

(b) _The Administrative Staff_ consists of the Senior and Junior Executives who are active in the administrative work of the organization.

These men are heads of the departments responsible for the successful management of the Alexander Hamilton Inst.i.tute.