Alfred D. Chandler Jr. was an American historian and professor who studied business history and strategy. In his 1962 book "Strategy and Structure", Chandler analyzed 100 large U.S. firms and conducted in-depth case studies of DuPont, Sears, GM, and Standard Oil of New Jersey. He determined that a company's environment affects the type of strategy it selects, and the strategic plans in turn determine the type of organizational structure. Specifically, he found that companies in stable environments should adhere to set strategic plans and have mechanistic structures, while those in uncertain environments should diversify through flexible strategies and decentralized, organic structures.

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1962
ALFRED D. CHANDLER, JR.
CHANDLER. ALFRED DUPONT, JR., educator,. ·his~orian: b.
Quyem.:'ourt; Del., Sept. tS, 1918: s. Alfred Dupont ·amt.Carol
1. (R11msa)') C.; grad. Phillips Exeter Acad., 1936;,A.B.; Harvard/,940, .
A:M.• 1947, Ph.D.• 1952: A.M., U. N.C., 19Sl; m. ·Fay Martin, Jan.
8, 194:J; children ,Alpine Oouglass,:Mary M~rris, Alfred Dupnn1 111.
, Hov,,ard Martin. Rc:scarch asso. Mass. Inst. Tc_ch.. J9SO-SI. :from
· instr/to prof., 19St-6J; pror. history Johns Hopkins. 1963•71, chnm.
depl•• 1966.·70. di!. Cc11icr ~ludy Recent' Am; Histl!ry. 1964-71;
Straus prof:bus. hastory·Harvard Bus. Sch.• 1971-;,111s.. _fcllow All
Souls Coll•., Oxford U., :197S. Dir. Data .Pack, -Inc,; Landmark
Com111unic1niuns;1nc, Cons. U.S..Naval War c;:'oll., 19~lmem. Nat.
Adv. Council on Edn. Profcssions'()evcl.; 1970.71. Chmn. ad·. his1.
com. U.S. AEC. 1969--:, Tnm~c Park Sch:, Brookline, Mass.•
l9S7-6l. ehmn. bd., l96l-6l:·"'trustec Brookline Pub. Library.
1959-63, Roland Park Sch.~':Balt.,"l964·70, Johns Hopi.ins. 1971- .
Served to It. comdr. USNR, l940-4S. Ouggc:nhc:im fellow, 1958-S9:
Research fellow.Harvard. 19SJ. Mem. Econ. History As!>n. (trustee
1966-70. pres. 1971-72). Orgn. Am. Historians (uc:c:. bd. 1969-72).
Soc. for History Tech. {exec. council 1972;...;..). Am. Hist. Assn.• Soc.
Am. His1ori11ns. Am; Acad. Arts and Scis. Episcop.i.lian:·c1ubs: Guana
Island (Bril. V.1.); SL -8o1olph '(Boston):-·Nantuc:ket (Mass.) ·Yuch1;
Harvard (N.Y.C.);,ijamilton Sueel (Balt.)•. Author: Henry Varum
Poor, 1956:'Strateg!··,-rid Siruc:ture (Newcome.n uward 1964), J962:
Giant Enterprise, I ;The Rail.roads, l96S;lvilh S1e.phcn Salbury)
Pierre S. duPont,',19. I, Editor: Papers of o...-ignt D.. Eiscnho•-cr, S
vols., J970;41Ssl. editorThe Letters of Theodore Roose·ell. 4 vols..
t9SO-S3. H<imc:: 1010 Memorial Dr Cambridge MA 02138
Strategy and Structure. MIT Press, 1962.
In a. historical analysis of 100 large u.s. firms and an in depth study of
Du.Pont, Sears, GM, and Standard Oil of N.J., Chandler determined tha.t
a.n organization• s environment affects the type of strategy it selects.
The strategic plans in turn determine~the type of organization structure.
An organization in a stable environment should adhere to its strategic
plans and be structured mechanistically while a firm in an uncertain
environment should follow a strategy of diversification and organize
in a decentralized organic fashion.
Environment-+ Strategy~ Structure
Source: Ganno~, M.J. Management: An Organizational Perspective.