User:Mdd/History of organization charting

Organizational Structure of the Holy Roman Empire in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

The history of organization charting refers here to origins and development of the design and use of organizational charts. Its history goes back to halfway the nineteenth century, but the picturing of authority go way back to the cradle of civilization.

The history of organization charting is divided here in an early history from the first civilisations up to the dawn of the modern society, and a modern history ever since. The modern history brought the intentional drive to picture company organization, and to make it a tool of management. The awareness grew, that organizational structure could be designed and optimized, and charts could visualize those structures.

The intention of most of the earlier works have often remained unknown, and are open to reinterpretation. Historical studies in the graphic history of organization and organizational theory are rare, and scattered. There is a general understanding, that Daniel McCallum drew one of the earliest organizational charts in American business. However, what happened before and after, is still quite unclear.

Early history

Picturing authority in the first civilisation

One of the earliest example of a societal structure depicted is the Standard of Ur, a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace from the ancient city of Ur from ca. 2.600 BC.

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  Standard of Ur, war side, c. 2600 BC
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  Standard of Ur, peace side, c. 2600 BC

From Ancient Egypt images have been found in which both daily life is picture, and the social structure of daily life. One of the most remarkable example are the images from the tomb of Nakht at Thebes from the 14th century B.C.:

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  Agriculture scenes
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  Nakht while hunting and fishing
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  People present goods to be offered
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  Nakht and Lady Taui offer to Ra

Nakht was an ancient Egyptian official, astronomer (Astronomer of Amun), scribe, and priest during the reign of Thutmose IV, during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Organization charting in the Roman Empire

• System of Gods in the friezes of the Pantheon, the shrine of Alexander the Great
• Road maps and map of Rome
• Logical systems pictures in 8th century works.

The dawn of organization charting in the middle ages

Medieval examples of organizational structures depicted

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  Philip IV of France, 14th century
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  Organizational Structure of the Empire of the Holy Roman Empire in Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
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  Tuebinger Hausbuch Freie Kuenste, 15th century
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  Double-headed eagle with coats of arms of individual states, symbol of the Holy Roman Empire, 1510

The enlightenment and the charting of organization

Older example the Porphyrian tree

New the picturing of systems of plants, organism, knowledge

Modern history

The first modern organizational charts

Listing of first originals

Listing of first known charts where original principles have been are re-used

Organization charting in the later 19th century

Organization listing

Organization classification charts

First charts in the late 19th century

Study of organizational charts and its history

In the early 20th century there was a growing awareness of the usability of organizational charts for management, and the chart was published in a growing number of articles ever since. In 1905 a first two-page article was published, exclusively on organization chart by US Majoor Kendall Banning, entitled An Organization chart for builders.

One of the first works to represent an organizational charts independently, was Willard C. Brinton in his 1914 book, Graphic methods for presenting facts. The first chapter devoted a few pages on this topic, with three illustrations and a couple of related diagrams. The second edition from 1946 contained a separate chapter. The 1922 book Graphic charts in business; how to make and use them by Allan Cecil Haskell contained a chapter about how organization charts art made, and a chapter on the organization chart. The seminal work in those days, Charts and graphs by Karl G. Karsten (1923) showed some organizational charts not in a separate chapter, but in a chapter on classification charts.

In his 1977 The Visible Hand Chandler mentioned several historically significant organizational charts, and inspired Charles D. Wrege to study the graphic history of scientific management.

External links

• Media related to Organizational chart at Wikimedia Commons