A tale of two fires: igniting social expectations for managers' responsibility
Abstract
Purpose
To compare and contrast the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the 1991 Hamlet, North Carolina, chicken processing plant fire to determine what lessons were learned and what lessons remain to be learned from the worst and second‐worst industrial accidents in the US.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses contemporaneous and modern sources to explore the parallels between the two fires and find some lessons for management in these two tragic events.
Findings
A number of parallels were found between the two incidents. Lessons for practicing managers, domestic and international, are presented along with avenues for possible future research.
Originality/value
This paper develops parallels between two tragic industrial accidents separated by 80 years in time and hundreds of miles in distance. Lessons learned from these accidents as well as lessons still to be learned are suggested.
Keywords
Citation
Govekar, P.L. and Govekar, M.A. (2006), "A tale of two fires: igniting social expectations for managers' responsibility", Journal of Management History, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552520610638292
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited