Holland's tenure as
Product Engineer the business phonograph illustrates the
change from the traditional experimental outlook the
laboratory the new emphasis engineering support of
manufacturing and marketing.
The men the field brought back information needed make
technical improvements the machine, and the organization of
resources West Orange allowed Durand direct the
laboratory staff meet his requirements. The divisional policy and the creation the position
of product engineer put Durand firmly control R&D and
. The success the dictating
machine was based the primacy business over technical
considerations. Hibbard too
had been controlled Gilmore who swiftly curtailed the
experimenter's foray into the disc format.
The reform engineering West Orange, including the
creation the Engineering Department, made Durand's job much
easier.
The annual salary experimenters and mechanics was rising
31
inexorably the inflation the First World War.XI-17
"mucking", for even the experimental work Holland— man who
preferred experiment— was directed Durand. Durand's division was hot competition
with Dictaphone, who buttressed its position market leader
by continually lowering prices and making small improvements.
The successful marketing the business machine demanded
close cooperation between the salesmen the field and the
engineers the lab. The rising costs of
R&D made imperative efficiently manage these resources
