as soon the new laboratory
is finished this will commenced earnest."^ Edison's plan
for his West Orange complex was the logical extension the
vision for Menlo Park that foresaw stream inventions
flowing from research laboratory. had also begun use
. All used
innovation create dominate markets.
Edison planned establish massive industrial complex
in North New Jersey and was determined "dot the Orange
Valley with factories.II- 2
manager. Charles Batchelor was told this grand design
while the laboratory was being built. wrote later that was never his intention act
as capitalist, except "pioneer" his inventions which
required both finance and control the manufacturing
3
process. wrote his diary:
"Edison's idea now for the future get processes for
manufacture and start factories." the center this empire was the
laboratory. might not have been his original intention to
become capitalist, but Edison certainly played the role at
West Orange, where constructed many factories, formed
numerous companies, and carried out business strategies similar
to his industrial peers— Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller,
and Henry Ford.. All these captains industry promoted
vertical integration their operations, sought
self-sufficiency raw materials, and had paternalistic, and
often hostile, attitude toward organized labor. All formed new types
of business organizations, operated professional managers
and financially interrelated.
