Word: belled
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...company even rates its accounting departments according to how many pieces of paper each one processes; woe to the junior executive who finds himself saddled with slothful clerks. Every month the company publishes its "Green Book," a 32-page pamphlet that critically compares the performance of Bell's operating companies, one against the other, in 41 categories that range from the percentage of calls affected by static (yearly average: 2%) to the rate of resignations (yearly average: 2.4% for men, 17.6% for women...
Many other companies try to copy A.T.&T.'s training and rating program, but they cannot copy the advantage that bigness gives to Bell. A.T.&T. has so many operating companies, divisions and branch offices that it has plenty of demanding and responsible jobs in which to develop and store up executive talent. Men with the stamp of success on them are groomed for high management positions as much as 30 years in advance. Some of the young executives are interviewed every year by one or more of A.T.&T.'s 20 staff psychologists, who plumb their changing...
...company is already too profitable and too powerful. In terms of return on net cost of plant, the usual gauge of profitability in utilities, A.T.&T. earns somewhat more than the average: 7.2%. The General Services Administration, representing the Government as a user in regulatory hearings, has recommended that Bell's return should be limited to 6.6%, and the staff of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the Bell System and its interstate rates, has suggested 6.5%. So far, the FCC's seven commissioners have refused to go along with this recommendation...
Truman and Eisenhower Administrations to divorce it from Western Electric, and not much is heard about that any more. A virtual monopoly almost since it was founded in 1877, the Bell System has preserved its special status by arguing that it is much more efficient and economical than a lot of little, local phone companies would be. It has agreed not to invade the territory of the 2,645 independent companies that control the remaining 17% of the phone business. Largest of the independents by far is General Telephone & Electronics Corp., which has 5,000,000 phones as well...
That service is growing even faster than the U.S. Every working day, A.T.&T. installs 11,500 new phones and handles 251 million calls. The number of Bell telephone calls within the U.S. is expanding by 15% a year, and A.T.&T. is straining to prevent a massive clogging of overloaded circuits by steadily expanding and improving its equipment. Actually, the Bell System is one great computer, linked by 24 billion interconnections and by enough copper wire to spin a four-ply cable to the sun. The computer's innards are an orderly assemblage of $24 billion worth...