Waiting For Dead Men's Shoes: Origins And Development Of The U.S. Navy's Officer Personnel System, 1793-1941

Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes: Origins and Development of the U.S. Navy's Officer Personnel System, 1793-1941

Review"Donald Chisholm has provided us with an important book. It is the first comprehensive history of the development of the U.S. Navy's officer personnel system." -- Naval War College Review"Extensively researched in primary sources and thoroughly documented, [Chisholm's] book is a major contribution to organizational theory." -- Naval War College Review"Chisholm has achieved what he set out to do in fine style. He has provided a comprehensive history of naval officer personnel management and at the same time has shed light on the creation, structure, and problem solving that resulted in the organization we see today. From now on it will be impossible to write usefully about the history of personnel management without reference to this book. It promises to be a standard authority." -- Naval War College Review"An exellent source of lessons to be learned." -- Naval History"[Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes] contains a wealth of descriptive detail on the general environment in which the personnel system developed and on the large cast of naval and political players involved. It is clearly organized, reads well, contains extensive citations, and includes an exhaustive bibliography. . . . it will stand as a definitive reference on the subject and will be used by many naval, administrative, and political historians for the rich material that it contains." -- The Journal of American History"This lengthy, important, and almost unique book addresses U.S. Navy officer policy for the first two-thirds of the service's history." -- The Journal of Military HistoryThis monumental study provides an innovative and powerful means for understanding institutions by applying problem solving theory to the creation and elaboration of formal organizational rules and procedures. Based on a meticulously researched historical analysis of the U.S. Navy