Throughout Schwab's life in the business industry he has been known as an excellent salesman and a man that gets the job done no matter the method needed to be taken. We will look at Schwab through his eyes. The reasons that he felt he needed to gamble inside and out of the business world. This will also coincide with Schwab's distrust and dislike of the idea of organized labor. He was a man that lived on the edge in both business and within his everyday life. We will be shown here why the concept of aggressiveness led Schwab and the Corporations he worked for to new and higher ground and paved the way with new products and aggressive negotiating tactics.

 Charles Michael Schwab was born in Williamsburg, PA in 1862.  Once he had grown and was off to make a life for himself he took a chance with a job at Andrew Carnegie's steelworks as a stake driver. While at Andrew Carnegie's steelworks Schwab was able to quickly build a name for himself. In 1897 at the tender age of thirty-five he became the President of the Carnegie Steel Company, and just four years after that he was honored as the first President of the U.S. Steel Corporation. Soon after this in 1901 Schwab decided to focus mainly on the Bethlehem Steel Company.

     While Schwab worked at Carnegie Steel from 1897-1903 he was known by Andrew Carnegie's steelworks as their, "bright young man."  (Steel Profiles, p.1, 1997) Once Schwab became President he had ideas of expansion right from the get go. In 1901 Schwab made arrangements with J.P. Morgan to create the U.S. Steel Corporation. Even though Schwab was able to raise production at Carnegie's and the U.S. Steel Corp. he is still best known for his actions with Bethlehem Steel. Charles resigned from the U.S. Steel Corp. in 1903 where he founded and became president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

     Up until 1907 the production of steel beams that would eventually be the support structures of various buildings, bridges, and railways were all manufactured in the same manner and at the same design methods. These steel beams of the time, however, had limits on the capacity they could hold. Charles Schwab saw this as a hindrance to his production capabilities. He knew that he needed a new product that would elevate his corporation among the elite of the Steel Industry. He had come up with an idea to manufacture steel beams that resembled an "H". These beams would eventually be called I-beams, which would also be the logo for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The new product that Schwab proposed would be a wide-flanged steel building beam. Schwab knew that this new technology would revolutionize the steel industry. These beams would allow buildings to be built larger and taller.

     There were, however, a few problems with the bright new idea that glowed in Schwab's mind. Stakeholders were not ready to tolerate new investments because they were already complaining that their investments were useless because the corporation was already bankrupt. Schwab was also having a difficult time in finding a bank that would loan money to such a risky venture. The investment seemed risky to stakeholders and banks because most architects that had looked over Schwab's ideas for the future of the steel industry and said that the beams would be too heavy and the buildings that carried them would crumble. The ultimate reasons for skepticism was the amount of money it would take for such a project, and that this money would be invested into something that had never been attempted before.

     Even though many people tried to dissuade Schwab he was going to either win big or lose big. Either way he was going to go ahead with his dream. Through his hard nose business tactics he was able to get a deal to build the Grey Mill. This mill was the location where the I-beams were built and it was looked at as the prize possession of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.  One this new mill was implemented Bethlehem eventually became the second-largest steel company in the world in 1908. Schwab had an idea that would expand his already rising steel empire and he led his management team and labor force above the rest. Management put their trust in his vision. Employees were always taken care of because Schwab believed in letting his own labor force organizing. They knew what they could do, and they knew their own limits. Schwab would listen to their complaints and he would find ways around these complaints to make sure productivity was still growing. There were times Schwab would motivate workers through incentives, if productivity reached certain levels by deadline dates. He made sure employees were happy, and their content with their job helped please customers because productivity was constantly rising. Schwab was able to do this without an organized union as long as he was the President.

     Charles Schwab could single handily be considered responsible for founding the city that everyone knows today as Bethlehem. He also could single handily be the man that kept Bethlehem Steel running and the man that brought the production of I-beams to the construction world that built the skyscrapers that we see high above us today. Despite all of the wonderful things he did for the business world many people were skeptic about his business tactics and his ideas that involved the organization of labor at Bethlehem Steel.

    Schwab was known for his ability to get those under his employment motivated. According to a 1994 Audacity magazine there was once a blast furnace superintendent that publicly called Schwab crazy for setting production targets that were too high. Schwab's response to this statement was to offer to pay the man's mortgage if he could get the furnaces running as efficiently as he wanted. The superintendent rose up to the offer and made the furnaces efficient, and he then had a mortgage free house. No matter the obstacle in his way Schwab was able to persuade his employee's to get done what needed to be done to improve productivity.

     Business tactics was also another subject that critics often questioned about how Schwab handled his business transactions. For example, during World War I Shwab was known for dealing with the British. He was said to give them anything they wanted if they were able to afford it. At this time his Corporation was building weapons and war time machines. At the time this type of partnership would have been shut down, but as we have seen Schwab is an excellent businessman. The government in this case was just an obstacle that needed to be gone around. To get his products to the British he would ship them first to Canada, and from there they would be shipped across the Atlantic. To Schwab there was always a way when you have the will to succeed, just as he did.

     There is one other characteristic that Schwab was notorious for throughout his days as President of Bethlehem Steel. He was known for not supporting the organization of labor. He felt as if the only thing that this would bring would be the downslide of productivity. Unions would lead to strikes and contractual arguments between management and labor. Shwab's opinion was shown when he said, " I will not be in the position of having management dictated to by labor." (Bethlehem Online, Charles Schwab, p.2, taken 10/28/02 A 9:52AM) He was the President and he wanted everyone to know that he made the decisions that would dictate the future and the direction of his corporation. In 1908 there was a labor dispute at Bethlehem Steel and the workers went on strike. They were on strike for 108 days until Charles came in and crushed it. They were at work the next day due to his hard nose negotiating tactics. The extent of these tactics included never giving in to the union and doing whatever he had to, in order to get the job done. He was known for paying employees extra to keep them producing and he never gave in to demands of the union because he never believed in outside sources trying to change things in his plant. He believed that only his employees should organize because they were the ones that were familiar with the plant. Outside union help were only getting in the way because they were never really familiar with the business structure in individual plants. With this in mind Schwab crushed strikes by never wavering. He knew that they needed him as much as he needed them. With this in mind he was, regularly, able to control labor rather than them controlling management.

     In 1918 Charles had to speak in front of a Chamber of Commerce Audience. There he said that he was not opposed to the organization of labor as long as it only involved those workers that were working together at the same plant. This is because he said it was, " for the better negotiation of labor and the protection of their own rights."(Fossum, P.41, 2002) Even though he showed favor for labor unions his intentions for this included only the organization of labor within individual plants or amongst the workers themselves. In this statement he basically was speaking against the idea of unions be affiliated to national unions. This was because the national unions did not necessarily know the individual conditions of different plants. Solely those that are aware of the operations of the plant should organize Labor because each plant is different and their contracts should be made separately rather than making similar contracts for all similar plants. Those that are aware of them rather than those that are just speculating should make the necessary corrections. Schwab was headstrong on this concept throughout his years as President of Bethlehem Steel. Labor unions did not form there until 1941, which was two years after Schwab died.

    Throughout his life as a stake driver, the President of Carnegie Steel, the President of the U.S. Steel Corp. and the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Charles M. Schwab did everything that he could to keep his production growing as well as his profit. He was a man that was known for his crazy tactics and crazy gambling in business and outside of it, as well. Thomas Edison, who was a close friend, referred to Schwab as "the master hustler." (Bethlehem Online, Charles Schwab, P.3, taken 10/28/02 @ 9:52 AM) Even though he always felt that he had to gamble big he did not always in. During the stock market crash of 1929 Schwab and his finances were almost entirely wiped out. Ten years later On September 19, 1939 Charles Michael Schwab died broken and bankrupt. Most businessmen of the time could not rebound quickly from the damage the depression had caused. There were small amounts of sales transactions because no one could afford much anymore and this drove Bethlehem Steel down. It was not until World War II that would make the holdings of Schwab rise once more into the millions even though he would not be there to see his corporation rise once again. The business had already broke his business spirit.
In today's world not many people remember the idea and tactics of Charles M. Schwab or his influence on today's architecture. His constant need to improve and to diversify his production is an example that we should all look to follow. Some of his tactics may be skeptical, but his hard nose business style brought wealth to an area known as Bethlehem. Schwab practically built that town on his own ideas. He brought hotels, orchestras, and money to that area. This shows that worker motivation and product diversity can bring the worth of a corporation up even without the organization of labor if the leadership is controlled and the employees know where the management's approaches are coming from and where they are going. Cooperation of labor and management is what keeps a corporation productive, if there is a union involved or not, as long as everyone feels they are treated fairly compared to what their job actually entails.
 
 

   2.    Schwab, Charles. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001.

   3.    Steel Intelligence Profiles. Schwab, Charles. Creating an Industrial Giant. Taken 10/27/02 from www.steelprofiles.com.

   4.    Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The Person of the Century: Charles Schwab. Taken 10/27/02 from

           www.bethlehempaonline.com.