1930–31 Volume 55 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

A Business AnalystWith the Department of CommerceByCLAUDE JM. MARRIOTT,Syracuse, '01W HAT are your real marketing costsper line of merchandise sold and servicerendered?Which of your lines and servicesreally pay and which do not pay?Is it profitable to cover as muchterritory as you do?Edwin B. George, Pittsburgh, '17,and retiring President of the Phi Delt.Mumni Club of Philadelphia, has beenshanghaied to Washington by theUnited States Department of Commerceto help answer these questions.If newspaper reports are to be trusted,his is one of the most fascinating jobsin the country today.Before undertaking this presentassignment of helping the Americanbusiness man get the most for hismoney and efforts. Brother George hasduring the past eight years served theDepartment of Commerce in twoother of its most important fields ofactivity. For four years he gyratedaround and about the Orient in thecapacity of American Trade Commissioner,serving successively in thePhilippine Islands, China, Dutch EastIndies, British Malaya, and BritishIndia.During the four preceding years, hehad traveled widely in Europe andSouth America in various businesscapacities. Since 1927 he has laboredin Philadelphia as District Managerof the Department of Commerce forPennsylvania, Southern New Jersey,and Delaware.Most American business men arefamiliar with the enviable name whichthe Department of Commerce has wonfor itself as a competent authority onmarketing problems. Its concern isprimarily with the individual merchant,whether manufacturer, wholesaler,or retailer, who has difficultyin determining which of his manyactivities are really profitable. It isan unfortunate fact, according to thewidely heralded opinions of economists,that this country is wastingfrom eight to ten billion dollars ayear because of unscientific ways ofmerchandising. It is to salvage atleast a ponderable share of that annualwaste that the department's[183]ED'\\IX B. GEORGE. Piltsbtirgh, '17