The T. & A. Baťa Shoe Company was founded by Tomáš, Anna, and Antonin Baťa in 1984 in Zlín, Czech Republic, then Moravia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was established by sibling who were eighth generation Baťa family shoemakers. They had 10 full-time employees with fixed work schedules and regular weekly wages, a rarity during that time. In 1895, T. & A. Baťa Shoe Company popularized the canvas shoe and grew their business to 50 employees. In 1897, they released the Batovka, one of the first mass-produced shoes. Baťa began the period of rapid modernization in 1899 with the first steam driven machines and in 1904 introduced mechanized production techniques making Baťa one of the first mass producers of shoes in Europe. In 1912, Baťa
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The Baťa Shoe Company increased production and hired more workers turning Zlín into a factory town and the first “Bataville” with group tanneries, a brickyard, chemical factory, mechanical equipment plant and repair shop, workshop for production of rubber, a paper pulp and cardboard factory, fabric factory, shoe-shine factory, a power plant and farming activities on site, creating vertical and horizontal integration within the Baťa Shoe Company. Workers, or “Batamen” as they’re later known, and their families had every daily life service necessities, such as housing, shops, schools, and hospitals, provided to them through Baťa. To help build Batavilles in Poland, Latvia, Romania, Switzerland, and France, the Baťa Shoe Company diversified into many industries such as tanning in 1915, energy in 1917, forest farming, newspaper publishing and brick manufacturing in 1918, wood processing in 1919, rubber industry in 1923, construction industry and railway and air transport in 1924, book publishing in 1926, film industry and food processing in 1927, chemical production and motor transport in 1930, textile production in 1931, sea transport and coal mining in 1932, airplane manufacturing in 1934, synthetic fiber production in 1935 and river transport in 1938. In 1923, Baťa had 112 …show more content…
He is known to have set “Baťa prices” which are prices ending with a nine instead of having a whole number ($4.99 instead of $5). Due to his business acumen, Baťa soon found himself to be the fourth richest person in Czechslovakia. During 1926 to 1928, Baťa productivity increased 75% and the number of employees also increased 35%. In 1927, production lines were installed and “Bataville” had its own hospital. By the end of 1928, the head factory in Zlín had 30 buildings, created an educational organization, the Baťa School of Work, and introduced five-day work weeks. In 1930, Baťa created a shoe museum in Toronto. In 1931, Tomáš had factories in Germany, England, Poland, and the Netherlands. Tomáš Baťa died in 1932 at the age of 56 in a plane crash during takeoff under bad weather conditions at Zlín airport. His half-brother was given control of the company along with Tomáš’s son, Thomas John Baťa. Thomas led his father’s company for much of the 20th century guided by Tomáš’s claimed moral testament, “the Baťa Shoe Company was to be treated not as a source of private wealth, but as a public trust, a means of improving living standards within the community and providing customers with good value for their
The Baťa Shoe Company increased production and hired more workers turning Zlín into a factory town and the first “Bataville” with group tanneries, a brickyard, chemical factory, mechanical equipment plant and repair shop, workshop for production of rubber, a paper pulp and cardboard factory, fabric factory, shoe-shine factory, a power plant and farming activities on site, creating vertical and horizontal integration within the Baťa Shoe Company. Workers, or “Batamen” as they’re later known, and their families had every daily life service necessities, such as housing, shops, schools, and hospitals, provided to them through Baťa. To help build Batavilles in Poland, Latvia, Romania, Switzerland, and France, the Baťa Shoe Company diversified into many industries such as tanning in 1915, energy in 1917, forest farming, newspaper publishing and brick manufacturing in 1918, wood processing in 1919, rubber industry in 1923, construction industry and railway and air transport in 1924, book publishing in 1926, film industry and food processing in 1927, chemical production and motor transport in 1930, textile production in 1931, sea transport and coal mining in 1932, airplane manufacturing in 1934, synthetic fiber production in 1935 and river transport in 1938. In 1923, Baťa had 112 …show more content…
He is known to have set “Baťa prices” which are prices ending with a nine instead of having a whole number ($4.99 instead of $5). Due to his business acumen, Baťa soon found himself to be the fourth richest person in Czechslovakia. During 1926 to 1928, Baťa productivity increased 75% and the number of employees also increased 35%. In 1927, production lines were installed and “Bataville” had its own hospital. By the end of 1928, the head factory in Zlín had 30 buildings, created an educational organization, the Baťa School of Work, and introduced five-day work weeks. In 1930, Baťa created a shoe museum in Toronto. In 1931, Tomáš had factories in Germany, England, Poland, and the Netherlands. Tomáš Baťa died in 1932 at the age of 56 in a plane crash during takeoff under bad weather conditions at Zlín airport. His half-brother was given control of the company along with Tomáš’s son, Thomas John Baťa. Thomas led his father’s company for much of the 20th century guided by Tomáš’s claimed moral testament, “the Baťa Shoe Company was to be treated not as a source of private wealth, but as a public trust, a means of improving living standards within the community and providing customers with good value for their