Reflections on the History of Management Thought
Reflections on the history of management thought
William B. Wolf
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
The purpose of this article is to share with the reader some interesting data related to developments in the history of management thought. The central theme is that history is an elusive phenomenon and, in the process of recording it, many of the significant causal forces are lost or little understood.
At the outset it seems in order to put what follows into a setting…without such it is apt to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. About 25 years ago I began to explore seriously the development of contemporary management thought. First, I began a critical examination of what the “great” authors in the field said. However, as my research progressed, it became apparent that to teach management one should know not only the literature of the field but also how the “greats” developed their ideas. Thus, starting around 1961, I began a new quest. I began studying the intellectual developments of the key people in the field of management. I personally interviewed many of the recognized contributors to the literature and their associates. Included in my interviews were outstanding people such as Chester Barnard, Peter Drucker, Herbert
Simon and William F. Whyte[1]. Furthermore, I explored archival data and, in a sense, attempted to do psycho-biographies of these individuals. My hypothesis was that such knowledge about “great” men in management could help interpretation of their writings. I hoped that this research would give insights to the best ways of teaching students to become excellent managers.
A result of my efforts has been the isolation of a number of anecdotes which raise questions relative to the epistemology of the discipline of management – as well as epistemological problems of history in general.
Lawrence J. Henderson
A man who has had a significant impact on the development of much management thinking is Lawrence J.
William B. Wolf
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
The purpose of this article is to share with the reader some interesting data related to developments in the history of management thought. The central theme is that history is an elusive phenomenon and, in the process of recording it, many of the significant causal forces are lost or little understood.
At the outset it seems in order to put what follows into a setting…without such it is apt to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. About 25 years ago I began to explore seriously the development of contemporary management thought. First, I began a critical examination of what the “great” authors in the field said. However, as my research progressed, it became apparent that to teach management one should know not only the literature of the field but also how the “greats” developed their ideas. Thus, starting around 1961, I began a new quest. I began studying the intellectual developments of the key people in the field of management. I personally interviewed many of the recognized contributors to the literature and their associates. Included in my interviews were outstanding people such as Chester Barnard, Peter Drucker, Herbert
Simon and William F. Whyte[1]. Furthermore, I explored archival data and, in a sense, attempted to do psycho-biographies of these individuals. My hypothesis was that such knowledge about “great” men in management could help interpretation of their writings. I hoped that this research would give insights to the best ways of teaching students to become excellent managers.
A result of my efforts has been the isolation of a number of anecdotes which raise questions relative to the epistemology of the discipline of management – as well as epistemological problems of history in general.
Lawrence J. Henderson
A man who has had a significant impact on the development of much management thinking is Lawrence J.