The Methods of Management History

14 June 2007 at 10:50 am Peter G. Klein Leave a comment

| Peter Klein |

Thomas Hobbes (1660/1994:32) observed that “Out of our conception of the past, we make a future.” It behooves us then, as managers and management scholars, to be satisfied that our conceptions of the past are developed in ways that, as far as possible, avoid the problems that would make them less than useful in creating that future.

Despite the importance of this subject, little attention has been given to the question of method/methodology in management history. A recent Google Scholar search found that, while the term “management history” produced 194,000 hits and “method in history” resulted in 674 hits, the terms “methodology in management history,” “method in management history,” “management history methodology,” and”management history method” produced no hits at all.

To address this deficiency the Journal of Management History is seeking contributions for a special issue on “Scholarship in Management History: The Importance of Methodology.” (I assume they know the difference between method and methodology.) Here is the call for papers.

Can readers suggest good books or papers on the methods of management history?