Handbook Of Research On Management And Organizational History

Emerging from what was a somewhat staid sub-discipline, there is currently a battle for the soul of Management and Organizational History (MOH), at the centre of which is a widespread concern that much recent work has been more about how one should or might do history rather than actually doing historical work. If ever there was a time for a new volume on MOH, this is certainly it.

Management and organizational history has grown into an established field of research with competing and contrasting approaches and methods that are relevant for management and organization studies. This short-form book provides readers with expert insights on intellectual interventions in management and organization history. The authors illuminate the central ideas, works, and theorists involved in forming the link between history, management, and organization studies, particularly focusing on the debates addressing the need for a 'historic turn' in management and organizational studies. With coverage of nascent schools of thought in management historiography, such as ANTi-History, revisionist history, counter-history, rhetorical history, the Copenhagen School, microhistory, critical realist histories, alongside existing modernist and post-modernist approaches, as well as postcolonial, decolonial, and feminist critiques, the book is essential reading for scholars and students learning or exploring the role of history in management and organization studies.

The Handbook of Historical Methods for Management offers an invaluable compendium for researchers seeking to expand their methodological toolkit. It showcases a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of management, provides both practical guidance and conceptual insights and offers a wide-ranging picture of historical techniques for management.

This book brings together leading organization scholars and business historians to examine the opportunities and challenges of incorporating historical research into the study of firms and markets.

The coronavirus pandemic of 2019-20 and its associated global economic collapse has bluntly revealed that decision makers everywhere are ill-equipped to identify the innovative capacities of modern societies and, in particular, deploy managers to harness such capabilities. Getting the problem of management right is a voyage to the heart of human experience. Indeed, the perennial questions that haunt our existence almost invariably prompt answers that invoke conceptions of work, transformative effort and realisation of ideas. One way or another, all such endeavour requires management. It is often overlooked that more than any other discipline, management history brings into focus humanity’s most pressing questions. At the time of writing, these queries come with a disquieting urgency. What is management? How do its modern methods differ from those in pre-industrial societies? How does the management that emerged in Western Europe and North America in the nineteenth century differ from forms practiced in the twentieth? In what ways do Asian, African and South American societies have distinctive managerial philosophies? Perhaps most importantly, what don’t we know or don’t do very well? It is to these fundamental questions that the Palgrave Handbook of Management History speaks. The work’s 63 chapters – authored by 27 of the world’s leading management and business thinkers – explore virtually every aspect of management globally as well as across millennia. The series explores the theoretical contributions of classical Western business and management scholars (Adam Smith, Frederick Taylor, Elton Mayo, Peter Drucker, Alfred Chandler, etc.) as well as commentaries from critical theorists such as Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Hayden White. The Handbook is also practical. For example, its content addresses the day to day experience of management in ancient Greece and Rome as well as the contemporary approaches of China, France, South Africa, India, Denmark, Australia, South America, New Zealand and the Middle East. In short, the Palgrave Handbook provides students of economics, management, business theory and practice, and critical studies with a single comprehensive and in-depth point of reference.

This Handbook is the definitive source and reference tool for academics, researchers and graduate students working in the field of Management History. Consisting of eleven sections, they will collectively cover management history's past and present and provide an unparalleled overview of both managerial practice and thought. As a discipline, management history has relatively recently splintered from business history, focusing on the study of organizations and the ways in which work is structured and managed. Initially employing a heavily western perspective and influenced mainly by British and American historians, the discipline has expanded the focus of its studies both temporally and geographically to incorporate pre-19th century forms of organization and extend its scope beyond Western Europe and North America. This important project will be a high level, systematic and comprehensive tool thanks to the range of contributions from leading experts and academics. It is intended to be the first port of call for all research endeavors in the field of management history.

We are now entering a new phase in the establishment of historical organization studies as a distinctive methodological paradigm within the broad field of organization studies. This book serves both as a landmark in the development of the field and as a key reference tool for researchers and students. For two decades, organization theorists have emphasized the need for more and better research recognizing the importance of the past in shaping the present and future. By historicizing organizational research, the contexts and forces bearing upon organizations will be more fully recognized, and analyses of organizational dynamics improved. But how, precisely, might a traditionally empirically oriented discipline such as history be incorporated into a theoretically oriented discipline such as organization studies? This book evaluates the current state of play, advances it and identifies the possibilities the new emergent field offers for the future. In addition to providing an important work of reference on the subject for researchers, the book can be used to introduce management and organizational history to a student audience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The book is a valuable source for wider reading, providing rich reference material in tutorials across organizational studies, or as recommended or required reading on courses with a connection to business or management history.

This innovative Handbook widens our understanding of knowledge management, a field that has risen to prominence in recent decades. It collects contemporary insights from more than 30 contributors into the rich tapestry of knowledge management practices across a broad landscape of cultures and socio-political contexts. The contributors offer authoritative analyses to inform practical applications of knowledge management, along with provoking reinterpretations of its developmental potential to guide future innovation and research in this field. The starting point for discussion centers around establishing a common definition for knowledge management, a concept that has remained nebulous since its inception. Expert contributions examine the relevance of this common definition within various contexts, such as Buddhist organizations, law firms, the army and indigenous organizations. The contributors explore how knowledge management could be effectively applied in these very diverse contexts. Some contributors analyze the universality of Ikujiro Nonaka’s concept of knowledge management. Other contributors suggest alternative definitions of knowledge management. While previous literature has primarily focused on how knowledge management is practiced currently, this handbook sets out alternative visions and conceptualizations of knowledge management in diverse settings and is, thus, focused on how knowledge management ideally should be practiced in various contexts. This Handbook of Research on Knowledge Management will appeal as a point of reference for academics and students of business and management, business administration, sociology and organizational behavior. Practitioners, managers and business-owners alike will also find this an invaluable resource.