Refreshing the Soul of Management History

Greetings from the Management History Division! Although we are already moving towards the 2009 meeting, as management historians, we think there is value in taking a look back too. In his Presidential Address on “The Management Professor” in Anaheim recently, Tom Lee reminded us, if any reminders were necessary, about the importance of accumulating decades of programmatic research in order to understand and appreciate the ideas that resonate versus those that tend to fade away.  For example, he pointed to the work of Simon and March, and the work they have inspired in turn. He also referred to Edwin Locke and Bernie Bass’s 25 years of research. In doing so, Tom also provided a timely reminder about the importance of knowing from whence we came in order to take our discipline forward; he reminded us of the importance of the history of our respective disciplines and the central place of management history in the life of the Academy. Now that we are well and truly into the first decade of the 21st century, we can look back on the great service that scholars like Dan Wren, Chuck Wrege, Ron Greenwood, Art Bedeian, David van Fleet, and others, have provided to the Academy in their respective fields and particularly in the area of management history. But where is the next generation of these historically-grounded management scholars? The answer, of course, is within the roughly 19,000 Academy members in more than 100 countries around the world, who share Tom Lee’s appreciation of the importance of our collective memory for our disciplines.  When the time comes for you to renew your membership in the Academy, and you rightly sign up for your primary division of interest, think about joining the Management History Division as well. We think we’re the most welcoming division around and we want your involvement. When you’re thinking about your contributions to the 2009 program in Chicago, consider the history of green management and green organizations, as well as contemporary issues. Every discipline has a history – every literature review is a mini-history – so come and share your discipline’s history and foundation with your colleagues in the Management History Division. John HumphreysChair, Management History Division.

 

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