The Evolution of Management Thought

The new edition of the canonical text on the history and development of management thought Far more than a chronicle of the historical development of modern management's many roots, the newly released ninth edition of The Evolution of Management Thought by Daniel A. Wren and Arthur G. Bedeian is a fascinating telling of how ideas about the nature of work, the nature of human beings, and the nature of organizations have changed throughout history. Its methodology is analytic, synthetic, and interdisciplinary. It is analytic, in that it examines the backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs of people who made significant contributions to management thinking. It is synthetic, in that it weaves developmental trends, social movements, and environmental forces into a conceptual framework for understanding how management thinking has evolved within and across generations. It is interdisciplinary, in that it draws insights from economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology to explain why management thinking has developed as it has. The authors trace the intellectual history of modern management thought as an activity and as an academic discipline in a way that makes reading The Evolution of Management Thought a thoroughly enjoyable encounter. Designed for upper-level and graduate courses, this new edition further cements The Evolution of Management Thought's place as the standard text in the field of management history for more than half a century.

About the Author :
Daniel A. Wren, PhD, is David Ross Boyd Professor of Management Emeritus and Curator Emeritus of the Harry W. Bass Business History Collection at The University of Oklahoma. He is a Founding Fellow of the Southern Management Association, a Fellow of the Academy of Management, and a recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management for his contributions "as the foremost management historian of his generation." He is the author of Collegiate Education for Business Administration at The University of Oklahoma: A History, White Collar Hobo: The Travels of Whiting Williams, and co-author (with Ronald G. Greenwood) of Management Innovators: The People and Ideas That Have Shaped Modern Business. Arthur G. Bedeian, PhD, is Boyd Professor Emeritus and former Ralph and Kacoo Olinde Distinguished Professor of Management at Louisiana State University and A&M College. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Academy of Management. He was the editor of the Journal of Management and served on 18 editorial boards, including the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, Organizational Research Methods, and Journal of Management History. He has chaired the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholar Board and has been an external reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Science.