Matters for judgement: some thoughts on method in management history

Purpose: This paper reflects on some aspects of method in management history and the importance of the self-reflection on their world-view that must accompany authors’ endeavours, in order to be articulated in the matters they proffer for the reader’s judgement. Approach: Drawing on the insights proffered by Evans (1999:1) about how to study, research, write about and read history, this paper offers some thoughts on the importance of giving due consideration to method in management history. Research & Practical Implications: Thomas Hobbes (1660/1994:32) observed that “Out of our conception of the past, we make a future”. It behoves 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. This paper identifies some of the issues of which those seeking to create the future must be cognisant. Value: If knowing accurately the history of management thought is of importance to scholars and practitioners, then this paper alerts practitioners and commentators to the need for a sound method in producing, and learning from, the lessons of management history