Editorial Review:
A lot more than you might think. By tracing the origin and development of modern management concepts, you can develop a more logical, coherent picture of the present state of management practice, and a deeper understanding of the analytical and conceptual tools of the trade. The History of Management Thought, Fifth Edition, presents the unfolding story of the lives and times of major figures in the field, as well as the enduring themes and influential ideas that have helped shape management thought––from its earliest, pre-industrial beginnings to modern theories. Throughout this comprehensive history, author Daniel Wren profiles significant eras, and analyzes various trends and movements. Now updated and revised, this Fifth Edition reflects the impact of technology and changing market conditions.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Useful management resource  2008-08-13
This book and it's consistent updates is a useful history of management. In my view, management thought has been destroyed since the unnecessary split between management and 'leadership'. There's a lot of money in 'leadership' but it is largely a sham.
I've recently been spelling out, in a web-based discussion thread, my frustration and concern about the concept of leadership and how it is used and marketed. Management needs to be redeemed from the unhelpful dichcotomy.
1. The concept of leadership is based on a false foundation. It can be traced back to researchers who constructed a concept from what they thought leaders and leadership were - after a statistical analysis of questionnaire responses - a self perpetuating myth. It beggars belief that we would accept this as a useful construct in this day and age. How can leadership be a defensible account of effective organisational practice?
2. Connecting "facilitatory", "participatory", "transformational", etc. to the word "leadership" is emotive but unhelpful because there is no agreement on what leadership (or a leader) is.
3. Amalgamating weak (in terms of empirical work) theories of leadership does not produce a good theory. It may produce big books - but how constructive and instructive are they?
4. The leadership theory as it has primarily developed to date has predominately come from the sentential view - that all cognitive ability is language-based. (Descriptive accounts, self reporting or observations of others, of a "great leader" - whatever that is.) It has overlooked the tacit components of knowledge and learning.
5. A theory of "learning" and "knowledge" appears to be assumed in all theories of leadership. Which further weakens the already weak theory.
6. Change tack. Seek to understand what learning is, what knowledge is and what organisational learning is (as distinct from The Learning Organisation - Senge). There is much more fruit to bear in this realm of thought to construct effective organisational practice.
7. Quite enough time has been wasted on leadership. It's about the way everyone influences each other in situation, content and environment. Just as managers and employees do. A child does it when it is hungry or wants something. We need to "get real" and stop flogging a dead concept.
Expecting Much More from the 4th and 5th Editions  2007-11-24
Also tends to ignore known contradictions, known weaknesses, and known pitfalls in Management Thought.
In terms of scholarship, it tends to be more sophisticated than Claude S. George, Jr's text of the same name.
Still, the absence of important, significant, and well-known facts about certain management gurus that I know very well (facts, not the persons themselves) makes me somewhat to very skeptical as to the utility of the ideas prensented about others I don't. Take two examples: Wren's discussion of Herbert Simon and Wren's discussion of Elton Mayo. While Herbert Simon actually won a Nobel Prize in Economics, Wren mentions him on all of 4 pages and 2 of those have only about a sentence on him. This coverage contrasts sharply with Elton Mayo who Wren mentions on 14 pages a third of one having Mayo's picture (whereas no picture of Simon appears in the book). The sad fact is that Mayo is a very controversial figure: many of his conclusions from his work on the Hawthorne study have been shown to be bunk by reputable scholars (MONEY is an extremely good motivator for people, just as Taylor thought). So this is an example of how Wren tends to emphasize the academic influence of figures more than the comparitive utility of their ideas. Despite his continuing influence on many academics, Mayo's ideas have long since been shown to have little utility (he's even been accused of charlatanism by reputable scholars). In contrast Simon's ideas have been shown to have much more utiltity (usefulness), so much so that he was awarded a Nobel prize in 1978.
So when I read Wren's sections on Max Weber, Chester Barnard, Mary Parker Follett, Peter Drucker, and all the rest, I take them with a healthy dose of salt and make plans to get others sources to fully understand whether the nature of a figure's ideas are influential or useful or both.
(My suspicion is that most management scholars tend to ignore Simon because working with his principles is a lot more work than working with the principles of a probable charlatan like Mayo.)
History of Managment  2007-07-16
The History of Management Thought is a good resource to find information about who, when, what, and how of managment. However, key information is embedded in other text so if you don't write the information down right away, it will be hard to find later.
Primer for Management Theory 2006-11-10
This is an excellent primer for the management theory student. It gives a clear, concise history of organizational management from early civilizations right through to the 21st century. It is easy to read and nicely laid out. Although expensive as far as text books go, it is a book management and leadership students will want to keep for their personal libraries.
Strong Foundation 2006-02-24
This book is a very strong foundation and the starting point for all management students, managers, and leaders, who are willing to learn about management.
Daniel A. Wren, who is one of the most famous management history gurus of our time, provides the basics necessary to understand the evolution of management thought, before jumping into contemporary works on different areas of management.
This book is the latest edition of "The Evolution of Management Thought". Don't be misguided with the slight change in the name from "Evolution" to "History". Previous prints with title "The Evolution of Management Thought" is out-of-print.
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