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Certain Victory, Uncertain Time: The Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Management Thought

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the beginnings of modern management by tracing the development of nineteenth-century management thought in Europe. We examine the lives of Owen, Babbage, Ure, and Fayol, noting both their contributions and the limitations of their thought in their historical context. Our contention was that management did not really emerge as a distinct field of study until the time of Taylor. Namely that the industrial world was too new and thought to be a fad that limited the intellectual development of management. In addition, Ure and Babbage were polymaths, devoted to fields which limited their management contributions. Fayol was compared with Taylor, which limited his appeal, even though both men wrote about different aspects. Although there are themes of modern management in the work of Owen and others, various issues prevented them (either the limitations of their thought or other circumstances) from being the prime mover.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, USA

    Jeffrey Muldoon

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  1. Jeffrey Muldoon
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Correspondence to Jeffrey Muldoon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emporia State University, Emporia, USA

    Jeffrey Muldoon

  2. Faculté des Sciences Sociales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    Anthony Gould

  3. College of Business, RMIT University, School of Management, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Adela McMurray

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Muldoon, J. (2020). Certain Victory, Uncertain Time: The Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Management Thought. In: Muldoon, J., Gould, A., McMurray, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Management History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_26-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_26-3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Certain Victory, Uncertain Time: The Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Management Thought
    Published:
    26 March 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_26-3

  2. Certain Victory, Uncertain Time: The Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Management Thought
    Published:
    20 January 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_26-2

  3. Original

    Certain Victory, Uncertain Time: The Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Management Thought
    Published:
    18 April 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_26-1

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