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A Counter-History of Sustainable Management (or How the American Most Hated by Big Business Invented Management)

In: The Past, Present and Future of Sustainable Management

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Cummings

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

  • Todd Bridgman

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

Abstract

Management’s conventional historical narrative is that ‘the father’ of Management is F.W. Taylor. While efficiency has been a universal concern of all great civilizations, Taylor was the first to preach the ‘gospel of efficiency’ and develop theories that enabled managers to achieve it. This origin story reinforces the belief that the good that defines Management is economic efficiency. However, the counter-history developed in this chapter looks at the period prior to Taylor’s publication of the book seen as Management’s first document in 1911, to investigate where the approach attributed to Taylor—Scientific Management—came from. We unearth a forgotten founder with a very different view. Louis Brandeis developed Scientific Management in 1910. It was shaped by his professional practice over three decades and Brandeis defined its good or motive as conservation: or what we today might term sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Cummings & Todd Bridgman, 2021. "A Counter-History of Sustainable Management (or How the American Most Hated by Big Business Invented Management)," Springer Books, in: The Past, Present and Future of Sustainable Management, chapter 0, pages 39-103, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-71076-7_3
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-71076-7_3
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