Schulich School of Business Professor Matthias Kipping’s recently released book, History in Management and Organization Studies: From Margins to Mainstream, presents a comprehensive and integrated view of how history has informed management research with a focus on organizational theory and strategy. The book was co-authored with Professor Behlül Üsdiken from Özyeğin University.
“The book sheds new light on how a historical perspective can contribute to a greater understanding of organizations and organizational strategy,” said Kipping, who is the Richard E. Waugh Chair in Business History.
Building on Kipping’s prior and ongoing publications, the volume provides an overview of how the relationship between history and management scholarship has evolved from the 19th century until today, focusing mainly on the post-World War II period. The book systematically surveys the kind of research programs within organizational theory and strategy that have used historical data and history as theoretical constructs, while also identifying the remaining “blind spots”. It offers a kind of roadmap for management scholars and historians to situate their research, and hopefully find new roads for others to travel.
The book is intended for anybody planning to conduct historical research within management and organizational studies, and aims at becoming a standard text of research methods courses in business schools and departments of management studies.