You're in the Army now!: Historical lessons for contemporary management theorists. Issue 3 (13th June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ritson, Philip A.; Parker, Lee D.
• Is Part Of: Journal of management history. Volume 22:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 320
• Page End: 340
• Publication Date: 2016-06-13
• Subjects: Management theory -- Military metaphors -- Theory uptake -- Urwick; Management -- History -- Periodicals; Public administration -- History -- Periodicals; 658.009
• DOI: 10.1108/JMH-02-2016-0011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-1348

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: This paper aims to examine the employment of the military metaphor by the management thinker and writer Lyndall Urwick who in the twentieth century developed and articulated his ideas over a 60-year period, arguably the longest continuous period of any management writer of his day. Design/methodology/approach: This study draws on published research into Urwick as well as upon the breadth of his published writings over a 60-year period. It offers a contextualised explanatory analysis of his military theory ideas and explores their lack of traction by reference to British military, economic and social history. Findings: The study reveals the wartime context that surrounded the emergence of his ideas and motivated Urwick's faith in the military approach to management. This stood in contrast to the countervailing forces of the post-war decline in British industry and a populist mythology of British Army mismanagement and failure in the Great War. Originality/value: In this case of a management idea's failure to gain traction, the importance of the congruence between management theory and societal beliefs emerges as crucial to the likely uptake of new management thinking.