Decentering Wren’s History of Management Thought

Abstract

We use decentered theory to organize the beliefs, practices, and meanings underlying Daniel Wren’s book “History of Management Thought.” We focus our theoretical frame on this exemplary text because it can be appropriately labeled as the received canon of the history of management thought. Over its six editions published during the 1979-2009 time period, the book has preserved its original structure of attempting to capture the history of management thought by focusing on periodization and great management thinkers. Written as a grand narrative of implicitly timeless repository of accumulated management knowledge, the book has preserved its original format subscribing to the traditional explanatory frame as if critical management studies were never been conducted and published