Understanding the invention phase of management innovation: a design theory perspective

Abstract

This paper aims at changing the perspective on management innovation by considering management innovations as managerial objects that come out of a design process. We choose Peter Drucker's invention of management by objectives and self‐control as a case study. After reconstituting how precisely Peter Drucker came to invent MBO, we use formal design theory concepts to analyze how the concept of MBO was generated. We identify four key breakthroughs with respect to established management ideas and practices and we detect what earlier breakthroughs were necessary, so including the invention of MBO within the historical evolution of management concepts. We discuss the conceptual genealogy obtained and conclude on how a design theory perspective on management innovation could be generalized, how it could improve the way we tell the history of management thought and practice and how we could better conceive and steer future management innovation processes.