The authors provide an historical account of the evolution of modern management in the UK. The book draws on archival and secondary sources and addresses such issues as the particular context of management in the UK; the development of management as a profession; management and economic performance; and the spread of management education and ideas.

John F. Wilson is Professor of International Business, University of Central Lancashire. He is author of British Business History, 1720-1994 (Manchester University Press, 1995) and Ferranti. A History, Vol. I, Building a Family Firm, 1882-1975 (Carnegie Publishing, 2000).
Andrew Thomson is an Emeritus Professor at the Open University. He is author of Changing Patterns of Management Development (with C.Mabey, J.Storey, C. Gray and P. Iles, Blackwell, 2001), A Portrait of Pay, 1970-1982: An Analysis of the New Earnings Survey (edited with M. Gregory, Clarendon Press, 1990).

• Part I: Introduction


• 1: An Introduction to Management History


• 2: A Theoretical and Thematic Framework


• Part II: Management and Organizations


• 3: British Management and Organization up to the 1940s


• 4: Comparative Management Systems up to the 1940s


• 5: British Management since the 1940s


• Part III: Managers in Context


• 6: Managers - The Social and Cultural Environment


• 7: The Development of Managers


• 8: Managerial Thought and Institutions


• Part IV: Managerial Functions


• 9: The Practice of Management - Labour


• 10: The Practice of Management - Marketing


• 11: The Practice of Management - Accounting and Finance


• Part V: Conclusions and Reflections


• 12: Conclusions


• Bibliography