The Evolution of Management Thought

The eighth edition of The Evolution of Management Thought provides readers witha deep understanding of the origin and development of management ideas. Spanning an expansive time period, from the pre-industrial era to the modern age of globalization, this landmark volume examines the backgrounds, original work, and influences of major figures and their contributions to advances in management theory and practice. This fully-revised edition has been painstakingly reviewed and thoroughly updated to reflect areas of contemporary management such as job design, motivation, leadership, organization theory, technological change, and increased worker diversity.

In this classic text, authors Daniel Wren and Arthur Bedeian examine the management challenges and perspectives of the Industrial Revolution, discuss the emergence of the management process and systematic management, trace the rise of scientific management, and much more. Organized around a chronological framework, the text places a comprehensive range of management theories in their historical context to clearly illustrate their evolution over time. The book's four parts, each designed to be a self-contained unit of study, contain extensive cross-references to allow readers to connect earlier to later developments to the volume's central unifying theme.