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Article
Publication date: 20 March 2019

Blanche Segrestin, Andrew Johnston and Armand Hatchuel

The purpose of this paper is to contrast the historical rise of the managerial function and its reception in law. It thus contributes to the debates on the separation of ownership…

757

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contrast the historical rise of the managerial function and its reception in law. It thus contributes to the debates on the separation of ownership and control, by showing that managers were never recognized in law. As a result, the managerial function was not protected in law.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper brings together management history and the history of UK company law to study the emergence of management in the early twentieth century and the law’s response. The authors bring new historical evidence to bear on the company law reforms of the second half of the twentieth century and, in particular, on the changes inspired by the Cohen Committee report of 1945.

Findings

Scientific progress and innovation were important rationales for the emergence of managerial authority. They implied new economic models, new competencies and wider social responsibilities. The analysis of this paper shows that these rationales have been overlooked by company law. The lack of conceptualization of the management in law allowed reforms after 1945 that gave shareholders greater influence over corporate strategy, reducing managerial discretion and the scope for innovation.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on the UK. Further research is needed to confirm whether other countries followed a similar path, both in terms of the emergence of management and in terms of the law’s approach.

Originality/value

This paper is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the law’s historical approach to management. It calls for a reappraisal of the status of managers and the way corporate governance organizes the separation of ownership and control.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

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Article
Publication date: 16 October 2009

Armand Hatchuel

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss, among alternative European currents, a “foundationalist perspective for management research” (FPM) which redefines the…

1078

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss, among alternative European currents, a “foundationalist perspective for management research” (FPM) which redefines the identity, rigor and relevance of management research.

Design/methodology/approach

The management literature has documented a wide range of criticisms about standard management research which are most often summarized as “the relevance gap” or the “translation problem”. The paper presents the historical development, in the French context, of an epistemological debate about management as an academic field which led to FPM as an alternative to standard approaches and as a solution to such criticisms. In this approach, the identity of management science, its principles of relevance and its definition of rigor, cannot be defined separately.

Findings

FPM offers a consistent approach of management research as a science that studies “models of collective action”. Rigor is redefined as the appropriate combination of different types of interactions between the researcher and its object. From the point of view of management research, rigor supports relevance and relevance is a condition of rigor.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focuses on the French context of management research. Yet, the new epistemology of management research that it presents may contribute to the international conversation on the future of the field. In more specialized areas of research, the paper discusses two implications of this new epistemology: a theory of managerial techniques as a critical view of classic organization theory; and a model of collective innovative design as a critical view of standard R&D and project management.

Originality/value

The paper presents a new approach of management research which is built on a new epistemology of collective action. It offers an original way to build management science as a basic science; to avoid the weaknesses of mainstream statistical research; to depart from the “applied social science” model.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 47 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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Book part
Publication date: 27 January 2022

Blanche Segrestin, Armand Hatchuel and Kevin Levillain

In this paper, we propose a new conceptualization of the purpose of the corporation in relation to its activities. This conceptualization builds upon the existing distinction…

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new conceptualization of the purpose of the corporation in relation to its activities. This conceptualization builds upon the existing distinction between the corporation as a legal vehicle and the enterprise as an economic organization, but renews the approach of the enterprise. We argue that the enterprise is a peculiar historical form of economic organization that emerged in the late nineteenth century to not only produce but also create new goods and technologies. This creative purpose involved a new type of managerial authority, not grounded in corporate law, but institutionalized in other branches of law, such as labor law. The legitimacy of the managers relied on the premise that the enterprise’s creative power would be harnessed for collective progress. However, this new view of the enterprise was insufficiently conceptualized in the twentieth century and continued to be governed by standard corporate law. This allowed managers to be seen as agents of shareholders, and the purpose of collective progress to be replaced by the interests of shareholders. Our analysis has important implications for the purpose of the corporation. As enterprises become more innovative and impactful, we argue that they can no longer be governed by traditional corporate law. If the corporation remains the legal cloth for business activities, then its purpose must consider the nature and impacts of these activities. We therefore interpret the new legal forms of purpose-driven corporation as an appropriate framework to restore the enterprise and a collective purpose within corporate law.

Details

The Corporation: Rethinking the Iconic Form of Business Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-377-9

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Book part
Publication date: 9 July 2010

Armand Hatchuel, Ken Starkey, Sue Tempest and Pascal Le Masson

We develop a discourse of strategic management as design, using a conceptual base drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, as an alternative to the prevailing strategy discourse…

Abstract

We develop a discourse of strategic management as design, using a conceptual base drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, as an alternative to the prevailing strategy discourse (strategy as “economizing”). We then use contemporary design theory to theorize strategic management as a design activity in which the focus is on innovation, with the emphasis on future strategies based on the creation of desirable unknowns.

Details

The Globalization of Strategy Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-898-8

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Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

Jean-François Chanlat

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS…

802

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS) production.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a sociological analysis based on Bourdieu field to understand the variation of reception the French OS production have had among the Anglo-Saxon field. The paper aims to underline some key elements, which can explain the differences of reception experienced by the French OS scientists. The paper opted for a general review using historical data; reviews of OS literature; and Google scholar, Web of Science and major OS Journal data.

Findings

The paper provides some evidence about how the degree of visibility of the French OS production is related to translation, cognitive and social resonance, producer place in the scientific network and relationship between the fields. It suggests that the degree of visibility is the result of a complex set of socio-cognitive schemes, social issues raised by the scholar and the place occupied by the researcher in the field.

Originality/value

The paper brings interesting ideas concerning the international development of the OS field, the degree of visibility of diverse contributions coming from non-English speaking researchers, notably the French ones, and how the dialogue between different linguistic and social universes can be ameliorated.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 27 January 2022

Free Access. Free Access

Abstract

Details

The Corporation: Rethinking the Iconic Form of Business Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-377-9

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Book part
Publication date: 27 January 2022

Renate E. Meyer, Stephan Leixnering and Jeroen Veldman

For more than a century, the corporation has shaped our thinking of organizations. This deeply institutionalized form is still regarded as both the iconic business organization…

Abstract

For more than a century, the corporation has shaped our thinking of organizations. This deeply institutionalized form is still regarded as both the iconic business organization and the core structural unit of our economic order. Today, however, it stands at a crossroads. Economic, social, and environmental failures of the recent past as well as misconduct and scandals are widely linked to inadequacies in this corporate form and its governance. The aim of this volume is to spark a debate within the field. In this introduction, we provide an outline of the current crisis and an overview of the interdisciplinary set of articles presented in this volume. We conclude with a view ahead and a plea for the acknowledgement of “alternatives.”

Details

The Corporation: Rethinking the Iconic Form of Business Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-377-9

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 30 April 2019

Bradley Bowden

371

Abstract

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 16 October 2009

Howard Thomas

1020

Abstract

Details

Management Decision, vol. 47 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 9 July 2010

Abstract

Details

The Globalization of Strategy Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-898-8

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