CAN MANAGEMENT ENTER THE MUSEUM? MUSEALITIES OF MANAGEMENT AND ITS HISTORY

Abstract

Management in its contemporary content and shape has been practiced over a relatively recent period. As a result, few people are aware of the presence of management in existing museums or can figure what to expect from a museum explicitly dedicated to management. Contemporary management emerged during the Second Industrial Revolution based on pioneering experiences such as the systematic management techniques introduced at Du Pont de Nemours and Taylor’s scientific approach to management. The widespread adoption of management as a doctrine of collective action was accompanied by the emergence of the professional manager along with more such technical developments transforming into new “managerial objects”. As managers continue to be driven by the systematic pursuit of better performance, the origins of many current practices can be found in such earlier innovations. This theme issue of Entreprises et Histoire demonstrates why and how management deserves a legitimate place “in the museum”. Exploring the musealities of management, its history, and its artifacts and examining the museological ways of representing management is relatively unprecedented. This editorial outlines what is required in order to succeed in bringing management into the museum and raises the questions that result from such an initiative.