Events

I will assess the prospects for deepening the dialogue between organization studies and history. Leading organization theorists from the dominant perspectives of new institutionalism and evolutionary theory, along with critical and interpretive studies, have identified exemplars of historical research. These exemplars illustrate the distinction between research that uses history to illustrate or advance theory, and research that draws on theory to contribute to historiography. There is a convergence of organization studies with history in relation to the topics of memory and historical responsibility. There are also methodological convergences, in relation to narrative interpretation and analysis, as well as the common interest in techniques such as topic modeling. History, no less than organization studies, is a diverse field, and the fields of business history and management history differ in their receptiveness to organization theory, and both remain relatively insulated from wider theoretical debates in history. Finally, the history of management theory itself needs be considered in the historical context of the rise of business schools.

The project discusses the importance of economic espionage for corporations and their countermeasures to protect themselves against illegal knowledge transfer. Since the late 19th century, a technological "lead" has increasingly been regarded as one of the factors responsible for an uneven distribution of market and political opportunities of states in a global competition. Governments and corporations therefore cooperated closely in the area of a "knowledge policy," which included espionage by national intelligence agencies in favor of the national economy as well as concerted safety precautions by state and corporations against industrial espionage.

Daniel Raff (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) will talk about the transformation of book retailing in America ca. 1970–95. The major transition was less modal sales venues shifting from Central Business Districts to suburban locations than the rise of extremely broadly merchandised ‘superstores’ and their supporting infrastructure. Complementarities and the persistence of core capabilities are striking features of the organizational histories, but so is—over a fairly extended period—evolutionary change.