HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT

Consistently with the objectives of the degree program in Business Administration, the course aims at providing knowledge and understanding of the historical evolution of 1) organizational forms and 2) their conceptualization in economic and business studies, and of 3) their reciprocal relationship.
In particular, in recognition of the close relationship between managerial theory and practice, the course focuses on the changes in business organization, setting some crucial debates against the historical context where they found their origin.
The attainment of these objectives will allow the students to develop a critical approach to the application of managerial theories to the solution of actual problems in a business environment, evaluating the adaptability of theories to context. To attain this purpose, some historical case studies will be presented and discussed in class with the active participation of students.

Knowledge and understanding
AKnowledge and understanding of the historical evolution of management activities and managerial disciplines, and of their reciprocal relationship.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
Ability to interpret historical business cases using managerial theories.
Ability to understand the historical determinants of the development of managerial theories.
Critical ability to apply managerial theories in a business environment in relationship with the contextual conditions of theoretical elaborations.

Judgement ability
Ability to judge the scope limiting conditions of the application of managerial theories to different historical contexts.

Communication ability
Ability to publicly present a research.
Ability to discuss historical problems using managerial categories.
Ability to question the universal validity of theoretical categories using historical cases.

Learning ability
Ability to critically assess the validity and rigour of historical and scientific text.

Knowledge of general history at high-school level

1 - Introduction: The History of Management between Theory and Practice.
2 - Business and Accounting in Pre-Modern Times.
3 - The Mercantilistic Origins of the Corporation.
4 - Enterprise and Property Rights in the Ancient Regime.*
5 - The Industrial Revolution.
6 - Theory of the Firm and Managerial Accounting.
7 - The Managerial Revolution in Its Context.
8 - From Partnerships to Corporations.
9 - The evolution of corporate governance in a large firm with foreign capital.*
10 - From entrepreneurial to corporate capitalism.
11 - The Multi-Divisional Business and the Revival of Capitalism.
12 - The Historical Origins of a Recent Change in Managerial Theories.
13 - Owners and managers in the evolution of a century-old large firm.*
14 - The Network Firm as a New Organizational Form.
15 - The evolution of a network business and the relationship among risk, profit, and development.


11 - L'impresa multidivisionale e la rinascita del capitalismo.
12 - Le cause storiche di un cambiamento recente nelle teorie manageriali.
13 - Proprietà e management nell'evoluzione di una grande impresa centenaria.*
14 - L'impresa a rete come nuova forma organizzativa.
15 - L'evoluzione di un'impresa a rete e il rapporto tra rischio, profitto e sviluppo.*

1 - Introduction: The History of Management between Theory and Practice.
2 - Business and Accounting in Pre-Modern Times.
3 - The Mercantilistic Origins of the Corporation.
4 - The Industrial Revolution.
5 - Cost Accounting during the Industrial Revolution.
6 - An Economic Theory of the Firm.
7 - The Managerial Revolution: Mass Production and Distribution.
8 - From Partnerships to Corporations.
9 - Primary and Secondary Organisations.
10 - The End of Entrepreneurial Capitalism.
11 - The Multi-Divisional Business and the Revival of Capitalism.
12 - The evolution of corporate governance in a big business with foreign capital.
13 - The Historical Origins of a Recent Change in Managerial Theories.
14 - The Network Firm as a New Organizational Form.
15 - The evolution of a network business and the relationship among risk, profit and development.

- W.H. Becker, “Finance, technology, and governance: the recent ‘revolution’ in American corporate management”, working paper, 6th EBHA Conference, Helsinki, 2002. (12)
- B.G. Carruthers, W.N. Espeland, “Accounting for Rationality: Double-Entry Bookkeeping and the Rhetoric of Economic Rationality”, American Journal of Sociology, 97 (1991), 1, pp. 31-69. (2)
- A.D. Chandler, “Decision making and modern institutional change”, Journal of Economic History, 33 (1973), 1, pp. 1-15. (7)
- A.D. Chandler, “The development of large-scale economic organizations in Modern America”, Journal of Economic History, 30 (1970), 1, pp. 201-217. (7)
- R. Coase, La natura dell'impesa, in Idem, Impresa, mercato e diritto, Bologna: Il Mulino 2006, cap. 2. (6)
- R.B. Ekelund, R.D. Tollison, “The mercantilist origins of the corporation”, Bell Journal of Economics, 11 (1980), 2, pp. 715-720. (3)
- G. Favero, Privilegi d’industria e diritti di proprietà nelle manifatture di ceramica della Repubblica di Venezia (XVII-XVIII secolo), Quaderni Storici, 46 (2011), 136.1, pp. 185-220. (4)
- G. Favero, Una fabbrica breve: la Smalteria metallurgica veneta di Bassano del Grappa, 1925-1975, Annali di storia dell'impresa, 14 (2003), pp. 295-316. (9)
- G. Favero, Marzotto dopo la rivoluzione: la ristrutturazione di una grande impresa tessile a controllo famigliare, in F. Amatori, A. Colli (eds.), Imprenditorialità e sviluppo economico: il caso italiano, Milano, Egea, 2009, pp. 149-153. (13)
- G. Favero, L’impresa a rete come strumento di contenimento del rischio: il caso Benetton, in G. Chastagneret, B. Marin, O. Raveaux, C. Travaglini (dir.), Les sociétés méditerranéennes face au risque: économies, Cairo, Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2012, pp. 215-226. (15)
- R.K. Fleischman, T.N. Tyson, “Cost accounting during the Industrial Revolution: the present state of historical knowledge”, Economic History Review, 46 (1993), 3, pp. 503-517. (6)
- N.M. Lamoreaux, “Partnership, corporations, and the theory of the firm”, American Economic Review, 88 (1998), 2, pp. 66-71. (8)
- R. Langlois, “Schumpeter and the Obsolescence of the Entrepreneur”, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, working paper 19/2002. (10)
- W.W. Powell, “Neither market nor hierarchy: network forms of organization”, Research in Organizational Behavior, 12 (1990), pp. 295-336. (14)
- O.E. Williamson, “The modern corporation: origins, evolution, attributes”, Journal of Economic Literature, 19 (1981), 4, pp. 1537-1568. (11)

Both attending and non-attending students are required to study on the handouts of the lessons, which will be available online, using the texts as a reference.
Students who will present a case in class with positive evaluation will have an additional grade point to be added to the result of the written test.
The written test will focus on the integration between managerial theory and practice in the different historical contexts they will have studied. The three questions will ask students to 1) use managerial theories to interpret a historical case they have studied; 2) explain the historical origin of different theoretical approaches; 3) use a historical case to question the universal validity of managerial theories.

Frontal lectures with visual support and class discussion, student presentations.

Italian

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development