Management Innovators: The People and Ideas that Have Shaped Modern Business [Hardcover]

All by itself, the Introduction is well worth the cost of the book. Near its conclusion, Wren and Greenwood observe: "Taken as a whole, there is no single theme to this book; rather, it is a narrative with multiple themes as a story of American business enterprise unfolds. Beginning with the selection of inventors, we see how the process of invention and innovation changes the way we live, creates entirely new industries, and must be continuous as the competitive environment changes. Makers [e.g. Henry Ford] are those who who change ideas into markets for the marketplace -- an evolutionary process that accompanies the shift from small-to-large-scale manufacturing and then to the assembly line. Sellers [e.g. Richard W. Sears] take those products to market and allow us to see the sales and distribution innovations that have enabled modern consumers to live better than the monarchs of centuries before. Inventors, makers, and sellers need the movers [e.g. Edward H. Harriman], those who create the time and place utility; and all need the communicators [e.g. Alexander Graham Bell], who connect the parts into a whole."

Because this book was first published in 1998, many readers (I among them) would have expected the inclusion of other "management innovators" such as Donald Dell, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Sam Walton, and Jack Welch. Perhaps they will be among those discussed in a sequel to this volume. Nonetheless, each of the 30 whom Wren and Greenwood do include is eminently worthy. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Stuart Crainer's The Management Century, James Tobin's Great Projects: The Epic Story of the Building of America, from the Taming of the Mississippi to the Invention of the Internet, and Andrea Gabor's The Capitalist Philosophers: The Geniuses of Modern Business -- Their Lives, Times, and Ideas.

They write that "our goal is to portray a selection of individuals whose ideas have made a difference in the way we teach and practice business management. In selecting these figures, we realize that it would be impossible to chronicle all of their activities; we could have chosen other individuals of equal stature as well. We have kept in mind an audience of contemporary managers, aspiring managers, and students of management who wish to gain a historical perspective on their profession by sketching the people and ideas that contributed to the formation of modern management" (from the Preface).

In this context, Wren and Greenwood divide their book into two parts:

* Part One- In this part, they trace the beginnings of American enterprise in inventing, manufacturing, selling, transportation, communication, and financing. They argue that these fourteen individuals set a pattern for others to follow as U.S. business enterprise grew.

* Part Two- In this part, in order to portray the search for better ways to manage, they present stories of other influential individuals. Here, they argue that these representatives played a pioneering role in shaping modern managerial practices.

Highly recommended.