Handbook of Historical Methods for Management
Published on 11. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
462 pages
978-1-0353-6504-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Handbook of Historical Methods for Management is invaluable for researchers seeking to expand their methodological toolkit. Not only does it showcase a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of management, the Handbook also provides both practical guidance and conceptual insights that present an inclusive overview of historical techniques for management.
Authored by leading experts in the field, this timely Handbook provides practical examples that explain the different processes involved in historical methods of enquiry. It introduces a wide variety of topics such as archival research, organizational memory, materiality, and ANTi-history, offering insights into the complexity of this broad field. Ultimately, the chapters revitalise historical methods in management and organizational studies through careful, interdisciplinary methodological guidance.
This comprehensive Handbook is essential for business, economics and management scholars seeking to clarify their studies. It will additionally be valuable for those in management positions striving to learn more about historical perspectives used to study the field.
Authored by leading experts in the field, this timely Handbook provides practical examples that explain the different processes involved in historical methods of enquiry. It introduces a wide variety of topics such as archival research, organizational memory, materiality, and ANTi-history, offering insights into the complexity of this broad field. Ultimately, the chapters revitalise historical methods in management and organizational studies through careful, interdisciplinary methodological guidance.
This comprehensive Handbook is essential for business, economics and management scholars seeking to clarify their studies. It will additionally be valuable for those in management positions striving to learn more about historical perspectives used to study the field.
Reviews / Votes
'This Handbook is a great addition to the wealth of studies showing the importance of historical approaches to management and organization studies. The editors and authors of this volume make it clear that studying organizations means history. They mark a turning point in understanding how organization and historical studies are interlocked. The volume offers a few keys to open a beautiful Pandora's box.' -- Paolo Quattrone, Alliance Manchester Business School, UKMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-6504-3 (9781035365043)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Stephanie Decker, Professor of Strategy, University of Birmingham Business School, UK, and Professor of African Business History, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, William M. Foster, Professor of Management, University of Alberta, Canada and Elena Giovannoni, University of Birmingham Business School, UK and University of Siena, Italy
Content
Contents:
1 Introduction: why historical methods in management? 1
Stephanie Decker, William M. Foster and Elena Giovannoni
PART I PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORICAL METHODS:
THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HISTORICAL
METHODS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
2 Historical organization studies 17
Charles Harvey and Mairi Maclean
3 Rhetorical history: giving meaning to the past in past and present 34
Christina Lubinski
4 ANTi-History: let's get critical ... critical, I want to get critical! 45
Gabrielle Durepos
5 A narrative of the historic turn in organization studies 63
Michael Rowlinson, Stephanie Decker and John Hassard
6 Researching with records in management and organisation studies:
archives, data corpus, and reflexivity 79
Amon Barros
7 On terms: a key to methodological issues in the construction of history 93
Albert J. Mills and Jean Helms Mills
PART II HISTORICAL DATA AND SOURCES: ONTOLOGICAL,
EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL WAYS OF
CONDUCTING HISTORICAL RESEARCH
8 How to research in an archive 103
Kevin D. Tennent and Alex G. Gillett
9 Perspectives on oral history for historical research 120
Valeria Giacomin
10 Using accounting records as historical data sources 139
Christopher J. Napier
11 Archival research in the digital era 155
Adam Nix, Stephanie Decker, David A. Kirsch and Santhilata Kuppili Venkata
12 Multisensory approaches to researching the past: insights from history
and archaeology 172
Hannah Platts
13 Process-tracing historical research methods in management 187
Andrew Smith
14 Historical case studies: richness, rigour and 'contextualised explanation' 199
Emily Buchnea
PART III HISTORICAL PRACTICES OF ANALYSING DATA AND SOURCES
15 Critical hermeneutics: deriving meaning from historical sources 216
R. Daniel Wadhwani
16 Critical realism in historical research 230
Alistair Mutch
17 Prosopography and microhistory: illuminating historical actors 243
Garry D. Carnegie and Karen M. McBride
18 Insightful empirical knowledge in grounded theory and historical
organization studies 262
Trevor Israelsen and J. Robert Mitchell
19 Foucauldian approaches to researching management histories critically 279
Stephen Cummings and Todd Bridgman
PART IV HISTORICAL RESEARCH FOR ORGANIZATION AND
SOCIETY: EMPIRICAL EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
METHODS TO INVESTIGATE SPECIFIC THEORETICAL
CONSTRUCTS
20 A call for postnational historiography: notes on writing "history from above" 301
Arun Kumar
21 Researching past occurrences: discovering the past through
conversational inquiry 312
Francois Bastien and Diego M. Coraiola
22 The City of London: genealogy of a contemporary heterotopia 326
Nelarine Cornelius and Eric Pezet
23 Exploring organisational identity through historical research methods 342
Elena Giovannoni and Pasquale Ruggiero
24 The past as corporate social responsibility 359
Robert Phillips, Judith Schrempf-Stirling and Christian Stutz
25 Embodied microhistories on the move: materializing microhistories
through walking to include the affective memories of everyday life 371
Jeanne Mengis, Fabio James Petani and Claudia Scholz
26 Narrating rhetorical history to present an appearance of organizational
authenticity 393
Kai Lamertz
27 The interview and researching collective memory 409
Jukka Rintamaeki, Sebastien Mena, William M Foster and Mike Zundel
28 Taming the 'mythical beast': revisiting the myths of historical research
in international business scholarship 422
Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, Eriikka Paavilainen-Maentymaeki and Bareerah
Hafeez Hoorani
Index
1 Introduction: why historical methods in management? 1
Stephanie Decker, William M. Foster and Elena Giovannoni
PART I PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORICAL METHODS:
THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HISTORICAL
METHODS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
2 Historical organization studies 17
Charles Harvey and Mairi Maclean
3 Rhetorical history: giving meaning to the past in past and present 34
Christina Lubinski
4 ANTi-History: let's get critical ... critical, I want to get critical! 45
Gabrielle Durepos
5 A narrative of the historic turn in organization studies 63
Michael Rowlinson, Stephanie Decker and John Hassard
6 Researching with records in management and organisation studies:
archives, data corpus, and reflexivity 79
Amon Barros
7 On terms: a key to methodological issues in the construction of history 93
Albert J. Mills and Jean Helms Mills
PART II HISTORICAL DATA AND SOURCES: ONTOLOGICAL,
EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL WAYS OF
CONDUCTING HISTORICAL RESEARCH
8 How to research in an archive 103
Kevin D. Tennent and Alex G. Gillett
9 Perspectives on oral history for historical research 120
Valeria Giacomin
10 Using accounting records as historical data sources 139
Christopher J. Napier
11 Archival research in the digital era 155
Adam Nix, Stephanie Decker, David A. Kirsch and Santhilata Kuppili Venkata
12 Multisensory approaches to researching the past: insights from history
and archaeology 172
Hannah Platts
13 Process-tracing historical research methods in management 187
Andrew Smith
14 Historical case studies: richness, rigour and 'contextualised explanation' 199
Emily Buchnea
PART III HISTORICAL PRACTICES OF ANALYSING DATA AND SOURCES
15 Critical hermeneutics: deriving meaning from historical sources 216
R. Daniel Wadhwani
16 Critical realism in historical research 230
Alistair Mutch
17 Prosopography and microhistory: illuminating historical actors 243
Garry D. Carnegie and Karen M. McBride
18 Insightful empirical knowledge in grounded theory and historical
organization studies 262
Trevor Israelsen and J. Robert Mitchell
19 Foucauldian approaches to researching management histories critically 279
Stephen Cummings and Todd Bridgman
PART IV HISTORICAL RESEARCH FOR ORGANIZATION AND
SOCIETY: EMPIRICAL EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
METHODS TO INVESTIGATE SPECIFIC THEORETICAL
CONSTRUCTS
20 A call for postnational historiography: notes on writing "history from above" 301
Arun Kumar
21 Researching past occurrences: discovering the past through
conversational inquiry 312
Francois Bastien and Diego M. Coraiola
22 The City of London: genealogy of a contemporary heterotopia 326
Nelarine Cornelius and Eric Pezet
23 Exploring organisational identity through historical research methods 342
Elena Giovannoni and Pasquale Ruggiero
24 The past as corporate social responsibility 359
Robert Phillips, Judith Schrempf-Stirling and Christian Stutz
25 Embodied microhistories on the move: materializing microhistories
through walking to include the affective memories of everyday life 371
Jeanne Mengis, Fabio James Petani and Claudia Scholz
26 Narrating rhetorical history to present an appearance of organizational
authenticity 393
Kai Lamertz
27 The interview and researching collective memory 409
Jukka Rintamaeki, Sebastien Mena, William M Foster and Mike Zundel
28 Taming the 'mythical beast': revisiting the myths of historical research
in international business scholarship 422
Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, Eriikka Paavilainen-Maentymaeki and Bareerah
Hafeez Hoorani
Index