ABSTRACT
Among th, forerunn'~ of m.n'g'm,nt in th, nin,t,,,,th rentu", "" Rob"t Owen, who is still outstanding in the depth of his insight and the courage of his convictions. He is still, a hundred and fifty years after his model experiment in New Lanark - the bankrupt Scottish textile mill which he turned in a few years into a highly successful business and into a model of human relations and plant organization - one of the most "progressive" managers and well up with the best of them today. But there was also Saint-Simon, the Frenchman, Owen's contemporary, who first saw the importance of the entrepreneur as the creator of wealth. There were, in the second half of the century, the Japanese. Confronted with the need to excel in the techniques and economics of the West and yet desirous to maintain the social and cultural values of their own old and rich
tradition, the Japanese were the first to think seriously about the social responsibility and junction of the manager. Finally toward the end of the century, there was an American, Henry Towne, with his emphasis on the wealth-creating contribution of knowledge and on the sharing of managerial experience.
