ABSTRACT
Throughout the twentieth century, executives and business theorists have studied the practice of management, and many have found some deep insights into the subject. Since the advent of this visible hand of management, organizations have improved on the original model by making adjustments to it rather than fundamental alterations. When executives found that they did squeezed as much competitive advantage as possible from rational and scientific approaches, they began searching for other sorts of advantages. The strategic planning era provided a natural transition between rational/scientific and qualitative/humanistic management. Two major forces precipitated the move into this era: the appearance of the conglomerate on the American business scene, and the intense drive for foreign markets. Some observers of business history have called the period from 1955 to 1970 a "golden economic era" during which business organizations encountered few obstacles to prosperity and growth.
