ABSTRACT

Management thought, as an identifiable and separate field of study, is relatively immature. Although individual ideas of management and administration date back for more than two thousand years, organized management thought is a product of the last half-century. Until recently, most literature on the subject developed from reflections of practitioners in business and academicians specializing in education for business and public administration. With a few exceptions, the classical writings have not been based on formal empirical research but on judgment supported by personal experience and thoughts of the writers.