Company magazines 1880—1940: An overview

Abstract

This introduction performs three functions. It provides a historiography within which to site company magazines in Britain and United States between 1880—1940, it briefly examines the history and functions of these journals and it summarizes the articles found in this special edition. In relation to historiography, it argues that while research on the subject is sparse, the study of company magazines should be located in a much wider field of historical literature, which encompasses business history, media history, the history of industrial welfare and more recent writing on corporate identity and the history of organizational public relations. In relation to the history and roles of company journals, one can point to the period 1880—1914 where the company magazine was employee originated, aimed at only a section of the workforce and amateurish in character, and to 1914—1918 where journals became widespread, corporate and more professional. The roles of magazines are divided into the operational and the strategic. The former consisted of education, dissemination of information and entertainment.The strategic roles of the company journal were associated with corporate identity, corporate culture and organizational power. Themes outlined in this introduction in terms of the historiography, history and roles and functions of company magazines are dealt with in more detail in the articles of this special edition.