In 1941 James Burnham published the bestselling book The Managerial Revolution. In this paper, I explore the social and political context of the time in which Burnham formed his theory of an ongoing social revolution from a capitalist to a managerial society. The relationships between Burnham’s book and the early years of the development of management theory in America are discussed in an effort to increase understanding of how the discipline of management has evolved and where it may go in the future.
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