1818 Society WBG History TG and WBG Library event
Robert S. McNamara’s impact on, and relevance to, management as a profession has yet to be fully explored. Based on archival and oral history sources relating to the various stages of McNamara’s career (Harvard Business School, Ford Motor Company, Department of Defence, World Bank), this presentation connects McNamara’s career history to broader intellectual discussions about management as a profession. In the various institutions with which he was associated (not least, the World Bank), McNamara was a developer and implementer of management ideas and techniques. His mission was considerably broader than his well-known focus on quantitative analysis and financial control. He once described management as ‘the most creative of all the arts’ and would regularly state that management is a profession that serves the public interest. The presentation discusses McNamara’s career in relation to two distinct conceptual positions: Rakesh Khurana’s writings of the ‘unfulfilled promise’ of management as a profession, and Thomas Klikauer’s work on managerialism as ideology. In doing so, it explores why optimistic visions of management as a profession that contributes to the public good often fail to convince.
Leo McCann is Professor of Management at the University of York, UK. His research explores white-collar and expert work, using historical and sociological research methods. His most recent book is The Paramedic at Work: A Sociology of a New Profession (Oxford University Press). He is currently working on a British Academy funded project into the career history of Robert S. McNamara.
Discussant: Steven Conn (Professor of History, Miami University)
Moderator: John Heath, Chair, WBG History TG
If you will attend in person, please RSVP. Venue: MC C3-214
RSVP here
Attending virtually, please register.
Register here
On June 13th, you can directly join the session by using the link/details below:
Join Webex
Join by meeting number
Meeting number: 2313 872 0792
Password: Society1818
Join by phone
1-650-479-3207 Call-in number (US/Canada)
Access code: 2313 872 0792
Global call-in numbers
