Abstract

Why does Administration Industrielle et Générale have a major status in the history of management thought? We argue that the rational reason for the enthusiasm for Fayol’s theory disguises the irrational and unconscious fears in societies for which the cool rationality of Fayol’s work offered a soothing balm. We discuss this in two different but relatively similar post-war settings—France in the 1920s, which saw the first major upsurge of interest in Fayol’s work, and the mid-twentieth century USA, where his work was rediscovered and attained canonical status. The reception to his work in the aftermaths of the two world wars prove particularly important in understanding how historico/politico/emotional affect influences the reception to a body of work. We suggest it is not the ideas themselves that were of prime importance, but how those ideas resonated with the historical, political and emotional context in which they were debated and taken up.

摘要

为什么Administration Industrielle et Générale在管理思想史上占有重要地位？我们认为，对法约尔理论的热情的理性原因掩盖了社会中非理性和无意识的恐惧，法约尔工作的冷静理性为这些社会提供了舒缓的慰藉。我们在两个不同但相对相似的战后环境中讨论这一点——1920 年代的法国，这是对法约尔作品的第一次重大兴趣，以及 20 世纪中叶的美国，他的作品被重新发现并获得了权威地位。在两次世界大战之后对他的作品的接受证明对于理解历史/政治/情感影响如何影响对一系列作品的接受特别重要。我们认为，最重要的不是思想本身，而是这些思想如何与历史产生共鸣，