Managerial Cultures: A Comparative Historical Analysis

Understanding the impact of history can provide important insights into contemporary business practices. Viewed from the perspective of developmental history, apparently independent phenomena can often be seen as different aspects of a common pattern. Questions about the relation between our collective past experiences and future performances are also relevant for our understanding of democratic self-governance. Governments are generally engaged in nation building. What works? Why? Where are we collectively headed? This volume suggests some answers. Author David Hanson develops an analysis that focuses on governing elites, the need for security, and the search for status. His analysis rests on considerations of social structure, conflict, and psychology rather than on resources, markets and economics. The result is a book to offer international managers an understanding of history’s critical role in fully understanding the societies in which they operate.