The future of management: does business history have anything to tell us?

Abstract

Although many of the environmental factors described by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr are altering under the impact of technological change, this will not necessarily lead to wholesale changes in the roles played by managers. Many of the functions of managers will remain intact, even if new technologies alter how they are executed. Moreover, the managerial and organizational capabilities developed to control 'Chandlerian' firms are adaptable and will continue to be exercised despite transformations in the contexts that initially inspired them.