The Library
The separation of directors and managers : a historical examination of the status of managers'
Tools
Segrestin, Blanche, Johnston, Andrew and Hatchuel, Armand (2019) The separation of directors and managers : a historical examination of the status of managers'. Journal of Management History, 25 (2). pp. 141-164. doi:10.1108/JMH-11-2018-0060 ISSN 1751-1348.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JMH-11-2018-0060
Abstract
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to contrast the historical rise of the managerial function and its reception in law. It thus contributes to the debates on the separation of ownership and control, by showing that managers were never recognized in law. As a result, the managerial function was not protected in law.
Design/methodology/approach:
This paper brings together management history and the history of UK company law to study the emergence of management in the early twentieth century and the law’s response. The authors bring new historical evidence to bear on the company law reforms of the second half of the twentieth century and, in particular, on the changes inspired by the Cohen Committee report of 1945.
Findings:
Scientific progress and innovation were important rationales for the emergence of managerial authority. They implied new economic models, new competencies and wider social responsibilities. The analysis of this paper shows that these rationales have been overlooked by company law. The lack of conceptualization of the management in law allowed reforms after 1945 that gave shareholders greater influence over corporate strategy, reducing managerial discretion and the scope for innovation.
Research limitations/implications:
This paper focuses on the UK. Further research is needed to confirm whether other countries followed a similar path, both in terms of the emergence of management and in terms of the law’s approach.
Originality/value:
This paper is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the law’s historical approach to management. It calls for a reappraisal of the status of managers and the way corporate governance organizes the separation of ownership and control.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Management History | ||||||
Publisher: | Emerald Publishing Limited | ||||||
ISSN: | 1751-1348 | ||||||
Official Date: | 18 April 2019 | ||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||
Volume: | 25 | ||||||
Number: | 2 | ||||||
Page Range: | pp. 141-164 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1108/JMH-11-2018-0060 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 9 November 2020 |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |