The Corporation in Management Studies

Abstract

'Management' - as practiced in modern corporations as well as the social position ascribed to its exponents - is today comparatively well established and institutionalized. For Berle and Means, '[m]anagement' may be defined as that body of men who, in law, have formally assumed the duties of exercising domination over the corporate business and assets.' 'Management' has not, however, always been so taken for granted; and, as we shall show, its theory and practice remains a product of struggles between parties, including legislators and owners as well as executives, who seek to press their distinctive claims upon the purpose and scope of management. At the centre of these struggles is the question: what benefits does 'management' bring, and to whom?