Classical management control in contemporary management and accounting: the persistence of Taylor and Fayol's world

Abstract

This paper draws parallels between the contemporary concerns and foci of business and governments in today's international environment and those pertaining at the time of Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol, founders of the classical management approach to control. The persistence and revived profile of the classical management model of control is linked to contemporary Western management's economic rationalism. The genesis of this model of control is explored via its founders’ personal backgrounds and industrial environments. Our contemporary classical approach to control is thus held up as a reflection of this earlier genesis.