Introduction: why historical methods in management?

Abstract

Everything has a past. That is, everything has evolved over time to be what it is now. But the past and history matter to different people in different ways. Organizations and management are no exceptions. Yet, despite the recognition that the past, history and memory are important, we still hear the question 'why does history matter to management and organization studies?'. We hear this even though historical research is published more frequently in top journals (