Over the course of Harvard Business Review’s century-long life, its articles have introduced leaders to new ideas and tools designed to keep them on the cutting edge of running a successful business. During this period, management has evolved from a relatively specialized trade discipline to a field characterized by an ever-increasing ambition to explain how organizations function and how they can be improved.
HBR Staff
Visualizing a Century of Management Ideas
How HBR’s coverage has evolved over time.
September 19, 2022
· Long read
Summary.
How has HBR’s approach to covering management topics over the past century changed? And what can these changes tell us about the evolving nature of the challenges faced by managers? The authors analyzed every article HBR published from 1922 to 2021. They found an early preponderance of language relating to finance & accounting and operations, followed by a steady and gradual decline; a steady and substantial increase in language relating to strategy and marketing; and a persistent and substantial share of language relating to organizations and human resources. The findings suggest that HBR has gradually shifted its focus away from the tangible aspects of management, such as how to allocate financial resources or organize production, and toward the intangible ones, such as how to build a sustainable strategy or develop a valuable customer experience.