Do historical facts speak for themselves? Imagination and intuition in management history

Abstract

Notes that facts and chronologies of events do not tell the whole historical story and that the historian must speculate about meaning. Points out that this undertaking requires intuition and imagination and that management historians are not exempt from speculation in their search for meaning. Argues for a metahistorical approach in interpreting management thought and practice in the past.

Citation

Scott, W.G. (1996), "Do historical facts speak for themselves? Imagination and intuition in management history", Journal of Management History (Archive), Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 85-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552529610127713