From Betriebswirtschaftslehre to human relations: Turkish management literature before and after the Second World War

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713999221

This article examines Turkish management literature from its beginnings in the mid-1930s up to the mid-1960s. The study traces and explores the impact of economic and political as well as institutional developments on the extent and changes in the reception that different management approaches have enjoyed in this formative period. Investigation of the management literature produced over the course of the 30-year time span shows that the business economics perspective that dominated pioneering work gave way after early 1950s to a Fayolist management process approach coupled with a human relations orientation. Taylorism attracted limited attention throughout the entire period. The article attempts to show that these findings can be traced to the shift from links with Germany and the German literature in early years to a strong American influence after the Second World War.