Sulla base di un excursus storico attraverso i modelli manageriali avvicendatisi nel corso degli ultimi cento anni, la letteratura su questo tema evidenzia come Le funzioni, ideologie, pratiche e teorie del management varino nel tempo (Barley & Kunda 1992), in rapporto ai diversi modelli di organizzazione adottati (Morgan 1986) e tra diverse culture e società (Bendix 1956, Hofstede 1980).

In particolare, la letteratura su questo tema si sofferma sui cambiamenti intervenuti nel mondo post-fordista e globalizzato (Wilkinson, Armstrong, Lounsboury 2017), attraverso l’emergere di una molteplicità di modelli sempre più specifici (Diefenbach, By 2012, du Gay, Morgan 2013), e sul ruolo che tali modelli acquisiscono sempre più in merito alla società più in generale.

Il management, come ethos, principio organizzativo, cultura e campo d’insegnamento accademico, ha avuto un notevole sviluppo a partire dalla seconda metà del XX secolo e si è diffuso nel mondo anche attraverso il ruolo centrale delle Business Schools universitarie, diffondendosi non solo nel campo delle aziende for profit, ma anche in quelle non-profit, nella PA, nelle agenzie statali ed in ogni aspetto delle società che richiedono organizzazione (Enteman 1993, Locke et al. 2011).

La logica generale della letteratura su questo tema è improntata all’analisi evolutiva delle forme e modelli di management, della sua posizione nella cultura/zeitgeist della società moderna, delle istituzioni e ideologie che esso supporta e sulle sfide per il futuro. Il XX secolo è stato l’epoca d’oro dei manager. Ci si interroga se sarà così anche per il XXI secolo (Wilkinson, Armstrong, Lounsboury 2017).

L’excursus storico dei modelli parte dall’organizzazione scientifica del lavoro (Scientific management) di Taylor (1967), che rappresenta ancora oggi un’ideologia egemonica che continua ad essere rilevante nelle filosofie e pratiche aziendali (Wilkinson et al. 2017).

A questo segue il modello delle relazioni umane (Mayo 1933, 1945, Kyle 2006), che mira a promuovere una maggiore democratizzazione delle condizioni di lavoro nelle aziende, a partire da una critica al modello di Taylor, per gli effetti negativi sulla produttività ed il turnover prodotti dal malessere psicosociale che esso generava nei lavoratori.

Successivamente si sviluppano il modello dell’Operation management (Reid & Sanders 2012, Chase et al. 2007), come scienza della gestione della produzione, in seno a cui sono poi emersi i modelli giapponesi del Just in time e del Total Quality Management (Chiarini 2012, Orsini 2013, Evans e Lindsay 2011, Pascale & Athos 1981, Pyzdek & Keller 2013, Tague 2005); il modello del management by objectives (Drucker 1954); i modelli basati sulla cultura e l’immagine aziendale come strumento di management (Balmer e Greyser 2011, Cameron e Quinn 2011, Deal e Kennedy 1982, Handy 1976, Hofstede et al. 2010, Quinn et al. 2010, Schein 1999, 2010, Trompenaars e Hampden-Turner 2004) e quelli basati sulla gestione dei significati (Daft e Weick 1984, Weick 1993, 1997), legati all’idea che il management costituisca un processo simbolico inerente la cultura organizzativa, il cambiamento strategico, l’innovazione, l’attivazione condivisa dei significati; i modelli dei sistemi aperti (Chesbrough 2007, 2011, Huff et al. 2013, Williams e Hummelbrunner 2011), focalizzati sul rapporto tra ambiente interno ed esterno all’azienda; il modello delle risorse umane (Boselia 2010, Mathis & Jackson 2011, Ulrich e Brockbank 2005, Ulrich et al. 2012), che incontra notevoli difficoltà nella sua concreta applicazione a causa del forte scetticismo rispetto ai suoi possibili effetti sulle performance, oltre che per gli effetti della globalizzazione e della finanziarizzazione dell’impresa (Wilkinson, Armstrong, Lounsboury 2017); i modelli basati sulla gestione della leadership, quali quello della leadership situazionale, quello delle contingenze, il modello delle decisioni ed i modelli transazionali (Blanchard 2009, Blanchard et al. 2005, Hersey et al. 2012, Kouzes e Posner 2012, Northouse 2013, Snowden e Boone 2007); fino allo sviluppo di modelli basati sull’applicazione del Lean management nel settore dei servizi (Hanna 2007, Seldon et al. 2010, Swank 2003, Brewton 2009, Chalice 2005, Balzer 2010) e nel project management (Eric 1997, Mascitelli 2002, Poppendieck & Poppendieck 2003); di modelli basati sulle strategie (Ansoff 2007, Barney e Hesterly 2012, Crook et al. 2008, Freeman 2010, Porter 1996, 2008, Mintzberg 1994, Mintzberg e Lample 1999), anch’essi con forti difficoltà di applicazione concreta rispetto ai processi decisionali e d’implementazione nei contesti organizzativi attuali, ipercompetitivi, instabili e conflittuali (Wilkinson, Armstrong, Lounsboury 2017, Ohmae 1982); di modelli basati sulla gestione di dati, informazioni e conoscenze (Adkins 2010, Garrett 2002, Minelli et al. 2013, Nielsen e Budiu 2012, Payne e Frow 2013, Rubin 2013, Sutherland e Schwaber 2012), in funzione dello sviluppo e diffusione delle nuove tecnologie dell’informazione (Paharia 2013) ed infine di modelli focalizzati sulla gestione del cambiamento (Kotter 2012, Kotter e Schlesinger 2008) e sullo sviluppo delle competenze manageriali (Collins 2009, Collins e Porras 1994, Covey 1989, De Bono 1967, 1999, Kolb et al. 1994, Manolis et al. 2012, Pasher et al. 2009).

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