‘Progressive conservatism’: The evolution of paternalism as a means of management control at Michelin

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of paternalism at Michelin from 1889 to 2024. Rather than disappearing with the welfare state and modern management, Michelin’s paternalism persisted through change and adaptation. Using archival materials, we trace how Michelin combined material care, emotional attachment, and symbolic practices to maintain control over its workforce across four periods. We propose a framework that distinguishes between the stable and changing elements of paternalistic management by showing that while tools and techniques evolved, the underlying structure of moral authority and worker alignment endured. The article advances business history debates, first by illustrating how forms of managerial control can survive institutional change by adjusting to new expectations, reconsidering the place of affect, identity, and belonging in the history of corporate governance, and second, by offering a longterm perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), showing how Michelin’s paternalism prefigured CSR by embedding social concerns into corporate strategy.