Management thought and practice in 1920s China

Abstract

This article significantly revises our understanding of ‘scientific management’ in 1920s China. First introduced in 1911 via transpacific networks, scientific management gained traction among Chinese elites of the 1920s as a method of both national industrialisation and social change in line with the May Fourth spirit of ‘Mr. Science’ and ‘Mr. Democracy’. As such, Chinese discourse re-interpreted Taylorism as a capacious but progressive tool to encourage the ‘scientific spirit’ among ordinary Chinese. Industrialists around greater Shanghai engaged with these re-interpretations and more of their firms experimented with these ideas than previously thought. Yet, they did so in diverse ways that reflected managers’ layered commercial, political, and intellectual motivations.