France is not usually perceived as a Nation of Managers and Management. The dominant paradigm is that its modern management models and methods have been imported from the USA after WWII. Does this mean that nothing existed before? This proposal aims to provide a contribution to this debate by offering a study of French Management Education.
The history of management education raises a set of challenges and debates: the problem of the recognition and legitimacy of a new discipline compared with already established disciplines and teachers; the role played in the selection and education of national elites, and more generally, of its social function; the relationship with the job market and profressionalisation; and the relationship of management with research and science. Today, in France, Management Education is provided by many institutions, some private, some public. Around 420,000 students are involved in programmes related to management, i.e around 1/6th of all French students. In France, one may learn Management at a University, of course, in a private Business School and also in a School of Engineers. A historical journey back to the early roots of French management Education is required to confirm or interrogate the possible existence of a management ‘à la française’. To try to understand this long journey staring in the 19th centry, it is important to assess three misunderstandings. Firstly: despite that in France, business schools and management education has existed since the 19th century, it is common to read that management – and by consequence management training or education - did not appear until after the Second World War. Secondly: is it true that French management imported all its principle sources from an American influence ? Thirdly: The rising need for management education is often explained by practical factors: for example, the rise in complexity and size of organizations. This assertion has to be discussed.