Top thinkers from Wellington School of Business and Government recognised
Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings from Wellington School of Business and Government have been shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2021 Breakthrough Idea Award.
The Breakthrough Idea Award celebrates thinkers whose radical ideas and insights have the potential to change how people think about business and management.
Todd and Stephen have been recognised for their work in co-authored books, The Past, Present and Future of Sustainable Management and A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Management Theory.
“People generally don’t associate historians with promoting new thinking, so we’re really surprised and pleased to be nominated for such a prestigious award for ‘Breakthrough Ideas’,” said the pair.
Their research investigates how conventional histories can limit innovation and reveals the story of how management science grew out of the conservation movement.
“Our new history of management science uncovered how it grew out of the conservation movement’s mission to curb social and environmental exploitation by big business in the first decade of the 20th century. The history of management written in the mid-20th century covered these tracks and the connection to conservation was forgotten.
“The ‘breakthrough idea’ is that sustainable management isn’t new. It’s a first principle, and managers should see social and environmental goods rather than economic goods as their ultimate aims.”
Now in their twentieth year, the Thinkers50 Awards, identify, rank, and share extraordinary management and business thinkers from across the world.
Winners will be announced at the Thinkers50 Awards Gala 2021 on 15-16 November 2021.