1911 - Frederick Taylor focuses on manufacturing tasks and time/motion studies, which are measured statistically.
1920s - Taylor's theories of management science, empowered by Carl Barth's machining slide rule technology, birth the concept of business process management (BPM).
1929 - The Taylor Society in the US releases a revised and updated practitioner's manual of scientific management: scientific management in American industry.
1932 - Elton Mayo becomes the first to question the behavioural assumptions of scientific management. His studies conclude that human factors are often more important than physical conditions in motivating employees to greater productivity.
1946 - Social scientist Kurt Lewin launches the Research Centre for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His contributions in change theory, action research and action learning earn him the title of the "father of organisation development".
1949 - A group of researchers from London's Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, led by Eric Trist, study a South Yorkshire coalmine. Their research leads to the development of the Sociotechnical Systems Theory, which considers both the social and the technical aspects when designing jobs.
1954 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory is published in his book Motivation and Personality. This provides a framework for gaining employees' commitment.
1954 - Drucker writes The Practice of Management and introduces the five basic roles of managers.
1959 - Frederick Herzberg develops a list of factors based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, except more closely related to work. Hygiene factors must be present in the job before motivators can be used to stimulate the workers, he says.
1960s - A new, integrated approach originates known as Organisation Development (OD): the systematic application of behavioural science knowledge at various levels (group, inter-group and total organisation) to bring about planned change.
1960 - Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y principles influence the design and implementation of personnel policies and practices.
1964 - Robert Blake and Jane Mouton develop a management model that conceptualises management styles and relations. Their grid uses two axes. "Concern for people" is plotted using the vertical axis and "Concern for task" is along the horizontal axis. The notion that just two dimensions can describe a managerial behaviour has the attraction of simplicity.
1968 - The idea of process automation through information technology can be traced to when Fritz Nordsieck wrote: "Think about [a] modern data processing [system]. [It] represents a perceptible process, that is... connected with the business process and accompanies - or even controls - this process during various segments."
1970s - The approach towards the automation of business processes are part of the office automation prototypes at Xerox Parc (Officetalk, developed by Skip Ellis and Gary Nutt) and Wharton (Scoop, developed by Michael Zisman). The focus of office automation research is "to reduce the complexity of the user's interface to the [office information] system, control the flow of information and enhance the overall efficiency of the office".
1978 - Tom Gilbert publishes Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. It describes the behavioural engineering model that becomes the bible of performance technology.
1978 - McKinsey's John Larson asks colleague Tom Peters to step in at the last minute and make a presentation that leads to "In search of excellence". Peters spawns the birth of the "management guru business".
1990s - The era of business process re-engineering begins.
1990 - Peter Senge popularises the "Learning Organisation" in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. He describes the organisation as an organism with the capacity to enhance its capabilities and shape its own future.
2000s - The era of business process management begins with a focus on executable processes, management of the process lifecycle and process modelling languages.
Sources: The History and Development of the Internet: a Timeline, Rhonda Davila. A Brief History of the Internet, Barry M Leiner, Vinton G Cerf, David D Clark, Robert E Kahn, Leonard Kleinrock, Daniel C Lynch, Jon Postel, Larry G Roberts, Stephen Wolff. Wikipedia. Keith Lynch's timeline of Net-related terms and concepts. Computer History. Hobbes' Internet Timeline. A history of the computer. A
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