How Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged : An analysis based on her practical management experience and her political philosophy

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to highlight the way Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged. Design/methodology/approach – The research explores the different opportunities Mary P. Follett has regarding management issues. It also analyses Follett's way of reasoning in some of her conferences on management. Findings – Follett's ideas on management have been based on her practical management experience and on her political philosophy. The paper particularly demonstrates that Follett was currently proceeding in three different areas: instantiation, conceptual linkage and deduction of management principles. A management problem becomes a particular instance of social interaction situation, within a broader category of problems and situations: that is what we identify as “instantiation”. Follett makes connections with concepts she has developed about democracy: that is what we named “conceptual linkage”. Deduction of management ideas is then made possible by combining instantiation and conceptual linkage. Originality/value – This paper helps to explain why so many management authors have considered Mary P. Follett as a pioneer, a “prophet of management”.