Looking at management through its instruments A genealogical analysis of instrument-based approaches of management

Various social science disciplines are currently witnessing a revival of theoretical approaches based on management instruments. The common feature of these approaches is that they consider management instruments as a starting point to study organized, strategic action. This article introduces a framework to distinguish the notion of management instruments from that of management tools or settings. It then proposes a genealogy of these management instrument-based approaches, by placing them in the theoretical and practical contexts in which they emerged. The originality of contemporary developments concerning these instruments, compared to former studies, is thus evaluated. The article concludes by arguing for the broadening of the management science research agenda, beyond the micro-analysis of local instruments, to include the conception of strategic multi-level settings consisting of a combination of actors and instruments.