Global map of historical researchers in business & management
A bit of a crowdsourcing experiment.
I created a map of researchers in business history, management history, historical organization studies and organizational history. The why and how of this (for me) spectacular task will be in Friday’s post.
In the meantime, though, I need your help.
This map is far from complete, because not everyone actually uses the terms I used for searches (and trust me, those searches were more convoluted than you might think).
For now, I use “business historians” as a shorthand for “historical researchers interested in business, management, organizations and organizational memory”. Don’t be cross, I am writing this in my spare time, and this will be a thousand words longer if I use that label EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Consequently, this map features a fair few anomalies:
The UK has twice as many business historians as the USA. (Hey, Americans, are you going to let that stand?)
Argentina has NO business historians. (Guys, don’t you use Google Scholar?!?)
China has one. (Hardly plausible.)
Japan has 18. (There should be hundreds…)
I could go on. The data for Europe seems a bit better. That said: Bernardo, you are not currently on the map. Also, can you do something about the Latin American coverage?
So, here’s my ask to you:
Add yourself to the map (even if you're — maybe — already on it). Right now, the map features only numbers, not names.
If you want to see yourself on the map, confirm that you are happy for your information to be displayed on the map: your name, your university affiliation, and your research interests (optional).
Pass this on to your colleagues who also should be on the map.
The data
Where does the data come from?
All data for this map were compiled from publicly available digital sources. The majority of entries were drawn from Google Scholar, where academics can enter their subject interests. Additional searches were also conducted, but yielded fewer and less reliable results. Some of these results were included.
What data underpins the map?
The Github files only contain numbers and no identifying information, unless released by the person.
Where is the data stored?
The data is stored in a secure folder on an institutional OneDrive, which is GDPR-compliant. If you want to know if your name is included, submit the form. If you want to be removed from the underlying dataset, fill in the form and I will confirm removal via email. All data from the form submission is stored in the same OneDrive folders, and the form is also part of the institutional Microsoft 365 subscription and GDPR-compliant.
What now?
Fill in the form and add yourself to the map. If you feel like it, opt in to display your information (realistically, we are semi-public as professionals already). Share it with your colleagues, so we get a better map.
But why?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all knew who we are, where we are, and what we do?