The Atlantic School of Business : a critical history, 1980 to 1990

Abstract

The Atlantic School of Business (ASB), initiated in 1970 have become a unique and long lasting organization. One that persevered despite having no formal organization itself for 35 years. This lack of formal organization has created a situation where little to no formal textual evidence relating to the ASB conference’s history exists. This evidentiary vacuum has left an opportunity for historians to now create the history of the ASB conference. Doing so has the potential to lend light to the organizational dynamic of not only the ASB conferences themselves, but also to the Universities that necessarily support the organization. First and foremost, this paper establishes the details (who, what, when and where) of the ASB conferences during this period. The question of why, an elusive and historically contextual question, is addressed insofar as this historian dares, and is ultimately of less importance to this paper. This paper does not presume to create a definitive history of the ASB or the conferences that it organized. The intent herein is to examine one small time period (1980 to 1990) so as to shed light on previously unexamined material, assisting future researchers to delve into an ever deeper understanding of management knowledge dissemination and what role the ASB may have played. Some material from earlier time periods are interrogated, yet only so as to establish context. The actual foundation event of the ASB conferences and the implications there of elude the scope of this undertaking. Insight may be gained herein into the proliferation and dissemination of management theory in Atlantic Canada, in the period of time examined within this thesis. Of secondary importance is the analysis of what primary and secondary source materials are germane and bringing those details to light. Future historians would be encouraged to build upon and around this paper.