The study and teaching of marketing as a university subject is generally understood to have originated in America during the early 20th century emerging as an applied branch of economics. This book tells a different story describing the influence of the German Historical School on institutional economists and economic historians who pioneered the study of marketing in America and Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing from archival materials at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard Business School, and the University of Birmingham, this book documents the early intellectual genealogy of marketing science and traces the ideas that early American and British economists borrowed from German scholars to study and teach marketing. Early marketing scholars both in America and Britain openly credited the German School, and its ideology based on social welfare and distributive justice was a strong motivation for many institutional economists who studied marketing in America, predating the modern macro-marketing school by many decades. Challenging many traditional beliefs, this book provides an authoritative new narrative of the origins of marketing thought. It will be of great interest to educators, scholars and advanced students with an interest in marketing theory and history, and in the history of economic thought.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgements Chapter One: Introduction Historical Research in Marketing Collegiate Education for Business – and Marketing The Emerging Marketing Discipline Origins in Economic Thought Method and Overview Conclusion Chapter Two: The German Historical School of Economics Introduction The Migration of American Students to Germany Science in the Service of Industry The German Historical School of Economics The Older School The Younger School Influence of the German Historical School of Economics Conclusion Chapter Three: Foundations of Marketing Thought at the University of Wisconsin Introduction The Conditions of Possibility for Richard T. Ely at Wisconsin Ely Arrives at Wisconsin Back to Classical Economics and Beyond Ely’s Trial: Economic Heresy Wisconsin Students of the German Historical School Edward David Jones Henry Charles Taylor Economics and Commerce at Wisconsin Conclusion Chapter Four: Foundations of Marketing Thought at the University of Illinois Introduction Simon Litman and the Foundations of Marketing Thought University of California (1902 – 1908) University of Illinois (1908 – 1948) Conclusion Appendix 4.1 Outline of "Mechanism & Technique of Commerce" Chapter Five: Foundations of Marketing Thought at the University of Birmingham, UK Introduction William James Ashley (1860 – 1927) Business Education in Britain Ashley – Economic Historian and Business Educator Moving to Birmingham Business Economics and Marketing Teaching Commercial Policy (Marketing): "Business Policy" and the "Commerce Seminar" Conclusion Chapter Six: Foundations of Marketing Thought at Harvard and Beyond Introduction Cambridge, Massachusetts Formative Influences on the Harvard Business School Edwin Francis Gay What to Teach? Scientific Management and German Historicism Arch W. Shaw on Frederick Taylor Methodology for Teaching Marketing Research in Marketing at Harvard – A Simple Scientific Endeavor Arch W. Shaw - The Functions of Marketing Conclusion Chapter Seven: Conclusions Introduction Rewriting Marketing History The Influence of the German Historical School Being Perceived as Unorthodox in a Time of Social Pressure Conclusion Chapter Eight: Epilogue: The Contradictions of Progressivism and Future Research Introduction From Accusations of Socialism to Patriotism Complexity and Marketing History: The Dark Side Ways Forward Marketing and Deflation of Prejudice Discussion and Conclusion References Index