From Taylor to TikTok: the historical evolution of management gurus

Abstract

Purpose For more than a century, management gurus have played a visible role in shaping managerial discourse and popularizing new managerial ideas. This paper aims to examine the historical evolution of the management guru phenomenon by situating platform-era gurus within a century-long lineage of management fashions. It shows how successive communication technologies – from pamphlets and broadcast media to social media and algorithmic platforms – have reshaped the diffusion, legitimacy and visibility of managerial ideas. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a historically informed, interpretive approach that integrates research on management fashions and guruism, the sociology of charisma, media history and digital platforms. It is based on secondary materials and qualitative observations of how management advice circulates across books, conferences and digital media. The analysis traces five historical eras of management guruism. Findings The paper identifies five eras of management guruism – industrial origins, managerial professionalization, the multimedia era, the early digital era and the platform era – each characterized by distinct diffusion infrastructures and authority logics. The platform era is interpreted as a phase of algorithmic amplification and fragmented authority in which visibility metrics increasingly structure managerial legitimacy and the performance of charisma. Originality/value This paper updates the study of management gurus for the digital and algorithmic age. By situating today’s influencers within a broader media and institutional history, it shows that platform-based guruism represents both continuity and mutation in the management fashion arena. More broadly, the framework clarifies how charisma, communication technologies and institutional authority coevolve in shaping who becomes authorized to speak for management and how managerial ideas diffuse across successive technological epochs.