Chapter 6: Conclusions

In the introduction, we saw that whilst history’s capacity to predict specifics was low, the value of its explanatory powers in correctly appreciating the subjective, intangible or human aspects of extant problems could be considerable. Furthermore, a business orientated history may be able to control some of the disadvantages arising out of dealing solely with the subjective by introducing an element of economic as well as qualitative data. It should take care though that it does not privilege numerical data to the exclusion of all else. In this book, I have rejected complete methodological reliability in historical scholarship as both unnecessary and unconvincing. This gives a business orientated history the opportunity to blend historical craft with the rigours of social science to produce work that enjoys a dual integrity of methods (Maclean, Harvey, & Clegg, 2016). It also gives an alternative mode of explanation by permitting a dialogue with, yet circumventing, pure economic history which leads to an abstract and sterile understanding of the past by relying wholly on statistical calculation (Tennent, 2020). Therefore, whilst this book contains over 30 tables of statistical information, these figures have been used to support a wider analysis rather than being the analysis itself. I use figures as part of testing the validity of subjective, political stories and beliefs about an organisation in a systematic manner. By acknowledging the subjectivity of much of my material, the purpose has been to understand it rather than squeeze it into formulaic moulds of cognizance. Appreciating the subjective power of storytelling in business history underpins all my conclusions.