Abstract:

Management science is the twelfth discipline in the Chinese academic system and holds a unique significance in the context of accelerating the construction of an autonomous knowledge system. However，past perceptions of the discipline often failed to view the development of indigenous management science as a complete and continuous historical process. The construction of the discipline prior to 1978 was often regarded as a “pre-emergence stage”，leading to discontinuities and biases in the discipline’s self-perception，which in turn affects the realization of the discipline’s value. The method of disciplinary ethnography is employed to systematically analyze the more comprehensive development of the discipline，restoring the continuous efforts of numerous predecessors，including Qian Xuesen（Hsue-shen Tsien） and Wang Yingluo. It argues that the unique historical development of indigenous management studies in China has nurtured a distinct disciplinary tension，possessing positive significance that can be transformed into disciplinary impetus. This approach can sustain a coherent and complete developmental path from self-being and self-proving to leading towards self-conscious.

Key words: Chinese management science, independent knowledge system, ethnography in academic disciplines, self-conscious JEL Classification Z19