The field of management relies on a variety of disciplines (such as economics, sociology,
psychology, and anthropology) to develop its theories. Given this diversity in disciplines
underlying the management field, we argue that management scholars are likely to have
difficulty in understanding the intellectual foundations of these fields and howto integrate them
effectively into their work. Providing meaning, perspective, and insight is the purpose of
academic research; however, if this is donewithout an understanding of background or context,
results and interpretations might not prove to be as valuable—or even as accurate—as they
could be. Thus, we suggest that academics and students of management would be well served
by creating their own “intellectual genogram,” which describes those individuals who have
influenced and mentored them and how the disciplines and schools of thought that they
represent have affected their thinking. The process of creating an “intellectual genogram”
allows individuals to better understand their intellectual heritage and gain insight on howthey
became who they are. We provide an illustration of an intellectual genogram of one academic
and a 5-stage learning model to encourage such a learning process.
