From imposition to concession, from compliance to resistance

Creating a Harvard Business School clone in a Turkish university, 1954–1965

Bibliographic Data

ID8420530
AuthorsBehlül Üsdiken (0000-0002-3233-8634, Özyeğin University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume68
Issue3
Pages658-678
Publication date2026-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBusiness History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-6791 • E-ISSN: 1743-7938
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00076791.2025.2543956
OpenAlexW4413780444
LanguageEN
References cited20

Drawing on archival sources, this study traces the early history of the 'Turkish Institute of Business Administration', established in 1954 within the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University with Ford Foundation (FF) funding and Harvard Business School (HBS) guidance. The historical narrative describes what transpired on both the American and Turkish sides during this FF-HBS-initiated and directed transfer process. Through this account, the article contributes to the literature on post-World War II American influence on business education in three ways: First, it highlights how direct American interventions were shaped by who in the United States was involved, and when. Second, it demonstrates how tensions and power relations between the FF and HBS influenced both the direction and the outcome of the transfer. Finally, the process-based account shows how and why the reception of an imposed American model involved both full adoption and some significant deviations

Business · Business administration · Business history · clone (Java method · Compliance (psychology · Economics · Management · Political science · Resistance (ecology · Turkish · Higher Education Governance and Development · Psychology

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