Edmund P. Learned papers

Edmund P. Learned's insights into the nature of business operations and his attitudes about efficiency are revealed by his consulting files in the collection (primarily late 1940s and early 1950s), in which he interviewed executives and others at the firms for whom he consulted, and analyzed problems in corporate structure and operations (Series I). His notes on the Commodore Company (Series III) summarize systematically the firm's executive and supervisory relations.

Learned's speeches and writings explore his opinions on executive skills and efficient management, as well as national policies and their projected effects on business. Of special interest are Learned's extensive compilations of historical notes prepared for the Harvard Business School Archives at the request of Dean George Lombard, documenting aspects of Harvard Business School’s educational practices and programs between 1927 and 1967. Materials include Learned's retrospective looks at the Army Air Forces Statistical School, the course in Business Policy, and the course in Administrative Practices. Also of interest are Learned's unpublished memoirs of his career and personal relationships at Harvard Business School, "Forty Years Under Four Deans," and his account of duties performed for the military, "Headquarters Air Staff and Special Consulting Duties of Dr. Edmund P. Learned, 1942-1946." Additional historical notes focus on Dean Donham, management control, and marketing (Series III).

The collection includes one folder of course notes used by Learned in teaching General Management. There is very little correspondence in the collection, aside from several folders pertaining to the 1967 Leatherbee lectures.

The bulk of the material in the collection dates from 1945 to 1977, although some items were created as early as 1927, and Learned's Air Force memoirs were written around 1985.