Making Better Uses of Classics? Evaluating Critically the Legacy of Howard R. Bowen’s 1953 Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (1953–2023)

Abstract Although Howard R. Bowen’s 1953 book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (hereafter SRB ) is regarded as a classic in the fields of business ethics and management, the impact of SRB has been taken for granted and has rarely been evaluated. Problematizing the use of classics as core to the advancement of scholarly fields, we analyze the purpose underlying the citation of SRB ( why it is cited) as well as the breadth ( what is cited) and the depth ( how much is being discussed) of scholarly engagement with this classic. Combining analytical induction, quantification and a critical citation context analysis of 435 citations from 320 articles citing SRB between 1953 and 2023, we identified three main categories of use— arguing , defining , and landmarking —and evaluated the depth and breadth of such scholarly uses of SRB. Our results reveal how these uses differ across disciplinary domains and over time. Our analysis of breadth and depth confirms the continuous superficial engagement with SRB . We rely on this case to conceptualize the paradoxical legacy of Bowen, discuss ethical issues inherent to the politics of citation and evaluate what ‘fair’ uses of classics could be.