The ingenious gentleman James Gardner March: A retrospective view of his immense works and contributions

This research analyses and contextualises the work of James Gardner March from a bibliometric approach, pointing out some lesser-known aspects of his incredible bibliographic production across multiple disciplines of knowledge. From a methodological point of view, various bibliometric techniques have been used to synthesise almost half a century of scientific production aimed at establishing the foundations of contemporary organisational theory. Given that March was first and foremost a humanist, this work has sought to highlight his human character, his experiences – in short, his memorabilia – to adequately contextualise his scientific legacy. This paper summarises March’s main lines of research, pointing out the main networks of shared knowledge built from his contributions. Likewise, our research highlights how the figure of an antihero of universal relevance, Don Quixote, stands out for March as a model of audacity and entrepreneurship in management. Paradoxically, March’s immense oeuvre constitutes a limitation in itself for any work that aims to achieve a minimum recension. Similarly, the use of bibliometrics induces the use of standardised scientific databases in which James March’s other lesser-known contributions, such as poetry, genealogy, filmmaking, etc., are not included. To our knowledge, this is the first work that applies bibliometrics to an analysis of the significance and impact of March’s work.