The paper approaches historical bases of Social Management using Robert Owen's ideas and experiments during the Industrial Revolution. Owen distinguishes himself, using the typical variety, by promoting quality of life, conceiving cooperativism, and tackling environmental and community organization issues, all close to current Social Management concepts. Some weaknesses found both in Owen's thought and the current Social Management are emphasized: they both start at the given stage of the social and organizational environment rather than considering a rigorous reflexion of men's relations with others and nature; articulate management strategies aimed at minimizing outcomes from the prevailing type of social relation without question its origins; provide an aesthetic coating to management elements that preserve the substantive rationality and work processes that prevent - or delay - an effective human emancipation. These weaknesses yield fractioned ideas and judgments which, therefore, do not result in a coherent and unique theoretical framework.