Final answer:
Understanding history helps managers by providing insights into human behavior, enhancing critical-thinking and analytical skills, and preparing them for the complexities of a globalized business world. It enables adaptive thinking and cross-cultural competency, which are essential for managing diverse workforces and navigating the global market. Hence, the correct answer is option (b).
Step-by-step explanation:
Managers benefit from a robust understanding of history because it provides insight into human behavior, teaches critical-thinking and analytical skills, and prepares them to meet the challenges of a globalized world. History is not just about learning from the past but also about applying its lessons to understand the present and anticipate future trends in business.
By studying history, managers can appreciate the nuances of business practices and strategies over time, which can illuminate contemporary management approaches. An understanding of history fosters adaptive thinking, social intelligence, and cross-cultural competency—all of which are valuable in a diverse and interconnected business environment.
While option b, "Even some of the oldest examples of business literature can be relevant to today's management landscape," most closely aligns with these benefits and is the correct answer, we must acknowledge that simply copying past strategies, option d, is not guaranteed to be successful due to differing historical contexts.