Compiled by the most influential authors in the field, CLASSICS OF ORGANIZATION THEORY is a collection of the
most enduring works in organization theory. Designed for those new to the field, the text helps students grasp
the important themes, perspectives, and theories of the field by describing what organization theory is, how it
has developed, and how its development has coincided with developments in other fields. This text is not simply
a retelling of the history of organization theory, its evolution is told through the words of the distinguished
theorists themselves.
Table of Contents
1. CLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY.
Socrates Discovers Generic Management, Xenophon (1869). Of the Division of Labour, Adam Smith (1776). Superintendent's
Report, Daniel C. McCallum (1856). The Engineer as Economist, Henry R. Towne (1886). General Principles of Management,
Henri Fayol (1916). The Principles of Scientic Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor (1916). Bureaucracy, Max Weber
(1922). Notes on the Theory of Organization, Luther Gulick (1937).
2. NEOCLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY.
The Economy of Incentives, Chester I. Barnard (1938). Bureaucratic Structure and Personality, Robert K. Merton
(1957). The Proverbs of Administration, Herbert A. Simon (1946). Foundations of the Theory of Organization, Philip
Selznick (1948). A Behavioral Theory of Organizational Objectives, Richard M. Cyert and James G. March (1959).
3. HUMAN RESOURCE THEORY, OR THE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR PERSPECTIVE.
The Giving of Orders, Mary Parker Follett (1926). The Hawthorne Experiments, Fritz J. Roethlisberger (1941).
A Theory of Human Motivation, Abraham H. Maslow (1943). The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas Murray McGregor (1957).
Groupthink: The Desperate Drive for Consensus at Any Cost, Irving L. Janis (1971).
4. "MODERN" STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION THEORY.
Mechanistic and Organic Systems, Tom Burns and G. M. Stalker (1961). The Concept of Formal Organization, Peter
M. Blau and W. Richard Scott (1962). Organizational Choice: Product versus Function, Arthur H. Walker and Jay W.
Lorsch (1968). The Five Basic Parts of the Organization, Henry Mintzberg (1979). In Praise of Hierarchy, Elliott
Jaques (1990). Technology as a Contingency Factor, Richard M. Burton and Børge Obel (1998).
5. ORGANIZATIONAL ECONOMICS THEORY.
Markets and Hierarchies, Oliver E. Williamson (1975). Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs
and Ownership Structure, Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling (1976). Learning from Organizational Economics,
Jay B. Barney and William G. Ouchi (1986). Managing Business Transactions, Paul H. Rubin (1990).
6. POWER AND POLITICS ORGANIZATION THEORY.
Understanding the Role of Power in Decision Making, Jeffrey Pfeffer (1981). Democracy and the Iron Law of Oligarchy,
Robert Michels (1915/1962). The Bases of Social Power, John R. P. French Jr. and Bertram Raven (1959). The Power
of Power, James G. March (1966). Power Failure in Management Circuits, Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1979). The Power Game
and the Players, Henry Mintzberg (1983).
7. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE THEORY.
Defining Organizational Culture, Edgar H. Schein (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning, Scott D. N. Cook
and Dvora Yanow (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures, Harrison M. Trice and Janice M. Beyer (1993). Organizational
Culture: Pieces of the Puzzle, Joanne Martin (2002).
8. REFORM THROUGH CHANGES IN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.
The Z Organization, William G. Ouchi (1981). In Search of Excellence: Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties, Thomas
J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. (1982). The Fifth Discipline: A Shift of Mind, Peter M. Senge (1990). Gendering
Organizational Theory, Joan Acker (1992). Creating a Government that Works Better and Costs Less: Report of the
National Performance Review, Vice President Al Gore (1993). Creating the Multicultural Organization: The Challenge
of Managing Diversity, Taylor Cox Jr. (2001).
9. THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS.
Organizations and the System Concept, Daniel Katz and Robert L. Kahn (1966). Organizations in Action, James
D. Thompson (1967). Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony, John W. Meyer and Brian
Rowan (1977). External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective, Jeffery Pfeffer and Gerald
Salancik (1978). Demography of Corporations and Industries, Glenn R. Carroll and Michael T. Hannan (2000).