List of business theorists |
This is an annotated list of important business theorists. It is in alphebetical order based on last name. To facilitate
reading, only names are hyperlinked. For quck navigation, click on one of the letters:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Business theorists:
A
- D. Aaker - marketing strategy
(1980s)
- Derek Abell - strategic windows
(1980s)
- Kenneth Andrews -
corporate values (1990s)
- Chris Argyris - SWOT analysis, learning systems (1970s, 1980s,
1990s)
B
- Charles Babbage - early scientific approach (1830s)
- Chester Barnard -
executive leadership (1920s, 1930s)
- Jay Barney - resource based
strategies (1980s, 1990s)
- P. Blackett - operations
research (1930s, 1940s)
- Matthew Boulton - work methods (1800s)
- R. Buzzell - PIMS study on market
share (1970s, 1980s)
C
- Robert Camp - benchmarking
(1980s)
- Alexander Church -
functional management (1910s)
- Ronald Coase - transaction cost analysis, industrial and organizational
economics (1950s) [Nobel Prize in 1991]
- James Collins - vision,
mission, objectives and BHAG (1990s)
- Philip Crosby - quality
control (1980s)
D
- George Day - marketing
(1970s)
- Francisco DiMarco -
cost accounting (1390s)
- Harold Deming - quality
control (1970s)
- W. Edwards Deming - management, quality (1950s, 1960s)
- Keith Denton - continuous
improvement (1990s)
- H. Dodge - statistical quality
control procedures (1920s)
- Peter Drucker - management theory, MBO (1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
1980s)
- J. Duncan - the first college
textbook in management (1911)
E
- A. Erlang - waiting-line theory (1910s)
F
- Henri Fayol - the
inter-relationships of the various parts of management (1910s)
- Ronald Fisher - statistical management (1920s)
- Mary Follett - group problem
solving (1930s)
- T. Fry - statistical queuing theory
(1920s)
G
- B. Gale - PIMS study on market share
(1970s, 1980s)
- Henry Gantt - gantt charts (1900s)
- P. Ghemawat - experience curve
(1980s)
- James Gilbert - profit
pools (1990s)
- Frank Gilbreth - time and motion study ((1900s)
- Eliyahu M. Goldratt - theory of constraints, critical
chain project management (1980s)
H
- Gary Hamel - core competencies, strategy as revolution (1990s)
- Michael Hammer -
reengineering (1990s)
- F. Harris - economic lot size model
(1910s)
- Frederick Hertzberg - motivation theory
- Frederick Hallsey -
wage and compensation plans (1890s)
- Sumantra Ghoshal -
strategic leadership, Individualised Corporation
I
J
K
- Robert Kaplan - balanced
scorecard (1990s)
- Philip Kotler - marketing
management, marketing warfare (1970s, 1980s, 1990s)
- John Kotter - leadership
(1980s, 1990s)
L
- Peter Lawrence - the
Peter Principle (1970s)
- E. Learned - SWOT analysis
(1970s, 1980s)
- W Leffingwell - office
management (1910s)
- Theodore Levitt -
marketing (1960s, 1970s)
- John Lintner - finance
(1970s)
M
- Mahajan - strategic models (1970s,
1980s)
- Constantinos
Markides - strategy dynamics (1980s)
- Henry Markowitz -
portfolio diversification (1960s, 1970s)
- Elton Mayo - the sociology of business interactions (1920s)
- Daniel McCallum - organizational charts (1850s)
- Regis McKenna - real-time
management (1990s)
- Leo Melamed - futures exchanges (1980s - 1990s)
- Henry Metcalfe - the
science of administration (1880s)
- Merton Miller - corporate finance (1970s)
- Henry Mintzberg - organizational behaviour
- Franco Modigliani - corporate finance (1970s)
- James Moncrieff -
strategy dynamics (1990s)
- Hugo Musterberg - the
psychology of work (1910s)
N
O
- Kenichi Ohmae - strategic
thought processes (1970s, 1980s)
- David Ogilvy - advertising
(1960s, 1970s)
- Robert Owen - mutually beneficial personnel practices (1810s)
P
- L. Paccioli - double entry
bookkeeping (1340s)
- Jeffrey Pfeffer -
organizational development (1980s)
- Henry Poor - the principles of
organization (1850s)
- Michael Porter - strategic management, value chain, generic
strategies, 5 forces (1970s, 1980s, 1990s)
- Tom Peters - Excellence theories (1970s, 1980s)
- C K Prahalad - core
competency (1980s)
Q
R
- Frederick
Reichheld - the loyalty effect (1990s)
- Al Reis - positioning theory
(1980s)
S
- Don Schultz - integrated
promotional strategy (1990s)
- Walter Scott - the psychology of personnel management (1920s)
- Patricia Seybold -
e-marketing, e-commerce (1990s)
- Oliver Sheldon - the
philosophy of business (1920s)
- J. Sheth - business strategy
(1990s)
- Adrian Slywotzky -
value migration (1990s)
- Adam Smith - microeconomic foundations of business, specialization of
labour (1770s)
- the Soranzo
brothers - journals and ledgers (1410s)
T
- Frederick Winslow Taylor - Scientific
Management (1900s)
- Ordwat Tead - the psychology of
industry (1910s)
- Henry Towne - the science of
management (1890s)
- Jack Trout - positioning theory
(1980s)
U
V
W
- Richard Waterman -
Excellence theories (1970s, 1980s)
- James Watt - standard operating procedures, cost control (1810s)
- Joseph Wharton - first college course in business management
(1881)
- Eli Whitney - interchangeable parts, cost accounting (1810s,1820s)
- Oliver Williamson - transaction cost analysis (1970s)
- Yoram Wind - strategic
behavioural models (1970s, 1980s)
X
Y
Z
Harvard Business Review Survey
We asked 200 management gurus—the business thinkers most often mentioned in the media and management
literature—who their gurus were. Below are their responses.
Eight Mentions Peter Drucker: Management theory
Seven Mentions James March: Social scientist at Stanford
Six Mentions Herbert Simon
(1916–2001): Nobel laureate economist and organizational theorist
Five Mentions Paul Lawrence: Organizational researcher at
Harvard Business School
Four Mentions Richard Beckhard (1918–1999): Management theorist at MIT • Fernand Braudel (1902–1985): French historian • Henry Mintzberg: Management writer and critic at McGill • Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950): Economist at Harvard •
Karl Weick: Social psychologist at
the University of Michigan
Three Mentions Russell Ackoff: Operations and systems theorist at Wharton • Warren Bennis: Leadership theorist and
writer at the University of Southern California • Ronald Coase: Nobel
laureate economist at the University of Chicago • W. Edwards
Deming (1900–1993): Statistician and quality consultant • Erving Goffman (1922–1982): Sociologist • Gary
Hamel: Consultant and management writer • Jay Lorsch: Organizational researcher at Harvard Business School • Michael Porter: Professor of strategy and competitiveness at Harvard Business School • C.K. Prahalad: Management theorist at
the University of Michigan • Jack Welch: Former CEO, General Electric
• Oliver Williamson: Organizational economist at the
University of California, Berkeley
Two Mentions Chris Argyris: Organizational psychologist at
Harvard • Kenneth Arrow: Nobel laureate economist at Stanford
• Gregory Bateson (1904–1980): Anthropologist •
Daniel Bell: Sociologist at Harvard • John Seely Brown: Former chief
scientist at Xerox • Alfred Chandler: Historian at Harvard Business School • C. West Churchman: Systems
theorist • James Collins:
Management writer and consultant • Eric Erikson (1902–1994): Psychological-growth theorist at Harvard •
Michel Foucault (1926–1984): French polymath • Anthony
Giddens: British sociologist • Andrew Grove: Former CEO, Intel
• Everett Hughes (1897–1983): Sociologist • Michael Jensen: Organizational strategist and former professor at Harvard Business School
• Stuart Kauffman: Biologist, chaos and complexity theorist
• Kurt Lewin (1890–1947): Social psychologist • Karl Marx
(1818–1883): German economist and social theorist • Douglas McGregor (1906–1964): Management theorist at MIT • Robert K. Merton (1910–2003): Sociologist at Columbia • Geoffrey Moore: Management writer and
consultant • Richard
Pascale: Management writer and consultant • Jeffrey Pfeffer: Business professor at Stanford • Paul Samuelson: Nobel laureate economist at MIT • Edgar Schein: Psychologist and management scholar at MIT • Adrian Slywotsky: Management
writer and consultant • Frederick Taylor (1856–1915): The “father of scientific management”
• John Van Maanen:
Ethnographer at MIT • Sidney
Winter: Economist at Wharton
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