The early evolution of the foundations for behavioral organization theory and strategy

While the field(s) of management theory and the history of modern ideas in management, business education and organizations have many different intellectual roots, the Carnegie Mellon Behavioral trio (James March, Herbert Simon and Richard Cyert) who founded the behavioral perspective on organizations stand out not just for their collective contribution to founding the field of organizational behavior as we know it today, but also for their subsequent individual contributions to the field. Organizations and Behavioral Theory of the Firm set the stage for several subsequent developments in organization and management theory including research on learning, strategic management, organizational economics and organizational routines (Gibbons, 2003; Pierce, Boerner & Teece, 2002; Williamson, 2002, 2004; Augier & Teece, 2005, 2009).