Abstract

One author stands out for his contributions to the evolving field of organizations and management: James March. He was the co-author of the two books that were particularly influential in initiating the field which is now broadly recognized as behavioural theories of organizations: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, written with Richard Cyert, and Organisations, written with Herbert Simon. This article outlines part of the evolution of March’s framework that he has developed in order to understand human action in often-complex situations. It also includes some notes on Richard Cyert’s contributions. March’s framework became clear and was shaped by his background at the interdisciplinary environment at Carnegie Mellon in the 1950s and 60s. The non-rational and adaptive aspects of human decision-making and behaviour have figured more prominently in March’s work as time has gone on.