List of business theorists

This is an annotated list of important business writers. It is in alphabetical order based on last name. For quick navigation, click on one of the letters:

A

 * David Aaker (born 1938) - marketing, brand strategy
 * Wil van der Aalst
 * James Abegglen (1926–2007) - management and business in Japan
 * Bodo Abel
 * Russell L. Ackoff (1919–2009) - operations research, organizational theory
 * John Adair (born 1934) - leadership
 * Karol Adamiecki (1866–1933) - management
 * Ichak Adizes
 * Niclas Adler (born 1971) - Swedish organizational theorist
 * Charles Constance César Joseph Matthieu d'Agoult
 * Yoji Akao
 * Ali Akdemir
 * Howard E. Aldrich (born 1940s) - American sociologist and organizational theorist
 * Leon P. Alford (1877–1942) - scientific management
 * Tim Ambler (born 1938) - marketing effectiveness
 * Igor Ansoff (1918–2002) - strategic management
 * Ingeman Arbnor
 * Chris Argyris (1923–2013) - learning systems, learning organization
 * Horace Lucian Arnold (1837–1915)
 * Neal Ashkanasy

B

 * Stephen R. Barley (born 1953) - technology, organizational change, organizational culture
 * Chester Barnard (1886–1961) - management
 * Gary S. Becker
 * Charles Bedaux (1886–1944) - scientific management
 * Warren Bennis (1925–2014) - leadership studies
 * Per Olof Berg (born 1946) - Swedish organizational theorist
 * Manfred Berliner
 * Björn Bjerke
 * Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett (1897–1974) - operations research
 * Ken Blanchard
 * Charles Bosanquet
 * Matthew Boulton (1728–1809) - labor productivity
 * Marvin Bower
 * Richard Boyatzis (born 1946) - emotional intelligence, behavior change, and competence
 * Leland Lawrence Briggs (1893–1975) - American accounting scholar
 * John Seely Brown
 * Wilfred Brown, Baron Brown
 * Nils Brunsson (born 1946) - institutionalized hypocrisy of organizations
 * Lawton Burns (born c. 1950) - health care systems

C

 * Noel Capon
 * Charles U. Carpenter
 * Jean-Luc Cerdin
 * James A. Champy - business process reengineering (1990s)
 * Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. - management, Pulitzer prize for The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (1977)
 * Clayton M. Christensen
 * Alexander Hamilton Church - industrial management (1900s–1910s)
 * C. West Churchman
 * Stewart Clegg
 * Ronald Coase - transaction costs, Coase theorem, theory of the firm (1950s) (Nobel Prize in 1991)
 * James C. Collins - vision statement, strategic planning and BHAG (1990s)
 * Morris Llewellyn Cooke
 * Cary Cooper
 * Stephen Covey
 * Philip B. Crosby
 * Richard Cyert
 * Barbara Czarniawska

D

 * Robert Dahlstrom (born 1958) - American organizational theorist, works on international marketing
 * David Dale
 * Thomas H. Davenport
 * George S. Day - marketing (1970s)
 * Jeff DeGraff
 * Morris H. DeGroot
 * W. Edwards Deming - statistical quality control (1950s, 1960s)
 * Daniel R. Denison
 * Eric Dent
 * Hugo Diemer - industrial engineering (1910s)
 * Jan Dietz
 * Patrick Dixon
 * Henk van Dongen
 * Sytse Douma
 * Wiebe Draijer
 * Peter Drucker (1909–2005) - management (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s)
 * Anna Dubois (born 1962) - Swedish organizational theorist
 * Peter Dunn

E

 * Andrew S.C. Ehrenberg
 * Michael Eisner
 * Chester Elton
 * Tunç Erem
 * Richard F. Ericson
 * Hans-Erik Eriksson (born 1961) - Swedish computer scientist and organizational theorist
 * Agner Krarup Erlang
 * Hamid Etemad

F

 * Henri Fayol - management (1910s)
 * Armand V. Feigenbaum - quality control (1950s)
 * Tim Ferriss
 * Harry Anson Finney (1886–1966) - American accountancy author
 * Ronald Fisher - statistics (1920s)
 * Mary Follett - organizational studies (1930s)
 * Nicolai J. Foss
 * R. Edward Freeman
 * Mike L. Fry
 * Adrian Furnham

G

 * John Kenneth Galbraith - The New Industrial State (1967)
 * Henry Gantt - Gantt chart (20th century)
 * Burleigh B. Gardner (1902–1985) - motivation research
 * Michael Gerber - E-Myth Revisited
 * Jamshid Gharajedaghi (born 1940) - American organizational theorist, management consultant, and Adjunct Professor of Systems Thinking
 * Sumantra Ghoshal
 * John P. van Gigch
 * Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.
 * Frank Gilbreth - time and motion study (20th century)
 * Seth Godin
 * Eliyahu M. Goldratt - theory of constraints (1980s)
 * Marshall Goldsmith
 * Daniel Goleman
 * Vytautas Andrius Graiciunas - management (1933)
 * Lynda Gratton
 * C. Jackson Grayson
 * Danny Greefhorst (born 1972) - Dutch enterprise architect
 * James Bray Griffith (1871–1937) - American business theorist
 * William H. Gruber (born 1935) - American organizational theorist
 * Erich Gutenberg - theory of the firm (1950s)

H

 * Stephan H. Haeckel
 * Stephen G. Haines
 * Noel Frederick Hall
 * Brian Halligan
 * Gary Hamel (born 1954) - core competency, strategic management (1990s)
 * Michael Hammer - business process reengineering (1990s)
 * Charles Handy - organisational behaviour (1990s)
 * Paul Harmon - management author
 * G. Charter Harrison (1881–1959) - Anglo-American management consultant and cost account pioneer
 * Sven A. Haugland (born 1948) - Norwegian organizational theorist
 * David L. Hawk
 * Igor Hawryszkiewycz (born 1948) - American computer scientist and organizational theorist
 * Robert Heller
 * Frederick Herzberg - two factor theory, motivation theory, job enrichment (1970s)
 * Steen Hildebrandt
 * Charles DeLano Hine
 * Geert Hofstede
 * Kenneth Hopper
 * Yasheng Huang
 * Albert S Humphrey - strategic planning, SWOT analysis (1970s, 1980s)
 * Shelby D. Hunt
 * Walter Hunziker

I

 * Masaaki Imai (born 1930) - Kaizen (continuous improvement) (1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
 * Anders Indset (born 1978)
 * Kaoru Ishikawa (1915–1989) - Ishikawa diagram in industrial process; quality circles (1960s)

J

 * Mike Jackson - systems scientist
 * Lars Jaeger
 * John Jantsch
 * Dave Jenks
 * Anita Jose
 * Joseph M. Juran (1904–2008) - quality control, especially quality circles (1960s, 1970s)

K

 * Rosabeth Moss Kanter - business management and change management (1977)
 * Robert S. Kaplan - management accounting and balanced scorecard (1990s)
 * Dexter Keezer
 * Kevin Lane Keller
 * Roy B. Kester (1882–1965) - American accountancy scholar
 * Tarun Khanna
 * Walter Kickert (born 1950) - Dutch academic and professor of public management
 * John Warren Kindt
 * Charles Edward Knoeppel
 * Richard Koch
 * Lars Kolind
 * Monika Kostera
 * Philip Kotler - marketing management and social marketing (1970s, 1980s, 1990s)
 * John Kotter - organizational behaviour and management (1980s, 1990s)
 * Vladimir Kvint - strategy

L

 * John Christian Langli
 * Jean-Claude Larréché
 * Kyoung Jun Lee
 * William Henry Leffingwell - office management (1910s–1940s)
 * Paul Leonardi
 * Harry Levinson
 * Theodore Levitt - marketing and globalization (1960s, 1970s)
 * Michael Lewis
 * Peter Lindgren (born 1961) - Danish organizational theorist
 * John Lintner - capital asset pricing model (1970s)
 * Ted London
 * Juan Antonio Pérez López
 * Jay Lorsch
 * Michael Lounsbury
 * Randi Lunnan (born 1963) - Norwegian organizational theorist, works on strategic alliances
 * Reijo Luostarinen (1939–2017) - Finnish organisational theorist
 * James Alexander Lyons (1861–1920) - American accountancy author

M

 * John Van Maanen
 * James MacGregor Burns
 * Kenneth D. Mackenzie
 * Teemu Malmi (born 1965) - Finnish organizational theorist
 * Vincent Mangematin
 * James G. March - theory of the firm (1960s)
 * Constantinos Markides - strategic management and strategy dynamics (1990s)
 * Harry Markowitz - modern portfolio theory (1960s, 1970s), Nobel Prize in 1990
 * Perry Marshall
 * John C. Maxwell - leadership (1990s, 2000s, 2010s)
 * Elton Mayo - job satisfaction and Hawthorne effect (1920s, 1930s)
 * John H. McArthur
 * Daniel McCallum - organizational charts (1850s)
 * Douglas McGregor
 * Dalton McGuinty, Sr.
 * Geoff Meeks (born 1949) - British accounting scholar
 * Lucas Meijs
 * Leo Melamed - currency futures and derivatives (1980s, 1990s)
 * Gary Metcalf
 * Henry C. Metcalf - the science of administration (1920s)
 * Henry Metcalfe - the science of administration (1880s)
 * Gerald Midgley
 * Danny Miller - economist
 * Merton Miller - Modigliani–Miller theorem and corporate finance (1970s)
 * Henry Mintzberg (born 1939) - organizational architecture, strategic management (1970s–2000s)
 * Franco Modigliani - Modigliani–Miller theorem and corporate finance (1970s)
 * Geoffrey Moore
 * Richard Moran
 * Gareth Morgan
 * Gerry Morgan
 * Silvina Moschini
 * Hugo Münsterberg - psychology of work (1910s)
 * J. Keith Murnighan
 * Christa Muth

N

 * Peter Naudé - marketing and business networks
 * Nicholas Negroponte - human-computer interaction (1970s–1990s)
 * Nobuo Noda - Japanese business scholar
 * Kjell A. Nordström
 * Arne Nygaard (born 1957) - Norwegian organizational theorist

O

 * George S. Odiorne - management by objectives
 * Kenichi Ohmae - 3C's model and strategic management (1970s, 1980s)
 * Taiichi Ohno - Toyota Production System, lean manufacturing, just in time (1980s)
 * David Ogilvy - advertising (1960s–1980s)
 * Sharon Oster
 * William Ouchi - Theory Z (1980s)
 * Robert Owen - cooperatives (1810s)

P

 * Luca Pacioli - double-entry bookkeeping system and financial statements (1494)
 * Javier Perez-Capdevila - strategic management and business analysis and valuation
 * Krishna Palepu - business analysis and valuation, financial statements
 * Scott Patterson
 * Keith Pavitt - innovation clusters and innovation taxonomy (1970s through 2000)
 * Edith Penrose - The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (1959)
 * Juan Antonio Pérez López - negative learning (1990s)
 * Oscar E. Perrigo - shop management (1900s)
 * Laurence J. Peter - Peter Principle (1970s)
 * Thomas J. Peters - management (1970s, 1980s)
 * Jeffrey Pfeffer - organizational development (1970s–?)
 * Robert Allen Phillips
 * Rebecca Piekkari (born 1967) - Finnish organizational theorist
 * Henry Varnum Poor - principles of organization (1850s–?)
 * Michael Porter - strategic management and Porter's 5 forces (1970s–1990s)
 * C. K. Prahalad (1941–2010) - core competency (1980s)
 * Derek S. Pugh

R

 * J. Donald R. de Raadt
 * Navi Radjou
 * N. Ravichandaran
 * Jeffrey Rayport
 * W. Charles Redding
 * Robert Reich
 * Fred Reichheld
 * Reg Revans
 * Jeremy Rifkin
 * Fritz Roethlisberger
 * Georges Romme
 * Mike Rother

S

 * Martti Saario (1906–1988) - Finnish organizational theorist and Professor of Accounting
 * Kenan Sahin
 * Mohammad Ali Sarlak
 * Jason Saul
 * August-Wilhelm Scheer
 * Edgar Schein
 * Eugen Schmalenbach - economic value added (1920s–?)
 * Hein Schreuder
 * David Meerman Scott (born 1961) - inbound marketing and PR in the Internet era (2008-)
 * Walter Dill Scott - psychology of personnel management (1920s)
 * Esbjörn Segelod (born 1951) - Swedish organizational theorist
 * Peter Senge
 * Dorian Shainin
 * Stanley J. Shapiro
 * Seena Sharp
 * Oliver Sheldon - business philosophy (1920s)
 * Walter A. Shewhart - control charts (1920s–1930s)
 * Shigeo Shingo (1909–1990) - Zero Quality Control (Poka-Yoke) and Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
 * Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001) - satisficing Nobel Prize, 1978
 * Ibrahim Sirkeci
 * Adrian Slywotzky - marketing strategy (1990s)
 * Linda Smircich
 * Adam Smith - economics, capitalism, free trade (1770s)
 * Ivan Snehota (1946–2022) - Czechoslovakian-born Italian organizational theorist
 * Henk G. Sol
 * Rolf Solli
 * Thomas J. Stanley
 * Andy Stefanovich
 * Victor Hermann Stempf (1893–1946) - American accountant
 * Joel Stern - economic value added (1980s)
 * Rosemary Stewart - business theorist
 * Antonio Strati
 * Robert I. Sutton
 * G. A. Swanson
 * Richard A. Swanson
 * William R. Synnott

T

 * Genichi Taguchi (1924–2012) - Taguchi methods, quality control
 * Don Tapscott
 * Frederick Winslow Taylor - scientific management, time and motion study (20th century)
 * Sridhar Tayur
 * David Teece
 * Vern Terpstra
 * Jacques Thomassen (born 1945) - Dutch organizational theorist
 * C. Bertrand Thompson
 * Alvin Toffler
 * Thomas Thorburn (1913–2003) - Swedish Professor of Business Administration
 * Jean-Marie Toulouse
 * Phil Town
 * Henry R. Towne - scientific management (1890s)
 * John Tregoning - factory management (1890s)
 * Jack Trout
 * Josiah Tucker
 * Bruce Tuckman - stages of team development
 * Dominique Turpin

U

 * Yoichi Ueno
 * Werner Ulrich
 * Lyndall Urwick

V

 * Peter Vaill
 * Andrew H. Van de Ven
 * Jan Vanthienen
 * Hal Varian
 * Antoaneta Vassileva
 * Henrik Virkkunen (1917–1963) - Finnish organizational theorist and professor of accounting
 * Henk Volberda
 * Victor Vroom

W

 * André de Waal
 * Jean-Baptiste Waldner - computer-integrated manufacturing
 * Alexandra Waluszewski (born 1956) - Swedish organizational theorist
 * James Watt (1736–1819) - Industrial Revolution, division of labour, standard operating procedures, cost control (1810s)
 * Max Weber - a founder of the modern study of sociology and public administration (1900)
 * Frank E. Webner (1865–1940s) - American consulting cost accountant
 * Karl E. Weick
 * Lawrence Welch (born 1945) - Australian organisational theorist
 * Joseph Wharton (1826–1909) - protective tariffs, business cycles, Wharton School of Business
 * Alasdair A. K. White
 * John Whitmore (c. 1870–1937) - American accountant, contributed to standard costing
 * Eli Whitney (1765–1825) - interchangeable parts, cost accounting (1810s, 1820s)
 * Jennifer Wilby
 * Thomas Williams of Llanidan
 * Oliver E. Williamson - transaction costs, theory of the firm (1960s)
 * Mark W. Willis
 * Pieter Winsemius
 * Clinton Edgar Woods (1863–c. 1930) - factory organization (1900s)

Y

 * Candace A. Yano

Z

 * Udo Zander (born 1959) - Swedish organizational theorist