# List of business theorists

This is an annotated list of important business writers. It is in alphabetical order based on last name.
* 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
* See also
* References
* External links

## 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 (1938–2024) - 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 (1930–2023) - 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
* 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