“Another recent development is the theory of formal organizations, that is, structures planfully instituted, such as those of an army, Bureaucracy, business enterprise, etc. This theory is framed in a philosophy which accepts the premise that the only meaningful way to study organization is to study it as a system.”

—  Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Source: General System Theory (1968), 1. Introduction, p. 9

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Ludwig von Bertalanffy65
austrian biologist and philosopher 1901–1972

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Gerald F. Davis (1961) American sociologist

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“Formally this work is divided into four parts, but in a sense it consists of two short treatises. One is an exposition of a theory of cooperation and organization and constitutes the first half of the book. The second is a study of the functions and of the methods of operation of executives in formal organizations.”

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Luther H. Gulick photo

“The theory of organization… has to do with the structure of co-ordination imposed upon the work-division units of an enterprise.”

Luther H. Gulick (1892–1993) American academic

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comprise a logically persuasive set of assumptions which have had a profound influence upon managerial behavior.
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