Great Minds in Management: The Process of Theory Development

In Great Minds In Management Ken G. Smith and Michael A. Hitt have brought together some of the most influential and original thinkers in management. Their contributions to this volume not only outline their landmark contributions to management theory, but also reflect on the process of theory development, presenting their own personal accounts of the gestation of these theories.

The result is not only an ambitious and original panorama of the key ideas in management theory presented by their originators, but also a unique collection of reflections on the process of theory development, an area which to date little has been written about by those who have actually had experience of building theory.

In their concluding chapter, Ken G. Smith and Michael A. Hitt draw together some common themes about the development of management theory over the last half a century, and suggest some of the conclusions to be drawn about how theory comes into being.

Contributors include: Chris Argyris, Albert Bandura, Jay B. Barney, Lee R. Beach, Kim Cameron, Michael R. Darby, Robert Folger, R. Edward Freeman, Michael Frese, J. Richard Hackman, Donald C. Hambrick, Michael A. Hitt, Anne S. Huff, Gary P. Latham, Edwin A. Locke, Henry Mintzberg, Terrence R. Mitchell, Richard T. Mowday, Ikujiro Nonaka, Greg R. Oldham, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Lyman W. Porter, Denise M. Rousseau, W. Richard Scott, Ken G. Smith, Barry M. Staw, Richard M. Steers, Victor H. Vroom, Karl E. Weick, Oliver E. Williamson, Sidney G. Winter, and Lynn Zucker.

Ken G. Smith is the Dean’s Chaired Professor of Business Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland at College Park. Professor Smith is a former editor of the Academy of Management Review, and has co-authored and edited books on strategy and organizational cooperation. He is currently the President of the Academy of Management.

Michael A. Hitt is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Joseph Foster Chair in Business Leadership and the C.W. and Dorothy Conn Chair in New Ventures at Texas A&M University. Professor Hitt has written and edited numerous books and articles, including Mergers and Acquisitions: A Guide toCreating Value for Stakeholders (OUP, 2001). Professor Hitt has received awards for his writing and research, including the Distinguished Service Award from the Academy of Management in 2001.