The Harvard "Pareto Circle" and the Historical Development of Organization Theory

Abstract

A small group of influential scholars, who met at Harvard University during the 1930s and early 1940s to discuss the ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, is shown to have significantly influenced the development of organization theory and the behavioral sciences. The concepts of social system and social equilibrium were posited in a physiological, homeostatic system framework that was a paramount theory for more than three decades. It is proposed that the development of organization theory can be understood best from an historical perspective that includes the influence of cultural, economic, and political conditions and the values of those who developed the theoretical formulations. In addition, it is argued that the personal and institutional academic prestige of those who propose a theory contributes to the influence and acceptance of that theory.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barnard, C.I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press.

Braithwaite, R.B. (1953). Scientific explanation. London: Cambridge University Press.

Brinton, C. (1938). Anatomy of revolution. New York: Vintage Books.

Brinton, C. (1939, May 6). What's the matter with sociology? Saturday Review of Literature, 20, 3.

Brinton, C. (1958). Lawrence Joseph Henderson. In E.W. Forbes & J.H. Finley, Jr. (Eds.), Saturday Club: A century completed, 1920-1956. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Buckley, W. (1967). Sociology and modern systems theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Cyert, R.M. , & March, J.G. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Dunlop, J.T. (1958). Industrial relations systems. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Engels, F. (1935). Karl Marx, selected works. Moscow: Cooperative Publishing Society.

10.

Gouldner, A.W. (1970). The coming crisis of western sociology. New York: Basic Books.

11.

Henderson, L.J. (1935). Pareto's general sociology: A physiologists's interpretation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

12.

Heyl, B.S. (1968). The Harvard "Pareto Circle." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 4, 316-334.

13.

Homans, G.C. (1950). The human group. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

14.

Homans, G.C. (1961). Social behavior: Its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

15.

Homans, G.C. (1962). Sentiments & activities: Essays in social science. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.

16.

Homans, G.C. , & Curtis, C.P., Jr. (1934). An introduction to Pareto: His sociology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

17.

Kaplan, A. (1964). The conduct of inquiry. San Francisco: Chandler.

18.

Katz, D. , & Kahn, R.L. (1966). The social psychology of organizations. New York: Wiley.

19.

Keeley, M. (1980). Organizational analogy: A comparison of organismic and social contract models. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 337-362.

20.

Kuhn, T.S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

21.

Levy, M.J., Jr. (1973). A sociologist who knew science. Social Science Quarterly, 54, 469-479.

22.

Marx, K. (1906). Capital I. Chicago: C.H. Kerr.

23.

Mayo, E. (1933). The human problems of an industrial civilization. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

24.

Mayo, E. (1945). The social problems of an industrial civilization. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

25.

Mills, C.W. (1959). The sociological imagination. London: Oxford University Press.

26.

Pareto, V. (1966). Sociological writings ( S.E. Finer , Ed.; D. Mirfin, Trans.). New York: Praeger. (Original works published 1896-1921)

27.

Pareto, V. (1980). Compendium of general sociology ( E. Abbott , Ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1920)

28.

Parsons, T. (1936). Pareto's central analytical scheme. Journal of Social Philosophy, 1, 244-262.

29.

Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.

30.

Perrow, C. (1979). Complex organizations: A critical essay (2nd ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

31.

Roethlisberger, F.J. , & Dickson, W.J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

32.

Thompson, J.D. (1967). Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill.