Arthur G. Bedeian

Arthur G. Bedeian (born December 22, 1946) is an American business theorist and Emeritus Professor of Management at Louisiana State University, known from his book coauthored with Daniel A. Wren,titled "The evolution of management thought."

Quotes

• Management as an activity has always existed to make people’s desires through organized effort. Management facilitates the efforts of people in organized groups and arises when people seek to cooperate to achieve goals.
  • Daniel A. Wren & Arthur G. Bedeian (1972: 11-12); as cited in: Le Texier, Thibault. "The first systematized uses of the term “management” in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." Journal of Management History 19.2 (2013): 189-224.

• Th[e] uniqueness [of the role of dean] stems from an absence of objective and immediate measures of performance combined with arcane governance procedures that may permit some deans to hold office for years without being confronted by those who disagree with their judgments...
  • Arthur G. Bedeian, "The dean's disease: How the darker side of power manifests itself in the office of dean." Academy of Management Learning & Education 1.2 (2002): 164-173; As cited in: "Art Bedeian on "Dean's Disease" With Commentary by Duane Cobb," at usmnews.net, 2007.

Organizations: Theory and Analysis, 1984

Arthur G. Bedeian (1980/1984). Organizations: Theory and Analysis : Text and Cases.

• Organizations have been viewed from many perspectives. Depending upon the background and interests of the investigators, the dimensions and characteristics of organizations that are emphasized vary greatly. However, there does appear to be some agreement about the fact that organizations generally develop as instruments for attaining specific goals, and that they are likely to emerge in situations where people recognize a common or complementary advantage that can best be served through collective, as opposed to individual, action.
  • p. 3 (1984; 2)

• Several features or attributes of organizations can therefore be recognized

1. Organizations are social institutions (entities) composed of sets of persons with established patterns of interaction.
2. Organizations develop to achieve specific goals. Therefore, organizations are social creations that require order and cooperation.
3. Organizations are social instruments possessing relatively identifiable boundaries and existing on a relatively permanent basis. While this final point is perhaps less clear than were those that precede it, the identification of fixed boundaries (for instance, the distinction between members and nonmembers) and continuity (that is, existence and identity over time) provide a conceptual framework for the study of organizational activity.

• p. 3-4 (1984: 2-3)

• While numerous studies have dealt with the nature of organization-environment relations, the first major attempt to identify the types of organizational structure and managerial practice that are appropriate for different environmental conditions was conducted by Burns and Stalker, who studied twenty manufacturing firms in England and Scotland. Of these, fifteen were in the electronics industry, four were in research and development, and one was a major manufacturer. The particular environmental conditions examined were the rates of change in the scientific technology and the relevant product markets of the firms being studied.
  • (1984; 190)

"Most influential management books of the 20th Century," 2001

See Daniel A. Wren#"Most influential management books of the 20th Century," 2001