ABSTRACT
Machiavelli was a Florentine statesman and diplomat whose major works, The Prince and Discourses on the First Decade of Livy, are widely considered to be the founding tracts of modern political science. Condemned for centuries for apparently condoning immoral and ethical behaviour, they have been re-examined in the twentieth century and recognised for what they are, seminal studies in the nature and exercise of power in organisations. Machiavelli’s writing has important implications for business strategy and for ethics, but a deeper examination of his writing shows a highly advanced awareness of how organisations function and how individuals within them behave. Over the last thirty years Machiavelli has increasingly been studied from a management perspective, and he is now regarded as an important precursor to modern strategy and organisation theory.
