ABSTRACT
Organizational decision making is a topic that has been part of organizational behavior since the beginning. Theories of this kind have played an important role in the field, not only in their own right, but also in their implications for other topic areas. The particular theories to be considered include some of the most influential in organizational behavior. Although the theories treated tend to focus on decision making, they cover a number of conventional components of organizational functioning that characteristically relate to the decision process. In this chapter we take up Simon’s theoretical work and his joint efforts with March; here the emphasis on rational decision making within the bounds of possibility is pronounced. In particular the discussion focuses on two books that in many ways established the foundations for the field of organizational behavior—Simon’s Administrative Behavior and March and Simon’s Organizations.
