ABSTRACT
A study of human behaviour in groups and organizations has its origins in many separate and distinct pieces of work. Certainly before the 1930s, this was not a generally recognized field of study and different countries produced a variety of people who, reflecting their own cultures and social climates. This chapter provides a brief survey of this early work and then examines in more detail four contributions which can now be seen to be of particular importance. At Berlin University, with its strict formality and academic discipline, Max Weber studied the historical development of civilizations through the sociology of their religious and economic life. Between 1924 and 1926, work of a very different nature was being carried out in the Psychological Institute of Weber's university at Berlin. A young psychologist, Kurt Lewin, was working with a small and enthusiastic team of scientists who were all influenced by the new ideas of 'Gestalt' psychology.
