ABSTRACT
William H. Whyte's The Organization Man defined a term, a typology, and a generation, and has become a part of our cultural history. Whyte's work will remain a critical piece of business and social history, as it evaluates the employee's relationship with his employer and with his line of work. Changes in workforce characteristics have discredited many of Whyte's arguments for today's professional. Ethnographic scholars continue to use Whyte's methods of participant observation to explore a wide range of issues related to both workplace culture and urban/suburban development and function. However, as the collective memory of the public becomes focused on new business challenges, Whyte's The Organization Man will probably fade from the contemporary business field. The impact of technology, globalization, fiscal and international policy, diversity, and family dynamics have all, in multiple ways, negated the environment that produced The Organization Man.
