ABSTRACT
The Organization Man was William H. Whyte's first major book, building on several years of journalism and editorial work on similar subjects at Fortune magazine. The Organization Man is one of the most important business and management books ever written, and continues to be widely recognized as a classic and seminal text. However, after leaving Fortune magazine in 1958, Whyte changed directions and went on to develop a significant body of work in urban theory and social research, which is equally compelling and integral to modern scholarship. Whyte continued to use the same methods of information-gathering that he had developed in his research for The Organization Man and these contributed to his original ideas on topics around public space use and urban development more broadly. Whyte's career can be summarized as the curious, thoughtful, and detailed exploration of the world around him, a world characterized by the notion that pleasant and willing conformity could provide men with safety and stability.
