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This article provides a personal perspective on the themes and topics that have emerged in research published by the department of organizational behavior, in the first 50 years of Management Science. A review of articles accepted by the department suggests several themes that reflect broad objectives, such as "improving management science models," or distinguishing points of view or assumptions, such as "treating organizations as decision-making entities." The research is summarized through topics and subtopics that classify the subjects and findings of the research, identifying the relative popularity of the topics, and their contribution to each of the themes. The pattern suggests that as a "behavioral" department in a journal characterized by managerial practice, optimization, and the context of real work organizations, research is uniquely grounded in applications, solutions, and work consequences in ways that are less prevalent in typical outlets for behavioral research. The article concludes by suggesting that there are ample signs of convergence across departments in the journal. Scholars in organizational behavior increasingly recognize that the context provided by other management disciplines provides essential insights. Likewise, scholars in other management disciplines increasingly recognize the value of integrating behavioral theories and findings into their frameworks and models.
Key words: organization; behavior; strategy; organization design; learning; management science
1. Introduction
The department of organizational behavior, performance, strategy, and design (OBPSD) has a relatively recent history, compared to such venerable areas as operations management and optimization. Hopp (2004, Figure 1) showed that there were few publications formally identified in the area of organization behavior prior to the 1980s. Since the 1980s, however, there has been a steady rise in the number of papers in this domain, representing an increasing proportion of Management Science. The catalyst for this shift came in 1969, with the establishment of departments, including the department of management and behavioral science with former editor-in-chief C. West Churchman listed as the department editor. In 1978, Arie Y. Lewin published the first statements of objectives, setting what were to be consistent themes for the department, emphasizing that organization design was a continual and significant management activity, reflecting multiple constituents and measures of success, and involving diverse disciplines such as "anthropology, psychology, sociology, general systems, economics, political science, and information science" (p. x). In 1982...