The Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg who had trained as a mechanical engineer, wrote his PhD thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management analysing the actual work habits and time management of chief executive officers (CEOs). In 1973, Mintzberg's thesis on the nature of managerial work was adopted as a study and published for a wider audience. Mintzberg's...

The American sociologist, Charles Perrow, developed a classification scheme based on the knowledge required to operate technology. Technology is an important factor in contingency theory. It assumed that the type of technology determines an organisation's most effective structure and success in the market. Perrow used two dimensions to create his typology....

In the early 1970's, the industrial marketing professors Frederick E. Webster and Yoram Wind, developed the 'buying centre' concept in order to structure large scale sales in complex corporate environments. In the early 1980's, Thomas Bonoma expanded their original list of five roles with the role of initiator. The concept then classified six buying roles...

Christensen's disruptive innovation model, published in 1997, provides an explanation for the inability of well-managed, industry-leading companies to stay atop of their industry when confronted with new, ground breaking technological innovations. Clayton M. Christensen is an associate professor at Harvard Business School. His research...