Administrative Behavior: a Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization is a book written by Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001). It asserts that "decision-making is the heart of administration, and that the vocabulary of administrative theory must be derived from the logic and psychology of human choice", and it attempts to describe administrative organizations "in a way that will provide the basis for scientific analysis".[1]:xiii-xiv[2]:xlv-xlvi[3]:xlvii-xlviii[4]:xi The first edition was published in 1947; the second, in 1957; the third, in 1976; and the fourth, in 1997. As summarized in a 2001 obituary of Simon, the book "reject[ed] the notion of an omniscient 'economic man' capable of making decisions that bring the greatest benefit possible and substitut[ed] instead the idea of 'administrative man' who 'satisfices—looks for a course of action that is satisfactory'".[5] Administrative Behavior laid the foundation for the economic movement known as the Carnegie School.
The book crosses social science disciplines such as political science and economics.[6] Simon returned to some of the ideas in the book in his later works, such as The Sciences of the Artificial (1969).[6][7] The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the book as "epoch-making" in awarding the 1978 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to Simon.[8][9] A 1990 article in Public Administration Review named it the "public administration book of the half century" (1940-1990).[10] It was voted the fifth most influential management book of the 20th century in a poll of the Fellows of the Academy of Management.[11]
The book is based on Simon's doctoral thesis in political science at the University of Chicago, which he began planning in 1937.[12]:53 At the time, the chair of the political science department was Charles Edward Merriam.[12]:55–63
Beginning in 1936, Simon worked as a half-time research assistant and then as a full-time staff member at the International City Managers Association (ICMA).[12]:69–92[13]:76–77,84–87,96–97 Among other activities at ICMA, he learned about administration and about scientific collaboration from director Clarence Ridley, and published his first book with Ridley in 1938.[12]:64,72[14] Although Simon cites Ridley as a major influence on his thinking, Simon did not actually work on his thesis while at ICMA.[12]:64–65,69–72,74
Simon took a position at the Bureau of Public Administration at the University of California, Berkeley between 1939 and 1942.[12]:78–85 It was at Berkeley that he completed his University of Chicago Ph.D. thesis, which was approved by a committee consisting of Leonard D. White, C. Herman Pritchett, Clarence Ridley, and Charner Marquis Perry.[12]:84 Simon received his doctorate in 1942.[12]:84–85
In writing his thesis and book, Simon was influenced by The Functions of the Executive (1938) by Chester I. Barnard. In his 1991 autobiography, Simon wrote that he found Barnard's book "wholly superior to the other administrative literature of the day and fully compatible with my preference for looking at management in decision-making terms".[12]:73 The book, which Simon read "with painstaking care", motivated Simon to reflect upon his experiences and to focus on administrative decision making.[12]:73–74,86–87 In a 1988 interview, Simon was quoted as follows:[7]
Of course I built squarely on Barnard, and have always felt deeply indebted to him; science is a cumulative endeavor...In the book itself there are fourteen references to Barnard...the notions of the contribution-inducement equilibrium, authority, and zone of acceptance were all derived from Barnard...What I would now regard as the principal novelties in Administative [sic] Behavior are the development of the concept of organizational identification...the description of the decision process in terms of the processing of decision premises, and the bounded rationality notions...Most of the rest is highly "Barnardian", and certainly even those "novel" ideas are in no way inconsistent with Barnard's view of organizations.
Mitchell and Scott have noted similarities in Barnard's and Simon's concepts of authority, organizational equilibrium, and decision making.[15]:349–352[16]:9 For example, Barnard's "zone of indifference" (a subordinate's unquestioned acceptance of authority) became Simon's "zone of acceptance".[15]:350[17]:266 In addition, Mitchell and Scott concluded that both Simon and Barnard believed that large organizations control individuals' behavior and manipulate their opinions.[15]:357–364
Philosophers who influenced Simon include William James, John Dewey, A. J. Ayer, and Rudolf Carnap.[1]:45–46,80,82,88,90,93,96,101,186,195,199[7][12]:53–54,58–59[13]:99–101[18] The ideas of behavioral psychologist Edward C. Tolman and sociologist Talcott Parsons also contributed to Simon's work.[12]:86,114,190–191[13]:101–105 Simon characterized his own philosophical approach as logical positivism.[1]:45[10]:253
In 1945, when Simon was at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he sent mimeographed copies of a preliminary version of the book (which was similar to his thesis) to about 200 people he thought might be interested in his work.[7][13]:130–131 One of the recipients of the preliminary version was Barnard. Although Simon did not know Barnard personally, Barnard sent a total of 25 pages of detailed comments to Simon, which resulted in a thorough revision of the book.[13]:131–133 Simon then asked Barnard to write the book's foreword.[12]:88
The first edition had 16 pages of front matter (e.g., a Foreword by Chester Barnard, a Preface, and Acknowledgements), as well as 259 pages of body matter (i.e., Chapters I-XI) and back matter (Appendix and Index).[1]
The published first edition was different from the preliminary version in many ways, including:[7][12]:86[13]:133–134