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James G. March
Born(1928-01-15)January 15, 1928
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 27, 2018(2018-09-27) (aged 90)
Portola Valley, California, U.S.
Alma materYale University
Scientific career
FieldsPolitical science, organization theory
InstitutionsCarnegie Institute of Technology
University of California, Irvine
Stanford University

James Gardner March (January 15, 1928 – September 27, 2018) was an American political scientist, sociologist, and economist. A professor at Stanford University in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Graduate School of Education, he is best known for his research on organizations,[1] his (jointly with Richard Cyert) seminal work on A Behavioral Theory of the Firm,[2] and the organizational decision making model known as the Garbage Can Model.[3][4]

Early life and education

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1928,[5] March received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1945 in political science. He received his M.A. in 1950 and Ph.D. in 1953 from Yale University, both in political science.[3][6]

James March was awarded honorary doctorate from numerous universities:

Career

From 1953 to 1964, he had served on the faculties of the Carnegie Institute of Technology as a senior research fellow and assistant professor, and later professor of industrial administration and psychology.

For the academic year of 1955-56, March was a Political Science Fellow at the Stanford University Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.[8]

From 1964 to 1970, March joined the faculty at the University of California, Irvine as the founding Dean of the School of Social Sciences (1964–69). He was also a professor of psychology and sociology.[9]

In 1970, March moved to Stanford University.[3] At Stanford, he held several titles, including professor of political science and sociology, David Jacks Professor of Higher Education (1970–1978), professor of management (1978–1979), Fred H. Merrill Professor of Management (1979–1992), Jack Steele Parker Professor of International Management (1992–present). He had also served as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution (1978–1987) and the founding director of the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (Scancor) (1989–1999).[10]

He had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences,[3] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[3] the American Philosophical Society,[11] and the National Academy of Education,[3] and had been a member of the National Science Board.[12] He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences[13] and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[14]

He interacted and communicated in many different forms as books, articles, interactive seminars, films and poetry.

Contributions

March was highly respected for his broad theoretical perspective which combined theories from psychology and other behavioural sciences. As a core member of the Carnegie School, he collaborated with the cognitive psychologist Herbert A. Simon on several works on organization theory.[15]

March was also known for his seminal work on the behavioural perspective on the theory of the firm along with Richard Cyert (1963).[citation needed]

In 1972, March worked together with Johan Olsen and Michael D. Cohen on the systemic-anarchic perspective of organizational decision making known as the Garbage Can Model.[16]

The scope of his academic work was broad but focused on understanding how decisions happen in individuals, groups, organizations, companies and society.[17][18] He explores factors that influences decision making, such as risk orientation, leadership and the ambiguity of the present and the past; politics and vested interests by stakeholders; the challenges of giving and receiving advice; the challenges of organizational and individual learning and the challenges of balancing exploration and exploitation in organizations.

Awards

March received numerous awards, including:

Personal

James March was the father of four children and a grandfather.[3] He died on September 27, 2018, aged 90.[24]

Bibliography: Selected Articles

Bibliography: Books

March wrote many books including some with different co-authors:

Bibliography: Films

Bibliography: Poetry

References

  1. ^ "Ideas as Art". Harvard Business Review. October 1, 2006. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Richard M. Cyert and James G. March, A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, 2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1992.ISBN 0-13-073304-0
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Faculty Profiles – James G March – Bio Main". Stanford University. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  4. ^ "James G. March, American social scientist". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  5. ^ Witzel, Morgen; Warner, Malcolm (February 28, 2013). The Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-164537-2.
  6. ^ "James G March CV" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 11, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  7. ^ "Honorary doctorates – Uppsala University, Sweden". June 9, 2023.
  8. ^ "Stanford University CASBS Political Science Fellow". Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  9. ^ "University of California, Irvine, Social Sciences History". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "SCANCOR". SCANCOR (Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research). Stanford Graduate School of Education. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  11. ^ "Stanford professors elected to prestigious society". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 2, 2002.
  12. ^ "NSF: NSB 50th Anniversary". National Science Foundation. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: James G. March". Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  14. ^ "Gruppe 7: Samfunnsfag (herunder sosiologi, statsvitenskap og økonomi)" [Group 7: Social sciences (including sociology, political science and economics)] (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  15. ^ March, James G. and Herbert Simon, Organizations, John Wiley and Sons, 1958, ISBN 0-471-56793-0
  16. ^ Cohen, Michael D.; March, James G.; Olsen, Johann P. (1972). "A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice". Administrative Science Quarterly. 17 (l): 1. doi:10.2307/2392088. JSTOR 2392088.
  17. ^ Anderson, Marc H.; Lemken, Russell K. (2019). "An Empirical Assessment of the Influence of March and Simon's Organizations: The Realized Contribution and Unfulfilled Promise of a Masterpiece". Journal of Management Studies. 56 (8): 1537–1569. doi:10.1111/joms.12527. ISSN 1467-6486. S2CID 201323442.
  18. ^ Cristofaro, Matteo; Hayek, Mario; Williams, Wallace; Hartt, Christopher; Heames, Joyce (January 3, 2022). "Guest editorial: Honoring the scientific endeavor of James March". Journal of Management History. 28 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1108/JMH-10-2021-0055. S2CID 245614032.
  19. ^ "Yale University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, List of Past Wilbur Cross Recipients". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  20. ^ "Academy of Management, Historical Award Winners". Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  21. ^ "American Political Science Association, John Gaus Lectures". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  22. ^ "Academy of Management, Organization and Management Theory, Distinguished Scholar Award". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  23. ^ "2016 Progress Medal Laureates". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  24. ^ "James G. March, Professor of Business, Education, and Humanities, Dies at 90". Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  25. ^ Bedeian, Arthur G.; Wren, Daniel A. (Winter 2001). "Most Influential Management Books of the 20th Century" (PDF). Organizational Dynamics. 29 (3): 221–225. doi:10.1016/S0090-2616(01)00022-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2012.

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