Jay William Lorsch (born 1932) is an American organizational theorist and the Louis Kirstein Professor of Human Relations at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, known for his contribution of

contingency theory A contingency theory is an organizational theory that claims that there is no best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to decision making, make decisions. Instead, the optimal course of action is contingent (dependent) upon the i ...

to the field of organizational behavior.

Biography

Born in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County, Missouri, Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the princ ...

, Lorsch grew up in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, where he graduated from the Pembroke Country-Day School in 1950. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

in 1955, his Doctor of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School in 1964, and started his academic career at the Harvard Business School in 1965. Together with Paul R. Lawrence, Lorsch was awarded the

Academy of Management An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the g ...

's "Best Management Book of the Year Award" in 1969 for their book "Organization and Environment". This book "added ''

'' to the vocabulary of students of organizational behavior."James I. Cash, Paul R. Lawrence, J. F. Nunamaker (1989) ''Harvard Business School Research Colloquium''. p. 68 He and his wife reside in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

Publications

Lorsch has published a dozen books, including: * ''Organization and Environment'' (with Paul R. Lawrence) (1967) * ''Understanding Management'' (1978) * ''Organizational Behavior'' (1987) * ''Pawns or Potentates: The Reality of America's Corporate Boards'' (1989) * ''Aligning the Stars: How to Succeed When Professionals Drive Results'' (with Thomas J. Tierney) (2002) * ''Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Boards for a Complex World'' (with Colin B. Carter) (2003) * ''Restoring Trust in American Business'' ( Leslie Cohen Berlowitz and Andy Zelleke eds.) (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005)

References

External links

Jay W. Lorsch
at hbs.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorsch, Jay W. 1932 births Living people American business theorists Antioch College alumni Harvard Business School alumni Harvard Business School faculty Pembroke Hill School alumni