The key question for top management is what are your assumptions (implicit as well as explicit) about the most effective way to manage people? - Douglas McGregor

If there is a single assumption which pervades conventional organizational theory, it is that authority is the central, indispensable means of managerial control.

Classical organization theory suffers from "ethnocentrism": It ignores the significance of the political, social, and economic milieu in shaping organizations and influencing managerial practice.

Formal theories of organization have been taught in management courses for many years, and there is an extensive literature on the subject. The textbook principles of organization — hierarchical structure, authority, unity of command, task specialization, division of staff and line, span of control, equality of responsibility and authority, etc. — comprise a logically persuasive set of assumptions which have had a profound influence upon managerial behavior.