TWENTYOn the Verge of ExtinctionSome Final Reptilian Thoughts

JAMES O’TOOLE

Organizational behavior, organization theory, or organization studies, by whatever name you choose to identify our field, is at a crossroads. A generation of scholars that began their careers in the sixties is gradually leaving the field. Most are doing so quietly. To quote General Douglas McArthur, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Most of this generation is doing just that. . . . I am not, myself, predisposed to leaving quietly.

—Jay Lorsch (2009)

MY FRIEND, the leadership expert Jay Conger, recently pointed out to me that I am “officially a dinosaur” in the eyes of most of the academic community. Well, what are friends for if not to warn you when you ...

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