Mary Parker Follett

Mary Parker Follett was an American social thinker, management consultant, social worker, political scientist, philosopher and pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and organizational behavior, management, leadership, democracy, and conflict resolution. Along with Lillian Gilbreth, she was one of two renowned women management experts in the early days of classical management theory. She has been called the "Mother of Modern Management". Instead of emphasizing industrial and mechanical components, she advocated for what she saw as the far more important human element, regarding people as the most valuable commodity present within any business. She was one of the first theorists to actively write about and explore the role people had in ineffective management and discuss the importance of learning to deal with and promote positive human relations as a fundamental aspect of the industrial sector. She is also recognized as the originator of "win-win" approaches to conflict resolution.