William Ouchi

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William G. Ouchi (born 1943) is an American professor and author in the field of business management.

Bill Ouchi was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He earned a B.A. from Williams College (1965), and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He has been a faculty member of the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles for many years.

Ouchi first came to prominence for his studies of the differences between Japanese and American companies and management styles. His first popular book in 1981 summarized his observations. "Theory Z: How American Management Can Meet the Japanese Challenge" made the 'best-seller' lists, and remained there for five months. His second book, "The M Form Society: How American Teamwork Can Recapture the Competitive Edge", examined various techniques implementing that approach.

Ouchi also came up with his 3 approaches to control in an organization's management:

Market control
Bureaucratic control
Clan control

In recent years Ouchi has turned his attention to the organization and effectiveness of schools and issues of school district administration. He published an overview in 2003 in "Making Schools Work". He chaired an education reform panel for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and some of his proposals are being considered currently. In the 1990s, he served in the administration of former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.