Our responsibility as educators is not only to ensure that our students are well grounded in the fundamentals of our field, but also to motivate them to do meaningful research. We therefore asked ourselves why an introductory book was not available that gave a fair account of the basic message and key concepts, outlined the relevance to contemporary organization studies and led to a curiosity about the rich history of organization studies? A variety of scholars within the field of organization studies were asked to contribute to this volume and were given the freedom to decide on their personal favourite – their giant – about whom to write. In this regard, the book differs from other volumes about thinkers and texts in the organization studies field in that it does not focus on ‘classical’ thinkers and texts from certain disciplines.

Consequently, while a giant is considered as essential in some way or another, this evaluation is based on the personal relevance to the specific writer. Readers of this book will discover why and how contributors to this volume have used “their” giant, what the contributor’s take on the giant’s basic message is and what the important key concepts are.

We believe that the variety presented in this volume will guarantee exposure to the thinking and traditions of different disciplines, to different suggestions as to how to study organizations and to vastly different conclusions.