Historically, some have regarded the informal organization as the byproduct of insufficient formal organization—arguing, for example, that “it can hardly be questioned that the ideal situation in the business organization would be one where no informal organization existed.” [1] However, the contemporary approach—one suggested as early as 1925 by Mary Parker Follett, the pioneer of community centers and author of influential works on management philosophy—is to integrate the informal organization and the formal organization, recognizing the strengths and limitations of each. Integration, as Follett defined it, means breaking down apparent sources of conflict into their basic elements and then building new solutions that neither allow domination nor require compromise.[2] In other words, integrating the informal organization with the formal organization replaces competition with coherence. At a societal level, the importance of the relationship between formal and informal structures can be seen in the relationship between civil society and state authority. The power of integrating the formal organization and the informal organization can also be seen in many successful businesses.