The study of institutions and their interactions has been a particular focus of academic research for many years. In the late 19th and early 20th century, social theorists began to systematize this body of literature. One of the most prominent examples of the systematization that occurred during this period was that of the German economist and social theorist Max Weber, who focused on the organizational structure (i.e. bureaucracy ) within society, and the institutionalization created by means of the iron cage organizational bureaucracies create.