Simon's work focused on the ways in which individuals and organizations make decisions and solve problems, and he made significant contributions to the fields of economics, psychology, and computer science. He is best known for his concept of bounded rationality, which suggests that individuals and organizations are limited in their ability to process and analyze information and that they often rely on heuristics and rules of thumb to make decisions.

Simon also developed the concept of satisficing, which refers to the process of settling for a satisfactory solution rather than striving for the optimal solution, and he made important contributions to the study of artificial intelligence and the design of computer algorithms. His work has had a significant impact on the fields of economics and management, and he is considered one of the most influential scholars of the 20th century.