9780130165596

This broad, balanced introduction to organizational studies enables the reader to compare and contrast different approaches to the study of organizations. This book is a valuable tool for the reader, as we are all intertwined with organizations in one form or another. Numerous other disciplines besides sociology are addressed in this book, including economics, political science, strategy and management theory. Topic areas discussed in this book are the importance of organizations; defining organizations; organizations as rational, natural, and open systems; environments, strategies, and structures of organizations; and organizations and society. For those employed in fields where knowledge of organizational theory is necessary, including sociology, anthropology, cognitive psychology, industrial engineering, managers in corporations and international business, and business strategists.

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Preface

ix

About the Author

15

PART ONE AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONS

1

(30)

The Subject Is Organization

3

(28)

The Importance of Organizations

3

(6)

Organizations as an Area of Study

9

(9)

The Elements of Organizations

18

(6)

The Capacities of Organizations

24

(1)

Defining the Concept of Organization

25

(5)

Summary

30

(1)

PART TWO THREE PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS

31

(92)

Organizations as Rational Systems

33

(23)

The Defining Characteristics

34

(4)

Selected Schools

38

(15)

Summary and Tentative Conclusions

53

(3)

Organizations as Natural Systems

56

(26)

Important versus Distinctive Characteristics

56

(5)

Selected Schools

61

(17)

Summary and Tentative Conclusions

78

(4)

Organizations as Open Systems

82

(20)

Special Emphases and Insights

84

(8)

Selected Schools

92

(7)

Changing Definitions of Organization

99

(2)

Summary and Tentative Conclusions

101

(1)

Combining the Perspectives

102

(21)

Three Attempts at Integration

103

(4)

Scott's Layered Model

107

(13)

Paradigm Wars?

120

(1)

Summary

121

(2)

PART THREE ENVIRONMENTS, STRATEGIES, AND STRUCTURES

123

(202)

Conceptions of Environments

125

(25)

The Analysis of Environments

126

(15)

The Interdependence of Organizations and Environments

141

(6)

The Evolution of Environments

147

(2)

Summary

149

(1)

Creating Organizations

150

(35)

The Emergence of Organizations

151

(18)

Creating New Organizations, Organizational Populations, and Industries

169

(5)

The Mobilization of Resources

174

(9)

Summary

183

(2)

Boundary Setting and Boundary Spanning

185

(45)

The Social Boundaries of Organizations

185

(12)

Managing Task Environments

197

(16)

Managing Institutional Environments

213

(7)

Change Processes at Multiple Levels

220

(8)

Summary

228

(2)

Sources of Structural Complexity: The Technical Core

230

(32)

Defining and Measuring Technology

231

(2)

Technology and Structure: Rational System Views

233

(13)

Technology and Structure: Natural System Views

246

(12)

Professional Organizations

258

(2)

Summary

260

(2)

Sources of Structural Complexity: The Peripheral Components

262

(29)

Size and Structure

263

(5)

Environment and Structure

268

(4)

Macro Structural Adaptations

272

(12)

Connecting the Core and Peripheral Structures

284

(5)

Summary

289

(2)

Goals, Power, and Control

291

(34)

Goal Setting in Organizations

292

(11)

Anarchies, Adhocracies, and Learning

303

(6)

Control Systems

309

(11)

Critical and Postmodern Conceptions of Power

320

(3)

Summary

323

(2)

PART FOUR ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETY

325

(48)

Organizational Pathologies

326

(24)

Problems for Participants

327

(13)

Problems for Publics

340

(8)

Summary

348

(2)

Organizational Effectiveness

350

(23)

Determining Criteria of Effectiveness

351

(11)

Assessing Effectiveness

362

(8)

Explaining Effectiveness

370

(2)

Summary

372

(1)

References

373

(44)

Name Index

417

(8)

Subject Index

425

What is included with this book?

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The fifth edition allows me to continue my attempt to comprehend and make meaningful developments in the study of organizations. This effort commenced over forty years ago when, in 1962, I coauthored an early text-treatise on organizations with the distinguished organizational scholar, Peter M. Blau. The field of organizational sociology was just beginning to see the light of day at that time--Blau was a member of the pioneering cohort of Columbia scholars that gave birth to the field in its modern form--and I believe that our text helped to give the fledging field some intellectual coherence and perhaps even provided guidelines for its development. ENDURING FORMAT: CHANGING CONTENT It was two decades later that I returned again to the task of codification and synthesis, producing the first edition of this book in 1981. The title and the general framework have not changed through subsequent editions up to the present because I believe that the fundamental categories--varying combinations of rational, natural and open system arguments--remain serviceable vehicles for comprehending and tracking progress in the field. I believe that my original typology still functions to tame and order a field of study that, at first exposure, appears to be chaotic and, indeed, is crowded with competing theories and paradigms. My friend and colleague Jeffrey Pfeffer, surveying the field in 1982 commented: "The domain of organization theory is coming to resemble more of a weed patch than a well-tended garden" (1982: 1) . Without denying the existence of weeds, I prefer to pick up a hoe and lay out some borders and fences. While the general intellectual framework constructed in earlier editions continues to be employed, the content of the five editions has undergone great change. A reader of previous editions would recognize the typology of theories--whose dimensions remain unchanged--but could not help but be impressed by how much has changed. The layout and "bones" of the garden have not been altered, but we observe many new plants and flowers. The number of new perspectives that has emerged, the range of new and different topics addressed, the amount of new scholarship give ample evidence of a vigorous and expanding field. Recent developments in theory that I review include the knowledge-based conception of the firm and the elaboration of institutional and ecological-evolutionary perspectives. Greater attention is given to changing labor practices as temporary, part-time and "flexible" workers and arrangements replace or supplement internal labor markets. More space is devoted to newly emerging forms such as networks and alliances. The sources of the changes that have occurred are numerous, but can be broadly partitioned into two categories: (1) changes in organizations; and (2) changes in organizational scholarship. Changes in Organizations.Organizations have spread from their early origins in governance and military operations and economic enterprise to invade every societal sector. From accounting to yoga instruction--just check your Yellow Pages--every imaginable, and some unimaginable activities have been swallowed up by organizations. No arena is immune. While this increasing range of activities has spawned diverse organizational forms, the larger process currently at work seems to be that of increasing isomorphism--organizational arrangements becoming more similar over time. Older forms, such as partnerships, are becoming more scarce as the corporate model becomes dominant, and older distinctions, such as public and private, profit and non-profit, are blurred and combined into hybrid arrangements. Market-based and managerial logics are ascendant at this time. While organizations are becoming more similar over time, the guiding models underlying modes of organizing are themselves undergoing change. The overall pat

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Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems

Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems

013016559X

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