Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems

by Scott, W. Richard

• ISBN13: 9780130165596
• ISBN10: 013016559X
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

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

Excerpts

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