Organizations

by Scott, W. Richard

• ISBN13: 9780132663540
• ISBN10: 0132663546
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Appropriate for courses in Organizations in Sociology and Political Science departments and in Management and Administration programs. Also suitable as a secondary text in courses on Organizations and Public Policy or Public Administration. This clear, intellectually engaging introduction reviews the field of organization studiesits past, its present and its likely areas of significant future development. Specifically, it surveys the development of rational, natural and open systems theoriesfrom earlier to contemporary versionsand provides a framework to allow students to comprehend past and present theories and to understand current controversies. While attending to the contributions of other disciplines to the understanding of organizations, the approach taken is primarily sociological. The arguments are addressed not only to current and future managers, but to anyone who is obliged to live and work in a society dominated by organizations.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART I. AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONS	1	(30)
1. The Subject Is Organizations	3	(28)
The Importance of Organizations	3	(5)
Organizations as an Area of Study	8	(9)
The Elements of Organizations	17	(6)
The Benefits of Organizations	23	(1)
Defining the Concept of Organization	24	(7)
PART II. THREE PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS	31	(90)
2. Organizations as Rational Systems	33	(23)
The Defining Characteristics	34	(3)
Selected Schools	37	(19)
3. Organizations as Natural Systems	56	(26)
Important versus Distinctive Characteristics	56	(5)
Selected Schools	61	(21)
4. Organizations as Open Systems	82	(19)
Special Emphases and Insights	84	(8)
Selected Schools	92	(9)
5. Combining the Perspectives	101	(20)
Three Attempts at Integration	102	(4)
A Layered Model	106	(12)
Paradigm Wars?	118	(3)
PART III. ENVIRONMENTS, STRATEGIES, AND STRUCTURES	121	(198)
6. Conceptions of Environments	123	(26)
The Analysis of Environments	124	(15)
The Interdependence of Organizations and Environments	139	(6)
The Evolution of Environments	145	(4)
7. Creating Organizations	149	(33)
The Emergence of Organizations	150	(17)
Creating New Industries and Populations of Organizations	167	(4)
The Mobilization of Resources	171	(11)
8. Boundary Setting and Boundary Spanning	182	(45)
The Social Boundaries of Organizations	182	(12)
Managing Task Environments	194	(17)
Managing Institutional Environments	211	(5)
Adaptation and Selection	216	(11)
9. Sources of Structural Complexity: The Technical Core	227	(31)
Defining and Measuring Technology	228	(2)
Technology and Structure: Rational System Views	230	(13)
Technology and Structure: Natural System Views	243	(11)
Professional Organizations	254	(4)
10. Sources of Structural Complexity: The Peripheral Components	258	(27)
Size and Structure	259	(5)
Environment and Structure	264	(4)
Macro Structural Adaptations	268	(10)
Connecting the Core and Peripheral Structures	278	(7)
11. Goals, Power, and Control	285	(34)
Goal Setting in Organizations	286	(16)
Control Systems	302	(11)
Modern and Postmodern Organizations	313	(6)
PART IV. ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETY	319	(45)
12. Organizational Pathologies	321	(22)
Problems for Participants	322	(11)
Problems for Publics	333	(10)
13. Organizational Effectiveness	343	(21)
Determining Criteria of Effectiveness	344	(9)
Assessing Effectiveness	353	(8)
Explaining Effectiveness	361	(3)
References	364	(37)
Name Index	401	(9)
Subject Index	410