Inhoud
Chapter 1: Organization theory, challenges and perspectives ............................................................... 2
Chapter 2: Organization theory, what is it, and why does it matter? ..................................................... 3
Chapter 3: Modernist organization theory, back to the future?............................................................. 7
Chapter 6: From classical beginnings to new-wave leadership and management, the evolution of
management theory (p.186-192) .......................................................................................................... 12
Document of Taylor, Scientific Management........................................................................................ 13
Chapter 4: Neo modernist organization theory, putting people first? ................................................. 14
Chapter 5: Neo-modernist organization theory, surfing the new wave? ............................................. 19
Chapter 6: From classical beginnings to new-wave leadership and management: the evolution of
management theory (p. 192-215) ......................................................................................................... 22
The human side of enterprise (McGregor)............................................................................................ 25
AN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING FRAMEWORK: FROM INTUITION TO INSTITUTION ......................... 26
Innovative Organizations: Structure, Learning and Adaptation ............................................................ 28
Chapter 7: Post-modernist organization theory, new organizational forms of a new millennium (223-
256)........................................................................................................................................................ 31
Disconnected capitalism: or why employers can’t keep their side of the bargain (Paul Thompson) ... 35
Logistical urbanism and the transformation of labor (Moritz Altenried).............................................. 36
Platform-Capital’s ‘App-etite’ for Control: A Labour Process Analysis of Food-Delivery Work in
Australia................................................................................................................................................. 37
Chapter 9: Reflective organization theory; symbols, meanings and interpretations (301-317)........... 38
Chapter 9: (338-350) ............................................................................................................................. 40
Chapter 10: reflexive organization theory; critical theory, psychoanalysis and feminist organization
theory (357-397).................................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 11 (417-435) -> Concluding chapter ....................................................................................... 45
1
,Chapter 1: Organization theory, challenges and perspectives
- Organization Theory -> the study of the various theories about organizations that have
developed since the latter part of the 19th century. It’s about developing a social
understanding of organizations
- Adam Smith (1776)-> Classic theory -> New factory system -> division of labor (liberalism)
- Efficient division of labor is an effect of freedom of trade and the invisible hand
- Many scholars of organization focus on questions of effective management, to achieve goals
set by owners and managers (managerialism)
- Others reject this “managerialism” and “functionalism”, and argue other stakeholders can
have other, conflicting, interests (critical perspectives)
2
,Chapter 2: Organization theory, what is it, and why does it matter?
- Studying organizations entails investigating many aspects of our lives. Organizations have a
pervasive influence on most kinds of human activity.
- Organization theory is important in two key respects:
1. Organization theory helps us to reflect upon and understand who we are and why we are
who we are
2. Organization theory is about us and how we interact with others during our encounters in
a vast array of different social contexts that we take for granted because we cannot see
or imagine any alternative to how things appear to be
- Starbucks view on organization theory -> three key themes
1. It developed a distinctive focus on the exploration of single organizations that are
understood as systems
2. The exploration of the idea that many organizations resemble each other in complex
ways -> when organizations respond to their internal and external environments, they
develop similar characteristics
3. Interactions between groups of organizations of the sort that can be illustrated by
discussion of organizations as ecologies
- Theories influence all aspects of our lives and how we understand and act upon what is going
on around us -> theories are practical devices
- Theories -> three domains
1. Organization theory -> the total body of knowledge to which we can have access in order
to develop our understanding of and knowledge about organizations
2. Within this body of knowledge exist a number of theories that look at organizations from
different perspectives
3. Within these theoretical perspectives lie individual theories which provide different
explanations for phenomena
- A theory uses our ability to lump together phenomena in terms of their perceived similarities
and differences to make sense of the world
- Concepts and definitions are the basic materials of all theories, but it is of great importance
that theories explain why what we think we have observed has happened
- Theories stipulate why things happen in terms of putting forward a causal relationship
between different phenomena. Theories also specify when and where an effect may or may
not happen -> limiting the scope of the theory in particular circumstances.
- Theories help us to predict what should happen if we were to intervene and change things ->
if something causes a problem, you know that when you change that causal factor that it
should impact the problem
- Theories help us to intervene and assert control over the events that affect us
Independent variable -> Causes -> Dependent variable
- Independent variable: When these conditions occur….
- Causes: They will cause…
- Dependent variable: … the phenomenon to be explained to occur
3
, - Organizations -> social entities created and sustained by collective human interaction.
Organizations enable people to achieve objectives and satisfy needs that could not be
attained or satisfied through the individuals alone
- Organization theory as a goal direction -> collectivities of people whose activities are
consciously designed and directed by managers in order to pursue explicit purposes and
attain particular common objectives or goals (Schein, 1970)
- Silverman (1970) sees organizations as a social construct:
1. We mislead ourselves if we talk of social collectivities as having goals as if they were an
individual person -> a collectivity cannot have a goal unless every individual agrees to
that goal
2. There is a danger that we prioritize individual goals at the expense of the goals of others
who are involved with the same organization
- Goldner (1959) says that when organizations that are oriented towards a goal, it often means
that these goals are of its top administrators
- Social science theory -> concerned with the behavior of human beings -> those theories can
impact upon and change the very behavior that constitutes the social scientist’s focus
precisely
- Double hermeneutic -> the interaction between social science theory and the theories of
everyday (hermeneutic = the way in which we interpret and understand phenomena)
- Social scientist’s interpretation -> the development of an organization theory that describes,
explains, and criticizes the various forms that organizations take
Double hermeneutic: transmission of ideas and practices
- Social actors’/agents’ interpretations -> the meaningful construction of action that results in
everyday practical creation and maintenance of organizations by their members
- Two sets of issues by the hermeneutic ->
1. Social science can influence the social actors
2. The way in which everyday social processes and practices exert influence upon the
development of social scientists
- Jaffee (2001) -> the essence of organization theories is to capture the essence of what to
them constitutes the body of knowledge
- Another perspective: organization theory must promise to improve the effectiveness of
managers by conferring the power of control through better analysis and explanation of
what is going in their organizations -> theories must help managers to use more incisive
interventions that get to the heart of problems
- A great deal of research is wasted because academics can’t translate their theories in a
language that appeals to practitioners (such as managers) because there are no institutional
incentives to do so
- Popper (1967) thought that any social scientific knowledge can form the basis of and be
developed by ‘social engineering’ -> the planning and construction of institutions with the
aim of arresting or controlling or quickening social developments
4
Chapter 1: Organization theory, challenges and perspectives ............................................................... 2
Chapter 2: Organization theory, what is it, and why does it matter? ..................................................... 3
Chapter 3: Modernist organization theory, back to the future?............................................................. 7
Chapter 6: From classical beginnings to new-wave leadership and management, the evolution of
management theory (p.186-192) .......................................................................................................... 12
Document of Taylor, Scientific Management........................................................................................ 13
Chapter 4: Neo modernist organization theory, putting people first? ................................................. 14
Chapter 5: Neo-modernist organization theory, surfing the new wave? ............................................. 19
Chapter 6: From classical beginnings to new-wave leadership and management: the evolution of
management theory (p. 192-215) ......................................................................................................... 22
The human side of enterprise (McGregor)............................................................................................ 25
AN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING FRAMEWORK: FROM INTUITION TO INSTITUTION ......................... 26
Innovative Organizations: Structure, Learning and Adaptation ............................................................ 28
Chapter 7: Post-modernist organization theory, new organizational forms of a new millennium (223-
256)........................................................................................................................................................ 31
Disconnected capitalism: or why employers can’t keep their side of the bargain (Paul Thompson) ... 35
Logistical urbanism and the transformation of labor (Moritz Altenried).............................................. 36
Platform-Capital’s ‘App-etite’ for Control: A Labour Process Analysis of Food-Delivery Work in
Australia................................................................................................................................................. 37
Chapter 9: Reflective organization theory; symbols, meanings and interpretations (301-317)........... 38
Chapter 9: (338-350) ............................................................................................................................. 40
Chapter 10: reflexive organization theory; critical theory, psychoanalysis and feminist organization
theory (357-397).................................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 11 (417-435) -> Concluding chapter ....................................................................................... 45
1
,Chapter 1: Organization theory, challenges and perspectives
- Organization Theory -> the study of the various theories about organizations that have
developed since the latter part of the 19th century. It’s about developing a social
understanding of organizations
- Adam Smith (1776)-> Classic theory -> New factory system -> division of labor (liberalism)
- Efficient division of labor is an effect of freedom of trade and the invisible hand
- Many scholars of organization focus on questions of effective management, to achieve goals
set by owners and managers (managerialism)
- Others reject this “managerialism” and “functionalism”, and argue other stakeholders can
have other, conflicting, interests (critical perspectives)
2
,Chapter 2: Organization theory, what is it, and why does it matter?
- Studying organizations entails investigating many aspects of our lives. Organizations have a
pervasive influence on most kinds of human activity.
- Organization theory is important in two key respects:
1. Organization theory helps us to reflect upon and understand who we are and why we are
who we are
2. Organization theory is about us and how we interact with others during our encounters in
a vast array of different social contexts that we take for granted because we cannot see
or imagine any alternative to how things appear to be
- Starbucks view on organization theory -> three key themes
1. It developed a distinctive focus on the exploration of single organizations that are
understood as systems
2. The exploration of the idea that many organizations resemble each other in complex
ways -> when organizations respond to their internal and external environments, they
develop similar characteristics
3. Interactions between groups of organizations of the sort that can be illustrated by
discussion of organizations as ecologies
- Theories influence all aspects of our lives and how we understand and act upon what is going
on around us -> theories are practical devices
- Theories -> three domains
1. Organization theory -> the total body of knowledge to which we can have access in order
to develop our understanding of and knowledge about organizations
2. Within this body of knowledge exist a number of theories that look at organizations from
different perspectives
3. Within these theoretical perspectives lie individual theories which provide different
explanations for phenomena
- A theory uses our ability to lump together phenomena in terms of their perceived similarities
and differences to make sense of the world
- Concepts and definitions are the basic materials of all theories, but it is of great importance
that theories explain why what we think we have observed has happened
- Theories stipulate why things happen in terms of putting forward a causal relationship
between different phenomena. Theories also specify when and where an effect may or may
not happen -> limiting the scope of the theory in particular circumstances.
- Theories help us to predict what should happen if we were to intervene and change things ->
if something causes a problem, you know that when you change that causal factor that it
should impact the problem
- Theories help us to intervene and assert control over the events that affect us
Independent variable -> Causes -> Dependent variable
- Independent variable: When these conditions occur….
- Causes: They will cause…
- Dependent variable: … the phenomenon to be explained to occur
3
, - Organizations -> social entities created and sustained by collective human interaction.
Organizations enable people to achieve objectives and satisfy needs that could not be
attained or satisfied through the individuals alone
- Organization theory as a goal direction -> collectivities of people whose activities are
consciously designed and directed by managers in order to pursue explicit purposes and
attain particular common objectives or goals (Schein, 1970)
- Silverman (1970) sees organizations as a social construct:
1. We mislead ourselves if we talk of social collectivities as having goals as if they were an
individual person -> a collectivity cannot have a goal unless every individual agrees to
that goal
2. There is a danger that we prioritize individual goals at the expense of the goals of others
who are involved with the same organization
- Goldner (1959) says that when organizations that are oriented towards a goal, it often means
that these goals are of its top administrators
- Social science theory -> concerned with the behavior of human beings -> those theories can
impact upon and change the very behavior that constitutes the social scientist’s focus
precisely
- Double hermeneutic -> the interaction between social science theory and the theories of
everyday (hermeneutic = the way in which we interpret and understand phenomena)
- Social scientist’s interpretation -> the development of an organization theory that describes,
explains, and criticizes the various forms that organizations take
Double hermeneutic: transmission of ideas and practices
- Social actors’/agents’ interpretations -> the meaningful construction of action that results in
everyday practical creation and maintenance of organizations by their members
- Two sets of issues by the hermeneutic ->
1. Social science can influence the social actors
2. The way in which everyday social processes and practices exert influence upon the
development of social scientists
- Jaffee (2001) -> the essence of organization theories is to capture the essence of what to
them constitutes the body of knowledge
- Another perspective: organization theory must promise to improve the effectiveness of
managers by conferring the power of control through better analysis and explanation of
what is going in their organizations -> theories must help managers to use more incisive
interventions that get to the heart of problems
- A great deal of research is wasted because academics can’t translate their theories in a
language that appeals to practitioners (such as managers) because there are no institutional
incentives to do so
- Popper (1967) thought that any social scientific knowledge can form the basis of and be
developed by ‘social engineering’ -> the planning and construction of institutions with the
aim of arresting or controlling or quickening social developments
4
