The Oxford Handbook of Organization Theory

Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-0-19-927525-0
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 672 Seiten, Format (B × H): 171 mm x 246 mm, Gewicht: 1170 g

This book provides a forum for leading scholars in organization theory to engage in meta-theoretical reflection on the historical development, present state, and future prospects of organization theory as a scientific discipline. The central question explored is the epistemological status of organization theory as a policy science. This is a meta-theoretical question; the object of analysis and debate in this volume is not a set of organizational phenomena, but organization theory itself.

By drawing attention to organization theory as a practical social activity, this handbook reviews and evaluates important epistemological developments in the discipline. More specifically, the focus is on issues related to the nature of knowledge claims put forward in organization theory and the controversies surrounding the generation, validation, and utilization of such knowledge.

Five sets of questions are raised in the handbook, each one of which is dealt with in a separate section:

1) What does a science of organizations consist of? What counts as valid knowledge in organization theory and why? How do different paradigms view organization theory as a science?

2) How has organization theory developed over time, and what structure has the field taken? What assumptions does knowledge produced in organization theory incorporate, and what forms do its knowledge claims take as they are put forward for public adoption?

3) How have certain well-known controversies in organization theory, such as for example, the structure/agency dilemma, the study of organizational culture, the different modes of explanation, the micro/macro controversy, and the differnet explanations produced by organizational economists and sociologists, been dealt with?

4) How, and in what ways, is knowledge generated in organization theory related to action? What features must organization theory knowledge have in order to be actionable, and of relevance to the world 'out there'? How have ethical concerns been taken into account in organization theory?
5) What is the future of organization theory? What direction should the field take? What must change in the way research is conducted and key theoretical terms are conceptualized so that organization theory enhances its capacity to generate valid and relevant knowledge?

Zielgruppe

Academics, researchers, postgraduate and advanced students in management studies, organization theory (organizational analysis, strategy, systems, etc.), and sociology, Managers and consultants wishing to follow cutting-edge debate.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tsoukas, Haridimos

Knudsen, Christian

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Management Unternehmensorganisation & Entwicklungsstrategien
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Organisationstheorie, Organisationssoziologie, Organisationspsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: The Need for Meta-theoretical Reflection in Organization Theory

- Part I: Organization Theory as Science

- 1: Lex Donaldson: Organizational Theory as a Positive Science

- 2: Mary Jo Hatch and Dvora Yanow: Organization Theory as an Interpretive Science

- 3: Hugh Willmott: Organization Theory as a Critical Science: Forms of analysis and 'new organizational' forms

- 4: Robert Chia: Organization Theory as a Postmodern Science

- Part II: The Construction of Organization Theory

- 5: William H. Starbuck: The Origins of Organization Theory

- 6: Yehouda Shenhav: The Historical and Epistemological Foundations of Organization Theory: Fusing sociological theory with engineering discourse

- 7: Silvia Gherardi: Feminist Theory and Organization Theory: A dialogue on new bases

- 8: Barbara Czarniawska: The Styles and the Stylists of Organization Theory

- 9: Christian Knudsen: Pluralism, Scientific Progress, and the Structure of Organization Theory

- Part III: Meta-theoretical Controversies in Organization Theory

- 10: Michael Reed: The Agency/Structure Dilemma in Organization Theory: Open doors and brick walls

- 11: Andreas Georg Scherer: Modes of Explanation in Organization Theory

- 12: William McKinley and Mark A. Mone: Micro and Macro Perspectives in Organization Theory: A tale of incommensurability

- 13: Richard Swedberg: Economic Versus Sociological Approaches to Organization Theory

- 14: Joanne Martin: Meta-theoretical Controversies in Studying Organizational Culture

- Part IV: Organization Theory as a Policy Science

- 15: Chris Argyris: Actionable Knowledge

- 16: Karl E. Weick: Theory and Practice in the Real World

- 17: Richard P. Nielsen: Organization Theory and Ethics: Varieties and dynamics of constrained optimization

- 18: Iain Mangham: Character and Virtue in an Era of Turbulent Capitalism

- Part V: The Future of Organization Theory

- 19: Gibson Burrell: The Future of Organization Theory: Prospects and limitations

- 20: Stewart Clegg: Managing Organization Futures in a Changing World of Power/Knowledge

- 21: Arie Y. Lewin: The Future of Organization Theory: Beyond the selection-adaptation debate

- 22: Marta B. Calas: At Home from Mars to Somalia: Recounting organization theory

- 23: Haridimos Tsoukas: New Times, Fresh Challenges: Reflections on the past and the future of organization theory

Über Autor(innen)

Haridimos Tsoukas is the George D. Mavros Research Professor of Organization and Management at ALBA in Greece, and Professor of Organization Theory and Behaviour at the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, UK. Previous positions held include Lecturer at Warwick Business School (1990-5), and Associate Professor at the University of Cyprus.

Christian Knudsen is a Research Fellow at Copenhagen University and Århus Business School, Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School, Visiting Professor at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Stanford University.