Organization Studies

Scholars hold different views about whether organizations consist of things or processes and about variance or process methods for conducting research. By combining these two dimensions, we develop a typology of four approaches for studying organizational change. Although the four approaches may be viewed as opposing or competing views, we see them as being complementary. Each approach focuses on different questions and provides a different — but partial — understanding of organizational change. We argue that coordinating the pluralistic insights from the four approaches provides a richer understanding of organization change than any one approach provides by itself.

In this master thesis, the question is explored of how complexity theory can inform and challenge the study of organizations. Complexity theory researches complex social and natural systems and the phenomena to which they give rise, such as emergence, adaptiveness, self-organization and complexity. It has been suggested that (human) organizations are complex systems, being composed of many actors which, through local interactions, generate emergent behavior on the level of the organization as a whole. If this is true, it challenges many of the – implicit - assumptions we hold when thinking and writing about organizations. Drawing on complexity scholars and organization theorists such as Ralph Stacey, Paul Cilliers, and Edgar Morin, I analyze and critically evaluate (1) How complexity theory has been used in organizations studies so far (2) What theoretical and ethical consequences the insights from complexity theory hold for the way we think about organizations (3) What a theory of organization rooted in complexity studies could look like (4) How professionals working with organizations can develop an attitude that allows them to better deal with complexity in their practice. I conclude that complexity theory has important consequences for the way we think and work in organizations, proposing an approach which is not aimed at reducing complexity for those involved, but at engaging it from an attitude which is both modest and reflective.

My thesis was awarded with the Leo Polak Thesis Prize 2014 (second prize).

Indice
Introduzione©7
1. La negoziazione delle estetiche organizzative©9
1.1. Negoziazione, aggregazione e discriminazione©9
1.2. Estetica organizzativa al plurale©14
1.3. Estetica come consapevolezza metodologica©17
1.4. Se l’estetica non viene data per scontata©18
2. Giudizio estetico, organizzazione e comunità
di pratiche©27
2.1. Estetica ed etica organizzativa©28
2.2. Estetica tra organizzazione e comunità di pratiche©34
2.3. Estetica e potere nell’organizzazione©41
3. Performance e burocrazia©47
3.1. Principi estetici del teatro e vita organizzativa©49
3.2. Performance artistica e organizzazione©55
3.3. Che cosa rimane della performance organizzativa?©63
4. Arte, estetica e creatività organizzativa©71
4.1. Creatività dell’organizzare tra arte e design©71
4.2. Estetica organizzativa come emancipazione©81
5. Sociologia dei sensi e approccio estetico©88
5.1. Sensi e pratica sociale nell’organizzazione©90
5.2. L’odore dell’organizzazione©103
Conclusioni©112
Bibliografia©114

"Since its very inception, social work has been considered an organizationally based profession, with the majority of its workforce employed within formal organizations. Whether in nonprofit, for-profit, or governmental agencies, the practical realities of human service organizations are a central element of professional social work. This book explores the climate and culture of these agencies and provides essential information for surviving and thriving in this setting. It prepares students for their future careers so that they will feel empowered in their work and be able to fulfill their responsibilities toward organizational, community, and social change. Using real-life examples, the authors examine the internal structures of management, financing, and supervision and discuss common conflicts between agencies and professionals. The book’s straightforward tone and practical advice make it an asset to anyone entering human service organizations.

This new edition contains updated examples, case studies, and references. It also contains valuable information on the effects of the recent financial crisis on human service organizations. Agencies now face increased caseloads and more complex social problems with fewer resources and less money. Understanding how these events have changed the nature of human service organizations will allow students to be better prepared for the work ahead of them.

Features

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Expanded content on the practical aspects of organizational theory and suggestions for developing leadership skills
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Updated examples, case studies, and references throughout the book
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Key points and discussion questions following each chapter
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Updated instructor’s manual available online as a PDF or Word document"

Rationality has since long been one of the central been issues in the discourse of management. Among the classics voices propagating a reductionist rationalism dominated and there are still many contexts where such a view is taken for granted. On the other hand, critics since the times of classics have been arguing for a less linear approach to management and management thinking. However, little attention has been paid to some of the di erent dimensions of management rationality, such as imagination. is paper sets out to address this gap in knowledge through presenting a narrative study focused on a literary character well known for his rationality, Sherlock Holmes, and revealing that this, to many, very epitome of rationality is actually an example of an extended type of rationality, including imagination. Following the ctional protagonist of our study, we consider some aspects of its relevance for management thought and practice.

La relacion entre teoria organizacional y deporte ha presentado normalmente al deporte como un campo interesante en el cual ilustrar el fenomeno organizacional. Esta revision de la literatura se propone examinar los textos academicos e investigaciones que analizan la naturaleza particular de los fenomenos organizacionales en el deporte, especificamente en relacion con la estructura de las organizaciones deportivas. El tema ha sido tratado habitualmente en el contexto de estudios organizacionales mas amplios, principalmente relacionados con el cambio organizacional, el rendimiento organizacional y la configuracion estructural de las organizaciones. Esto significa que los cambios que han transformado el mundo del deporte han afectado no solo a la estructura de las organizaciones deportivas, sino tambien al entorno en el que operan y a las medidas tradicionales para evaluar su eficacia. Examinando la literatura se pueden identificar interesantes parcelas de investigacion sobre la estru...

The idea of process is prominent in organization theory but less so in research. Limited access to organizations is a likely explanation, particularly because process analysis often requires detailed data. Experimental research may provide the necessary data, if only a method is used that allows the situation under study to change as a result of actors’ behaviors. Simulation/gaming meets this criterion. It allows for registration of interaction processes, and it enables experimental control of factors of interests. The method can be used to study organizational processes in detail and to explore how these processes are influenced by organizational strategies, in this article, results of process analysis derived from a simulation/game of a house-building company are presented.

This paper contextualises before summarising a conceptual framework for virtue ethics in organizations that has been developed by drawing upon the work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. Conducting empirical work with this framework is at an embryonic stage and so, having discussed methodological issues, the paper reports on findings from a longitudinal case study-based research project into the private equity owned organization Alliance Boots. It demonstrates the applicability of the conceptual approach and hence the presence of practices and virtues even within capitalist business organisations. It makes theoretical advances particularly in the relationship between internal and external goods. It proposes a mapping for virtue in organizations and uses this to conduct an organizational analysis of Alliance Boots and its predecessor organizations. The paper thus makes both theoretical and empirical contributions to our knowledge in the area of applied virtue ethics.

We reason that agency theory's behavioral assumptions may too closely reflect the US institutional context to explain the governance heritages that exist elsewhere. We propose that what constitutes opportunistic behavior and what can be done to limit it may vary due to differences in national background and formal institutions. We then test the validity of this nationally bounded model using historical sociology analysis of three nations whose corporate governance heritages are believed to differ (USA, Sweden, and France). Specifically, we review their political, cultural, and economic institutions to explore the different ways that their governance practices have evolved and infer causes for these historical variations.

"All play means something" (Johan Huizinga, 1938) In recent decades, sport as a social practice has become relevant in many different spheres: in health, economy, politics, education, work and leisure. The importance of sport transcends beyond the confines of the sport field. Sport is, in essence, is about organization and organizing.

A case study for organizational behavior based on the "DownCity"episode of the fourth season of Kitchen Nightmares.

This document contains (1) a summary of the series (2) a list of the cast of characters (3) an episode recap and (4) two discussion questions suitable for classroom use in undergraduate courses such as organizational behavior and principles of management.

For solutions to the discussion questions, please email "[email protected]" with the phrase "Solution request" in the subject line.

SHOW SUMMARY Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is a television program featuring British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay first broadcast on Channel 4 in 2004 in the UK. An American adaptation of this show entitled Kitchen Nightmares debuted September 19, 2007 on Fox. In each episode, Ramsay visits a failing restaurant and acts as a troubleshooter to help improve the establishment in just one week. Ramsay revisits the restaurant a few months later to see how business has fared in his absence.

Research on the “uses of the past” in organizations and organizing is flourishing. This introduction reviews this approach to integrating history into organization studies and explores its paths forward. We begin by examining the intellectual origins of the approach and by defining why and how it matters to the study of management and organizations. Specifically, we emphasize the performative role of history in making and unmaking organizational orders. Next, we elaborate on how the articles in the special issue demonstrate the uses of the past in shaping organizational identity, strategy, and power. We also highlight how this work contributes to our understanding of the socially embedded character of history in organizations by accounting for the role of materiality, intertextuality, competing narratives, practices, and audiences in how the past is used. We conclude by considering four research frontiers particularly worthy of further exploration—the influence of temporal form, the...

There has been a longstanding interest in human factors and the processes of change in manufacturing organizations. In this article attention is focused on the establishment and contribution of a processual perspective to understanding change. A history of the processual approach is outlined and some of the main defining elements and ongoing developments are appraised. Field data drawn from a study of cellular work arrangements at a mirror manufacturing plant are used to highlight the interlocking and overlapping dynamics between substance, context, and politics. In advocating the benefits of a processual perspective, it is argued that during the uptake of cellular manufacturing there is a mutual shaping between the "technical" and the "social" and in support of this claim, case study data are used to illustrate the complex and ongoing interaction between sociopolitical processes and the substance of change (in this case, the technical reconfiguration into cellular form). It is argued that attempts to distill, separate, identify, and examine discrete elements (such as technology) are misplaced and likely to produce misleading results that undervalue the importance of the contextual and sociopolitical processes that also play a key part as mutual shapers of change.

Este artículo explora el potencial descriptivo que “enganchar”, “llamar la atención” y “acumular” en tanto prácticas feriantes ofrece para el análisis de las relaciones de comercio, comensalidad y organización de la Feria de los Patos. Una concurrida feria dominical de la ciudad de Córdoba reconocida por distintos discursos, entre otros los mediáticos, como un espacio exclusivo de migrantes de origen peruano. La etnografía, sin embargo, nos presenta la Feria de los Patos como un ensamblaje de grupos, intereses y actividades que complejiza esta definición identitaria, y que depende de una noción local de comercio que combina las transacciones económicas con los compromisos afectivos. Al recorrer los puestos y las maneras en que se vinculan familias, comidas y clientes se hace evidente el importante papel de las prácticas de seducción en el establecimiento de relaciones de comercio e intimidad, así como en la organización y sostenimiento de la Feria de los Patos cada domingo.

National models of social action over-privilege continuity and uniformity. They discount change -which they lack the capacity to explain (other than through exogenous shocks) -and neglect diversity within countries. This paper focuses on the national culture model which it argues requires commitment to illogical arguments and to suppositions which are theoretically and empirically untenable. An evaluation of each, it is argued, points to the existence of, and possibilities for, considerable national diversity and change -not pervasive and enduring national uniformity. Reflecting on the model's rise and fall in anthropology, the paper also provides an outline explanation of its retention within organization studies and speculates about its future within that discipline. Downloaded from over space as well as uniformity -the model is compatible with continuity and uniformity but not with variety and variation. Reflecting on the model's rise and fall within the discipline of anthropology, an outline explanation for the model's durability within organization studies is set out. The paper concludes with some speculations about the model's future within organization studies.

May the principle of Sumaq Kawsay be used to discuss about new development and organizational thinkingfrom a Latin American perspective? The objective of this paper is to explore critically a recent developmentand management approach from our own locus of enunciation.Sumaq Kawsay, a Quechua expressioncommonly translated as “well-living” – in opposition to “well-being”- , has been chosen as the leitmotiv byEcuadorian and Bolivian Constitutions in the past two years. The academic and social groups in which the termwas first used, aim to propose a new development model based in Andean cultural roots. This initiative isconsidered as a novel viable alternative for organizing communities, institutions and the nation as a whole.However, since it is recent to academic discussion, it is still in a very early stage, as a motivating idea in thepath of constructing a development model.

This paper will explore the work of members of community learning Disability
Services in attempting to support care organisations to work effectively with
those they serve. Systemic practice has been increasingly recognised as
potentially useful in working with the systems of relationships that from the
context of the lives of men and women with learning disabilities. (See for
example Baum & Lynggaard (eds.), (2006); Jenkins & Parry (2006); Haydon, M.
& Elliott, N. (2004) as well as consulting with organisations more generally
(Campbell, 2000, Cecchin & Stratton, 1991). We will begin by exploring the term
‘systemic’ and what it might mean to work systemically.

Formal and informal organization structure have been described as “opposing poles of a duality”—one which has yet to be fully resolved. The aim of this paper is to detail an approach to treating both structures in a comparable way, an approach that explicitly recognizes core and underlying commonalties. Two distinct  analytical strategies are employed to this end. The first involves a detailed comparison and contrast of selected and relevant structural dimensions drawn from the two research streams. The second strategy involves the application of these dimensions to the study of network graphs of both the formal and informal structures of the same organization at the same point in time.

Palavras-chave: Criatividade. Design Thinking. Organização. INTRODUÇÃO A sociedade pós-industrial prioriza e incentiva a criatividade muito mais do que a sociedade industrial. O processo criativo se relaciona à solução de problemas e as estratégias são advindas de experiências, onde trabalhadores criativos são vistos atualmente como solucionadores de problemas. Neste contexto, considerando que ferramentas de criatividade dão suporte aos processos de desenvolvimento de produtos e contribuem na solução de problemas, Brown (2010) CEO da IDEO apresenta o design thinking como uma metodologia criativa baseada na interdisciplinaridade da equipe. O tema desta pesquisa está inserido na área de conhecimento da Administração e subárea de Gestão e Inovação. Adota-se como problema de pesquisa a seguinte questão: Sob quais aspectos o design thinking se apresenta como ferramenta de criatividade? Visando responder ao problema de pesquisa proposto, esta pesquisa adota como objetivos: (i) elencar conceitos acerca de criatividade, (ii) expor o design thinking como ferramenta de criatividade. Para tanto, utilizou-se o método descritivo e interpretativo, numa pesquisa qualitativa. Com o objetivo de contribuir com o debate, realizou-se uma pesquisa teórica por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica (MARCONI; LAKATOS, 2013). A pesquisa justifica-se pelo interesse da pesquisadora em aprofundar o conhecimento acerca de ferramentas de criatividade para o processo de P&D de novos produtos, pesquisa em desenvolvimento na dissertação do mestrado.

A number of people have claimed that the ongoing financial crisis has revealed the problems with neoliberal thought and neoliberal policies in the 'Atlantic Heartland'. However, if we look at the history of the 'Heartland' economies then it becomes evident that they were never neoliberal in the first place - that is, the economic policies and discourses in these countries did not follow neoliberal prescriptions. /We Have Never Been Neoliberal/ explores this divergence between neoliberal theory and 'neoliberal' practice by focusing on the underlying contradictions in monetarism, private monopolies, and financialization. The book finishes by proposing a 'manifesto for a doomed youth' in which it argues that younger generations should refuse to pay interest on anything in order to avoid the trap of debt-driven living.

This article introduces Luhmann’s theory of social systems as a prominent example of communication as constitutive of organization (CCO) thinking and argues that Luhmann’s perspective contributes to current conceptual debates on how communication constitutes organization. The theory of social systems highlights that organizations are fundamentally grounded in paradox because they are built on communicative events that are contingent by nature. Consequently, organizations are driven by the continuous need to deparadoxify their inherent contingency. In that respect, Luhmann’s approach fruitfully combines a processual, communicative conceptualization of organization with the notion of boundary and self-referentiality. Notwithstanding the merits of Luhmann’s approach, its accessibility tends to be limited due to the hermetic terminology that it employs and the fact that it neglects the role of material agency in the communicative construction of organizations.

The current financial and economic crisis has negatively underlined the vital role of multinational companies (MNCs) in our daily lives. The breakdown and crisis of flagship MNCs, such as Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Toyota and General Motors, does not merely reveal the problems of corporate malfeasance and market dysfunction but also raises important questions, both for the public and the academic community, about the use and misuse of the power by MNCs in the wider society, as well as the exercise of power by key actors within internationally operating firms.

For the past 20 years, the attention of human resource specialists and other stakeholders has been drawn to the usage of psychological tests and assessment instruments that give an insight into potential employees' personality, interpersonal style, and their response to stressful situations (Gatewood & Feild, 1998; Ryan & Sackett, 1987).

The book is structured into three parts with the purpose of giving prominence to both the concepts and methods of practice-based studies. The first part consists of five chapters which illustrate what is meant by practice-based theorizing. The second part, which consists of a further six chapters, highlights the key concepts with which to describe and interpret situated practices. The third part of the book comprises four chapters which contain methodological reflections on how to conduct empirical research in workplaces using a practice-based approach.

Why do organizational members derive pleasure from being dishonest? The paper seeks to respond to this question by adopting a psychoanalytically informed approach to the analysis of how individuals perceive their own corruptness. I focus in particular on the Goldman Sachs Abacus deal, a notorious case of corruption concealed behind a facade of legality. Building on the detailed analysis of emails exchanges from within Goldman Sachs, I utilize the Lacanian concept of ‘ideological fantasy’ to discuss how the traders’ narratives bear witness to a certain logic of fantasy that appears to fuel corrupt activities. I also examine the cover-up tactics which were adopted to camouflage the corrupt operations and make them appear licit. Corrupt performances and their cover-up are theorized as forms of self-transgressive jouissance, a simultaneously pleasurable and selfdestructive practice that is needed to sustain and protect the impossible norms of the corporation.

This chapter examines the extent, character, and future potential of the biotechnology industry in Norway. The biotechnology sector is not as closely connected to the historical patterns of Norwegian specialization as aquaculture, aluminum, or oil and gas, which represent the small scale decentralized and the large scale centralized paths within the Norwegian innovation system. Parts of the contemporary biotechnology industry in Norway
have elements in common with high technology engineering, and in the case of marine biotechnology, there are some links with the nation’s long established trajectory of resource-based industry. Moreover, the recent entry of a large number of new firms into Norway’s biotechnology industry has occurred in parallel with the development of a Norwegian venture capital industry.

While interest in art-based interventions is growing rapidly, little is known about the aesthetic, material, and interpersonal mechanisms by which art interventions, and musical interventions in particular, operate. We address this gap by drawing from an in-depth case study of a musical intervention in a professional ice-hockey team in Finland. At the time of the study, the organization faced a serious crisis, having lost 11 sequential games, leading its managers to search for " alternative " means for promoting social cohesion, and subsequently engaging in an arts-based musical intervention. Our findings examine how material objects and collective synchronization rhythms grounded the interpersonal interactions of team members and mediated members' attempts to transform personal subjective experiences into collective collaboration. We draw out the conceptual implications of our findings for understanding, on the one hand, the collective nature of aesthetic processes, and on the other hand, the materially mediated processes of communication. In terms of practical implication, we contribute to understanding the social dynamics and transformative organizational possibilities of artistic interventions that generate value for the organization and its members.

In this paper, we highlight the conditions under which organizations initiate changes in two distinct institutional contexts. While the focus within behavioral research has been on aspiration-driven organizational change, the effect of institutional dynamics on the probability of change has been given limited attention. Pooled cross-sectional data covering the period 1920-2001 in the baseball industry are regressed to examine a set of hypotheses that predict the drivers of organizational change in periods of institutional stability and instability, as well as the impact of these changes on performance. Our findings show that the role of aspiration-driven organizational change diminishes in environments characterized by institutional instability. Rather, mimetic and cognitive pressures pave the ground for responses to institutional dynamics. We also shed light on how the relative stability/instability of the institutional environment heterogeneously influences the implications of behavioral changes for organizational performance.

This paper examines the complex relationship between hospitality and organisations. It is argued that a variety of organisational practices can be understood by considering how hospitality is mobilised and experienced by multiple stakeholders. The paper begins by synthesising existing conceptions of hospitality and outlining its different dimensions. It then goes on to examine how hospitality themes and related issues emerge in, and are thus relevant to, the study of organisations and management. The paper firstly considers how hospitality is extended to or oriented towards external stakeholders and thus mobilised as tactical or strategic enchantment. It is argued that hospitality can be used purposefully to establish power relations and invoke obligations both to conform to organisational norms and to reciprocate. Secondly, the paper considers how hospitality emerges within organisational practices and may be deployed by various stakeholders as an instrument of entrenchment to perpetuate existing norms and hierarchies. However, it is also suggested that practices of hospitality can create alternative organisational spaces and networks, and hospitable acts may thus help to reconfigure power relationships and become focal points of resistance. The paper concludes by reflecting upon emerging questions, challenges and potential avenues for further research and intervention.

A case study for organizational behavior based on the "Initiation" episode of the third season of The Office (S03E05).

This document contains (a) a summary of the series (b) an episode recap and (c) four discussion questions suitable for classroom use in undergraduate courses such as organizational behavior and principles of management.

For solutions to the questions, please email "[email protected]" and place the phrase "Solution request" in the subject line.


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