Wiley.com
Print this page Share

Understanding Organizations

ISBN: 978-0-7456-4428-8
Paperback
224 pages
December 2010, Polity
List Price: US $35.25
Government Price: US $22.56
Enter Quantity:   Buy
Understanding Organizations (0745644287) cover image
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
Other Available Formats: Hardcover

List of Figures and Tables vii

Acknowledgments viii

1 Introducing Organizations 1

What is an organization? 1

The organizational society 8

Key Readings 17

2 Classic Theories of Organizations 19

Weber – bureaucracy and beyond 20

Durkheim and the division of labor in society 28

Karl Marx and the spirit of capitalism 32

Conclusions 37

Key Readings 38

3 Management and Administration 40

How work works 41

Rational systems – Fayol, Ford, Taylor 42

Organizations as human systems 54

Key Readings 60

4 Culture in Organizations 61

What workers want 63

The TVA and the hearts of men 67

What workers feel 69

Bureaucracy as a culture 71

Organizational cultures at work 76

Culture shift 78

Dress for success 81

Conclusions 82

Key Readings 83

5 Organizational Dysfunctions 85

Everyday dysfunction 86

Built-in failures 96

Disasters 99

Key Readings 104

6 Organizations and Environments 105

Defi nitions and assumptions 105

Relations among organizations 111

The neo-institutional model 125

Key Readings 131

7 The Non- profi t Sector 132

Defining the non-profit sector 133

Why is there a non-profit sector? 135

How are NPOs different? 140

Commerce and community at an arts organization 144

The three sectors intersect 145

Key Readings 153

8 Organizing for Social Change 154

Community-based non-profits and the state 155

Social change organizations 161

Key Readings 171

9 What's Next for the Sociology of Organizations? 173

Which way is forward? 173

Organizations are at the heart of sociology 187

Now that you know this . . . 191

Glossary 193

References 198

Index 211

Related Titles

General Sociology

by Miguel A. Centeno, Joseph N. Cohen
by Richard Lachmann
by Daniel Miller, Zuzana Burikova
by Larry R. Salomon, Kim Klein (Series Editor)
Back to Top