Organization Theory And Class Analysis

Encourages the reader to develop a critical approach to organizational analysis, concerned with the application of theory to key issues and questions in the construction of alternative organizations and social formations. Lists of key concepts, examples and discussion questions are included.

`Catherine Casey has written an excellent book that provides a lucid and comprehensive critical analysis of organizations....[It] extends in reach and relevance beyond the specific field of organization studies and the sociology of organizations to encompass broader intellectual developments that have had a significant impact on contemporary sociology and cultural studies′ - Barry Smart, Professor of Sociology, University of Portsmouth `I anticipate that it will prove to be an attractive book in organization studies, industrial sociology and general sociology. I am sure that this will be a book that will make a major impact′ - Mike Reed, Professor of Organization Theory, Lancaster University In this comprehensive and scholarly book, the essential critical strands in organizational analysis are explained. It examines how central traditions have realigned in relation to the challenge of postmodernism and the new reflexive turn in organizational studies. Judicious, innovative and written with the needs of students in mind, this book offers a renewed and revitalized critical accent in organization studies - one that focuses on existing and emerging social tendencies, contestations and struggles. It will be essential reading for senior students of organization studies and sociology.

Understanding of the history and development of organization theory has recently made advances through work emerging on the history of management thought as well as through the institutionalization of critical approaches to organizations and organizational knowledge. This book provides a new reading of the historical development of organization.

In response to the needs of lecturers, the acclaimed Handbook of Organization Studies has been made available as two major paperback textbooks. In this, the first of a two-volume paperback edition of the landmark Handbook of Organization Studies, editors Stewart Clegg and Cynthia Hardy survey the field of organization studies. Studying Organization is an ideal textbook around which to build courses on organization theory and research methodology. Central to the enterprise has been a concern to reflect and honour the manifest diversity of the field, including recognition of the extent to which the very notion of a single field of organization studies is debated. Part One locates the study of organization by reviewing some of the most significant theoretical paradigms to have shaped our understanding. The second part reflects on the relationships between theory and research in organization studies.

This exploration of organizational theory focuses on the genesis of organizations and the conditions for their continued existence. Drawing upon the classic theories of Marx, Weber and Michels as well as more contemporary developments in organizational theory, Abrahamsson presents his unique theory - that organizations are deliberately designed social structures which have been established by a certain person, group or class in order to implement certain goals. The Logic of Organizations focuses on three critical problem areas of organizations: how to make organizations more efficient; how to make organizations more representative of the interests and objectives of their founders; and how to relieve the problems of b