Philosophical Organization Theory

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.

What is the relationship between philosophy and organization theory (OT)? This title includes the papers that explore connections between several streams in philosophy and OT. It explores the question: What does a particular philosophy contribute to OT?

When it comes to the field of organization and management theory, a philosophical perspective enables us to conduct organizational research imbued with the attitude of 'wonder'; it helps researchers question dominant images of thought underlying mainstream thinking, and provides fresh distinctions that enable the development of new theory. In bringing together a collection of key essays by Haridimos Tsoukas, this volume explores fundamental concepts, such as organizational routine, that have gained currency in the field, as well as revisiting traditional concepts such as change, strategy, and organization. It discusses organizational knowledge, judgment, and reflection-in-action, and, at the meta-theoretical level, suggests complex forms of theorizing that do justice to the complexity of organizations. The conceptual attention throughout is on process and practice, underlain by performative phenomenology and an emphasis on agents' lived experience. This provides us with the language to appreciate the dynamic character of organizational behaviour, the embeddedness of action, and the complexity of organizational life. The theoretical claims presented in this volume have important implications for practice, insofar as they help retrain our attention; from seeing structures and individuals, we can now appreciate processes, experiences, and practices. A phenomenological attitude makes organization theory more open, more creative, and more reflexive, and this book will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of organization studies.

The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations makes a major contribution to the debate on the status of organizational theory as a discipline. The volume is divided into three sections exploring issues under the headings `theory', `anasis' and `philosophy'. In each, the limitations of `traditional' or `scientific' organizational paradigms are illuminated and new forms of interpretation offered.

Few subjects are more influenced by philosophy than the form of governance that guides and administers public affairs, yet much of the literature about public administration remains silent about this connection. Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach, Second Edition identifies and discusses many of the mos

Managing as a form of human action has an inherent link with philosophy, which is also concerned with choosing the right action and the best way to lead our lives. Management theory and philosophy can join forces in epistemology (the philosophy of knowledge), ethics, and cultural theory. The epistemology of management concerns the question of how management can improve its ability to create knowledge about managing companies and about using management theory in the task of managing. Management ethics investigates the question of what the right management actions are. The cultural theory of management examines how corporate culture can increase the cooperation within the firm and how the cultural surplus value of products and brand management can increase the firm’s value creation in its products. This book introduces the readers to central approaches in this new field, which represents a synthesis of management and philosophical theory.

This exceptional book maps the vast change management landscape, demystifies its complexities, and engages readers with an accessible and balanced style. Through their original evaluation of organizational change philosophies and theories, the authors encourage us to move beyond prescriptive, paradigm-centred theories in order to understand the opportunities that each offers. Philosophies of Organizational Change offers an innovative re-evaluation of the assumptions governing decisions about organizational change. It will command interest and stimulate lively debate from practitioners, students and researchers in organization theory. Ian Palmer, RMIT University, Australia Using an approach similar to Gareth Morgan s Images of Organization, the authors have brought order to influential and highly disparate approaches to organizational change and have done so in a manner that is both well-researched and accessible to readers at many levels. It is a welcome resource for research, teaching and consulting indeed for anyone who wishes to look beyond favoured approaches to organizational change. This lively and up-to-date text will be most useful for students, scholars and scholar-practitioners alike. Julie Wofram Cox, Deakin University, Australia Philosophies of Organizational Change explains the assumptions that drive different perspectives on organizational change management. The book describes and examines the myriad philosophical interpretations of change, revealing how and why managers confront change using so many competing methods. Each philosophy introduces the reader to the key theories used to diagnose organizations and prescribe change interventions. The book critically evaluates the arguments underpinning organizational change approaches and shows how they lead to different techniques and tools for practical change. With its critical examination of current thinking on organizational change approaches, this book will appeal to scholars and researchers in organization theory and organization studies. It will also make an ideal resource for graduate and senior undergraduate students and practitioners looking to deepen their understanding of change interventions.

Diverse philosophies constitute the theoretical ground of the study of the aesthetic side of organization. In fact, there is not a single unique philosophy behind the organizational research of the aesthetic dimension of organizational life. Organizational Theory and Aesthetic Philosophies will illustrate and discuss this complex phenomenon, and it will be dedicated to highlight the philosophical basis of the study of aesthetics, art and design in organization. The book distinguishes three principal "philosophical sensibilities" amongst these philosophies: aesthetic, hermeneutic and performative philosophical sensibility. Each of them is described and critically assessed through the work of philosophers, art theorists, sociologists and social scientists who represent its main protagonists. In this way, the reader will be conducted through the variety of philosophies that constitute a reference for aesthetics and design in organization. The architecture of the book is articulated in three parts in order to provide student and scholars in philosophical aesthetics, in art, in design and in organization studies with an informative and agile instrument for academic research and study.