The Nature Of Organizations

The quality of an organization's top leaders is a critical influence on its overall effectiveness and continuing adaptability. Yet, little current research examines leadership within the context of organizational structure, such as how leaders influence organizational performance in those key moments when an executive's action is critical to driving the organization forward. This book represents a significant contribution to the literature of leadership, combining a contextual approach to organizational leadership with an in-depth treatment of the cognitive, social, and affective dynamics underlying that leadership. The Nature of Organizational Leadership, using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from the work of scholars in both management and psychology, provides a much-need organizational perspective on the problems to confronted by top executive leaders and the requisite behaviors, attributes, and outcomes necessary to lead organizations effectively.

In this book, the editors and a team of distinguished international contributors analyse the nature of organizational capabilities–how organizations do things, use their knowledge base, and diffuse that knowledge in a competitive environment. Dosi is the author and editor of numerous books including Technology, Organization, and Competitiveness (OUP, 1998). He is also one of the editors of the journal Industrial and Corporate Change published by Oxford University Press. Nelson and Winter are recognized as leading proponents of evolutionary perspectives in economics and management. The book includes chapters from David Teece, Keith Pavitt, Benjamin Coriat, and Richard Florida amongst others.

Drawing together an international group of scholars, this book provides fresh and provocative perspectives on boundaries in organizations. The emergence, management and transformation of organizational boundaries is intrinsic to modern organization and poses one of the most persistent and potentially rewarding challenges to researchers and managers alike. The book offers the latest insights into the nature of boundaries, how they may be interpreted and studied, as well as implications for managing. The chapters include theoretical perspectives and cases from Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.