Theories of Organization

Henry L. Tosi's Theories of Organization offers a unique treatment of a broad range of important theoretical approaches to the study of organizations, including a thorough overview of classical theory, institutional theory, population ecology, critical organization theory, and postmodern approaches. Tosi also provides a helpful summary of the work of Chester Barnard, the contributions of James March and Herbert Simon, and economic approaches to organization.

Rather than focusing on specific topics, such as authority, goals, and organizational structure, this unique treatment of organizational theory provides comprehensive coverage of the important variables and relationships in each of a broad range of theories, thus providing the reader with a thorough understanding of each of the theoretical models included.

Key Features:

• Includes excerpts from seminal works and summaries of key theoretical models that form the basis of the field of organization theory
• Features a logical organization, with each of the main sections serving as a summary or abstract of a theoretical framework-including variables and propositions-thus allowing the reader to see the entire theoretical framework and all of its attendant interrelationships
• Provides concepts and methodology that have been class-tested successfully over many years
• Helps readers understand each of the theoretical models included by explaining the variables constituting each theoretical network in a clear, straightforward writing style

Intended Audience: This book is useful as a supplemental text in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in Organizational Theory.

Contents: Part I - Overture Chapter 1 -About Theories of Organization Chapter 2 - Assumptions About the Nature of Social Science and Society - Gibson Burrell and Gareth Morgan Part II - Closed System Rational Models Chapter 3 - The Classical Approach: The Fundamentals of Top Management - Ralph C. Davis Part III - Closed System Natural Models Chapter 4 - The Functions of the Executive - Chester Barnard Part IV - Integrative Approaches to Organization Chapter 5 - Organizations Power and Compliance: Amatai Etzioni's A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations - Robert J. House Chapter 6 - James D. Thompson's Organizations in Action - Donna Goehle Part V - Open System Rational Models Bounded Rationality Chapter 7 - James March and Herbert Simon, Organizations - Henry Tosi Contingency Theories Chapter 8 -Burns and Stalker, The Management of Innovation Chapter 9 - Woodward's Industrial Organization - Donna Goehle Chapter 10 - Organization Analysis: A Sociological Point of View - Charles Perrow Chapter 11. Henry Mintzberg, The Structuring of Organizations - Janice H. Zahrly Economic Approaches Chapter 12-Agency Theory: an Assessment and Overview - Kathleen Eisenhardt Chapter 13 - Theory of Managerial Capitalism - Henry Tosi Chapter 14 The Markets and Hierarchies Program of Research: Origins, Implications, Prospects - Oliver Williamson and William Ouchi Part VI - Open System Natural Models Chapter 15 - Selznick's TVA and the Grass Roots - Henry Tosi Chapter 16 The Population Ecology of Organizations by - Michael Hannan and John Freeman Chapter 17 - The Adolescence of Institutional Theory - W. Richard Scott Part VII - Critical Theory and Post Modernism Chapter 18 Critical Organizational Theory - John M. Jermier Chapter 19 -Past Postmodernism? Reflections and Tentative Directions - Marta Calas and Linda Smircich