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Large contemporary organizations seem to be in an almost continual state of change. Whether in public or private organizations, managers are trying to implement new organizational forms, introduce new procedures or systems, or change the attitudes of employees. Such reforms often yield disappointing results, and so new reforms are deemed necessary. In this book, Nils Brunsson considers why reform takes place. He looks at why reforms occur when they do, why they propagate certain ideas to the exclusion of others, and what their consequences are. He emphasizes the role of social institutions, fashions, and hope. He argues that reform represents not only change but also stability, and that a fa...
Based on a series of empirical studies spanning several years, this book explores the ways in which organizations produce ideology and how the tension between ideology and action can actually benefit organizational legitimacy and survival. Through interviews with managers and analysis of numerous organizations, the author examines the roles that individuals play in legitimizing the role of institutions and how the relationship between action and politics within institutional environments determines their structure and policies.
A growing number of organizations are meta-organizations; rather than individuals they have other organizations as their members. This comprehensive book explains, in-depth, the unique way in which meta-organizations function, how they differ from organizations with individual membership, and how they are crucial agents in the process of globalization. Göran Ahrne and Nils Brunsson combine the fields of organization theory and international relations in a new way. They portray a theory based on insights from organization studies that is also used to explain and understand international organizations. This theory creates new possibilities to analyze meta-organizations such as the EU and the ...
Describes the organizational aspects of contemporary society, explaining how organization occurs not only inside formal organizations, but also outside and among them.
This book collects a wide range of the most important writing on decision-making by one of Europe's leading organization theorists, brought together in one volume for the first time, with an introduction from the author.
10 The implicit effects of reform -- Decentralization -- The power shift -- Legitimation -- Education and ideologies -- Reforms as roller-coasters -- Reforms as symbolic accomplishments -- 11 Reform as a learning process -- Accounting reform -- Reform as learning -- Closed or open learning processes? -- 12 Reform and power -- Reformers as agents -- Reform as opinion-building -- References -- Index
Decisions and the complexity of decision-making are central topics in several social science disciplines, including those of social psychology, political science and the study of organizations. This book draws on insights from all of these disciplines and provides a concise overview of some of the most intriguing and salient observations and arguments in the research about decision-making. The book first deals with basic decision making logics and applies them to both individual and organizational decision making. The book then deals with consequences of decisions and the complications of making decisions in a political context, where many individuals and organizations are involved.
Decision-making is one of the defining characteristics of modern organisations. This work collects together the most important writing on decision-making by Nils Brunsson, one of the leading European organisational theorists.
Hypocrisy - the practice of incorporating different organizational structures, processes and ideologies for internal and external use - is an important feature of viable organizations in modern societies. It is a natural and effective way of achieving organizational legitimacy in a world where organizations are exposed to an increasing number of inconsistent and conflicting norms and demands. Legitimacy, the book suggests, is secured by conflict rather than by unity, and by dealing with problems rather than by providing solutions.