For Positivist Organization Theory

Download or read book For Positivist Organization Theory written by Lex Donaldson and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1996-08-06 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organization theory is presently dominated by theories of strategic choice and politics. Managers are seen as exercising a wide choice and maximizing their personal self-interest through complex power struggles. This stimulating volume challenges these views, arguing instead that managerial decisions are determined by the situation and serve the interests of the whole organization. Showing that organizations follow laws which generalize across organizations of many different kinds in many different national cultures, the book rejects the model of organizational configurations or types. The author offers a critical assessment of leading organization theorists such as Henry Mintzberg, John Child, Michael Hannan and Danny Miller - and also of the satirist Northcote Parkinson.