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Title: Organizations Evolving by Howard Aldrich ISBN: 0-8039-8919-9 Publisher: Sage Publications Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $43.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Towards the umbrella framework
Comment: Aldrich is a leading figure in organizational sociology. The organization is, with no doubt, a domain of sociology. But organization is not the object only sociology, especially because the company is the dominant form of organization under capitalism. The firm has been the object of various disciplines. Since the firm is an organization, if one studies the company, he participates in organizational studies. Organizational sociology has also zeroed in on the firm, rather than other form of organization. So now organizational sociology is not much discernible from economic sociology in the empirical research. Both have focused on the firm and the market as research domain. Most universities in the States offer both specialties as one course rather than separate course. Moreover, such a blending of field is intensified as more and more researchers from various disciplines take the firm and market as their research agenda. we¡¯ve seen the ascendance of organizational economics over past decades, breaking decades of ignorance of firm in economics. One-of-a-kind move could be spotted even in political science. ¡®Varieties of Capitalism¡¯ (2001), edited by Peter Hall and David Soskice, for instance, is a example of such a trend. In this book they examine the influence of national regulatory system on the business system and competitive advantage. Now the organizational study is increasingly interdisciplinary affair in social sciences. The more come into play, the more divergent the field become. Aldrich identifies seven perspectives in organizational studies: ecological approach, institutionalism, interpretive approach, organizational learning approach, resource dependence approach, transaction cost economics, and evolutionary approach. The diversity of approaches is not only tolerable but also necessary, given the interdisciplinary nature of organizational studies. But seven perspectives in only one field is too much. So Aldrich attempts to launch the overarching framework based on evolutionary approach, while preserving the value of other approach. The advantage of evolutionary approach lies in its simplicity. It consists of only 4 principles: variation, se4lection, retention, and struggle. Each relates to the other with if-then clauses. But they are abstract in nature. The specific accounts of events should be provided by other niche approaches. Evolution is the name of process, not of substance or what takes place in the field. This is the overall architecture of the book. It seems Aldrich succeeds in the ambitious project to provide the umbrella framework linking competing perspectives under one roof. In doing so, he reviews tons of researches to validate the effectiveness of his proposal. It seems to work with empirical studies. But the devil lies in details. He dumps too many into the limited space in cursory manner. So reader has some difficulty in following through the lines. Overall framework of the book is reasonable, and that it must be the breakthrough in organizational studies. But reading through it is another matter. It¡¯s a painful travail.
Rating: 5
Summary: A tour de force
Comment: Howard Aldrich's ORGANIZATIONS EVOLVING is truly a tour de force. Those who know his 1979 ORGANIZATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS are familiar with his sharp insights into the field of organizations and his lucid writing. In ORGANIZATIONS EVOLVING, Aldrich develops a compelling, broadly evolutionary, perspective on organizations that integrates the best ideas from diverse organizational theories. He makes the best, most sophisticated, case yet for an evolutionary perspective on the organization.
Rating: 5
Summary: this book explains how and why organizations evolve.
Comment: this book will revolutionize the way sociologists look at (evolving) organizations...lots of examples and an excellent organization of topics.
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Title: Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (5th Edition) by W. Richard Scott ISBN: 013016559X Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 09 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $66.00 |
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Title: The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective (Stanford Business Books) by Jeffrey Pfeffer, Gerald R. Salancik ISBN: 080474789X Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis by Walter W. Powell, Paul J. Dimaggio ISBN: 0226677095 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: October, 1991 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: The New Institutionalism in Sociology by Mary C. Brinton, Victor Nee, Robert K. Merton ISBN: 0804742766 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Twenty-First-Century Firm : Changing Economic Organization in International Perspective by Paul DiMaggio ISBN: 0691116318 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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