Organizations : a systems theory approach
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Organizations : a systems theory approach
Gower, c2013
- : pbk
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Available at 1 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-186) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
From businesses, public administrations, universities and schools, to hospitals, prisons, political parties, or the military, peoples' lives are inextricably bound up with organizations from cradle to grave. Yet we receive little training in how - as members, customers, voters, or patients - to deal with them. In Organizations Stefan KA1/4hl asks and answers many questions. What are these entities that wield such strong influence in our society? What makes them tick? What are our options for intervening, either from within or without? This book explains how organizations function by examining their three central features: their purposes or goals, their hierarchies, and their memberships. The author presents the three aspects of organizations - the display, formal, and informal aspects, explaining them in metaphorical terms as faAades, machines, and games. Acknowledging that the seminal systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is not easily accessible, Professor KA1/4hl presents Luhmann's organizational concept in a succinct and user-friendly form that will be readily grasped by a practitioner audience and provides new insights in this ambitious theory.
Table of Contents
About the Author, 1. Organizations: What Are They, Actually?, 2. Membership, Goals, and Hierarchies, 3. Machines, Games, and Facades: The Three Aspects of an Organization, 4. Beyond the Iceberg Metaphor: The Possibilities and Limitations of Communicating about Organizations, Annex: A Somewhat Longer Justification for a Brief Introduction into the System Approach, References, Index
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