Product Description

Organization Theory offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to the study of organizations and organizing processes. It encourages an even-handed appreciation of the different perspectives contributing to our knowledge of organizations and challenges readers to broaden their intellectual reach. Organization Theory is in three parts: * Part I introduces the multi-perspective approach. * Part II presents many ways in which organizations can be analyzed - as entities within an environment, as social structures, technologies, cultures and physical structures, and as the products of power and political processes. * Part III explores applications of organization theory to the practical matters of organizational design and change, and introduces the latest perspectives on the horizons of organization theory, including complex adaptive systems, organizational identity theory, critical realism, network theory, aesthetics, and organizational learning. Online Resource Centre For lecturers: PowerPoint slides, exam questions, teachig suggestions, a discussion forum, case studies and exercises with instructor's notes. For Students: annotated web links, and discussion questions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142798 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 394 pages

John Hassard, University of Keele
"For once, a textbook that does justice to the richness of organizational analysis. Required reading for everyone interested in the growing irrationality of organizations."

Review
Organization Theory is unique among textbooks in organization and management. It is theoretically acurate, giving a comprehensive and up-to-date view of this dynamic, diverse and quickly developing field. In addition, the book is written in such a way that it encourages a reflexive stance towards both academic theory and organizational practices. We have used the book extensively in our undergraduate education, and it has proved to enrich students' understanding of this important field of theory and practice. (Rolf Lind, Stolkholm University School of Business )

I very much welcome this second edition of Organization theory. As a textbook it is not only comprehensive and instructive but also original and evocative - it makes a significant contribution to the study of organizations. In particular the book demonstrates convincingly the advantages of taking a multiperspectival approach to organization theory. Taking the student through the complex literatures of modern, symbolic, and postmodern analysis it offers the reader a repetoire of new ways of understanding complex organisations. In my view it is a must for students of organization. (John Hassard, Manchester University )

The instant success of Mary Jo Hatch's Organization Theory when it was first published in 1997 demonstrated that this text was badly needed... But even the best textbooks age, and therefore it is a great relief to see that Mary Jo Hatch continues to update her book. This is a livig text, which reports the most recent developments in organizational theory and practice, and both teachers and students can continue to use it with full confidence. (Barbara Czarniawaska, Goteborg University )

Mary Jo Hatch;s textbook was brilliant the first time it was published. Now, revised jointly with Ann Cunliffe, it is even better. Hatch and cunliffe do not merely summarize major perspectives and trends in organization theory for the reader, They provide an organizing framework for making sense of it perplexing density, while, at the same time, being sensitive to the forced synthesis any integrative summarizing may entail.. This is a marvellous textbook. (Haridimos Tsoukas, Athens Laboratory of Business Administration (ALBA) and Warwick University )

Textbooks are supposed to icover the ground so that the student is introduced to a field or to an area. ncovering is much harder; uncovering involves the bringing in of innovative and marginalized knowledge to a field through exposure to perspectives that refresh and challenge it. Students who read this book should open their minds; by contrast, many textbooks in organization theory erect strict boundaries and manage foreclosures on contexts, politics and public issues. Theycover things. Hatch and Conliffe cover - but they also uncover. (Stewart Clegg, University of Technology, Sydney )

Karl E. Weick, University of Michigan, USA
"Mary Jo Hatch's book belongs in the select company of Scott, Perrow, and Morgan as a definitive rendering of organizational theory ... Hatch loves ideas almost as much as she loves choosing the right words to enliven them. The field of organizational studies needs this book as do those who want to position themselves for the 21st century."

Customer Reviews

Good overview of territory
Have to say I disagree with the idea this is a poor book. A lack of pretty pictures a poor academic text does not make.....

I have found it a helpful starting point for linking together disparate viewpoints in what is a complex and often contentious area. A number of organisational theories are compared and contrasted, and what is particularly handy is the extensive bibliographies provided at the end of each chapter.

Whether for undergrad or postgrad work (the latter for which I found it a handy jumping off point into other areas), I recommend it.

in such mass of information the structure of the book is weak
It will not help you to sistemize any ideas. No charts, plots and tables inthe book, what makes it too difficult to read. No colorful pages add boring feeling when you read this book.

Verdict: boring, no clear structure and no effect of you knowledge about OB. By the way book was edited only 3 times sicnce 1997 over the past decade what means there was not continues improvemant of the product.