Changing organizations : business networks in the new political economy / David Knoke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knoke, David.

Series:

Foundations of social inquiry

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Business networks--United States.

Business networks.

Strategic alliances (Business)--United States.

Strategic alliances (Business).

United States.

United States--Foreign economic relations.

International economic relations.

Physical Description:

xxi, 474 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, 2001.

Summary:

In Changing Organizations David Knoke examines the formation of intra- and inter-organizational networks and their impact on the fates of employees, companies, and communities. He explores how the network perspective -- when used in conjunction with ecology, insitutionalism, power and resource dependence, transaction cost economics, organizational learning, and evolutionary theories -- contributes to a more comprehensive explanation of organizational transformations. Written in an accessible narrative style for advanced undergraduate students in sociology, public policy, and business management courses, it draws heavily from contemporary cases to illustrate key concepts. Knoke also offers readers a careful exposition of basic structural and network concepts and principles. This text is well suited for courses in sociology of organizations, business organizations/management, and public policy/administration.

Contents:

1 Generating Change 1

What Happened to Big Blue? 2

Organizational Structures and Environments 5

Forces Driving Changes 7

Plan of the Book 35

2 Theorizing About Organizations 37

Theoretical Elements 38

Five Basic Organization Theories 41

3 Resizing and Reshaping 74

How Many Business Organizations? 76

Organizational Size 83

Entries and Exits 87

Which Organizations Create New Jobs? 90

What Forms of Organizations? 92

Why Did the Multidivisional Form Spread? 100

Corporate Merger Waves 110

Refocused Organizations 117

4 Making Connections 120

Varieties of Interorganizational Relations 121

Varieties of Alliance Networks 128

Trust Relations 150

Alliance Formation and Outcomes 156

5 Changing the Employment Contract 164

The Traditional Employment Contract 166

Eroding Firm Attachments 170

The New Employment Contract 177

High-Performance Workplace Practices 179

Penetration Problems 190

Automotive Lean Production 194

High-Performance Impacts 196

The Trouble with Teams 200

6 Investing in Social Capital 204

Networked Organizations 205

Mentoring Proteges 214

Networking Fundamentals 217

A Small Firm Example 223

Network Outcomes 227

Social Capital 231

7 Governing the Corporation 244

Power and Authority 245

A Political-Organization Model 248

Legal Theories of Corporate Governance 249

Nexus of Contracts and Stakeholder Theories 252

Board Rules and Realities 256

Executive Pay Politics 261

Farewell to the Chief 276

Institutional Investors Are Revolting 279

8 Struggling in the Workplace 287

Social Movements Inside Organizations 289

Eroding Unionization 295

Legalization of the Workplace 303

Employee Ownership 315

9 Influencing Public Policies 319

Power Structure Theories 321

Proliferating Political Organizations 324

Mobilizing Member Resources 332

Influencing Public Policies 334

10 Learning to Evolve 362

Chaos and Complexity Thwart Predictability 364

Evolutionary Alternatives 368

National Innovation Systems 372

Organizational Learning 377

Population-Level Learning 382

Innovator Organizations 385.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 407-459) and index.

ISBN:

0813334535

OCLC:

44818396