Human nature and organization theory : on the economic approach to institutional organization / Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wagner-Tsukamoto, Sigmund.

Series:

New horizons in management

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Organizational sociology.

Organizational behavior.

Employee motivation.

Psychology, Industrial.

Human behavior.

Physical Description:

xvi, 265 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA : Edward Elgar, [2003]

Contents:

1. A question of method and approach: In search of human nature in organization research? 1

1.1 Beyond realism: Problem dependence and research heuristics 3

1.2 Economic versus behavioral approaches to organization research: A brief introduction 9

1.3 Portraying or not portraying human nature in organization theory: Methodical issues, economic reconstruction and practical relevance 14

2. A non-behavioral economic approach to institutional organization: Contribution-distribution interactions, interest equilibration and the incentive-compatibility of the situation 23

2.1 Theoretical-practical concepts (I): Incentive structures and the analysis of the incentive-compatibility of the situation 24

2.2 Theoretical-practical concepts (II): Capital exchange and the analysis of organizational behavior as capital contribution-distribution interactions 30

2.3 Heuristic concepts (I): Dilemma structures and the situational analysis of nonzero-sum interdependence in social interactions 33

2.4 Heuristic concepts (II): Economic man and the situational analysis of self-interested, utility-maximizing choice 39

3. Behavioral approaches to institutional organization: Towards a 'science of human nature'? 47

3.1 The quest for holism and interdisciplinarity: Behavioral sciences drifting into philosophy 47

3.2 Traditional organizational psychology: The analysis of motivation as a problem of individual behavior 54

3.3 Heuristic aspects of modeling human nature in behavioral research 64

3.4 Effectiveness limits of moral-behavioral organization theory 67

4. Taylor's, Simon's and Williamson's search of organizational economics: Incentive structures, dilemmatic interest conflict and mutual gains 76

4.1 Taylor's scientific management: Between incentive systems and moral appeal 77

4.2 Simon's administrative behavior approach: Between compensation schemes and psychological environment 89

4.3 Williamson's governance approach: Incentive structures and the resolution of the contracting dilemma 100

5. Organizational behavior and capital utilization: Modeling human capital as boundedly rational or as asset-specific? 110

5.1 Taylor's analysis of human capital: Between competence and insufficient mental capacity 110

5.2 Simon's analysis of human capital: Between bounded skillfulness and bounded rationality 117

5.3 Williamson's analysis of human capital: Between human asset specificity and bounded rationality 122

6. Modeling motivation and cognition in organizational economics: Research heuristics or the portrayal of 'human nature as we know it'? 131

6.1 Taylor's heuristic models of motivation and cognition: 'Systematic soldiering', 'natural soldiering' and 'optimum behavior' 132

6.2 Simon's heuristic models of motivation and cognition: 'Individual aims' and 'optimizing behavior' 137

6.3 Williamson's heuristic models of motivation and cognition: 'Opportunism', 'maximizing behavior' and 'economizing behavior' 145

7. The evolution of institutional organization: Economics of environmental change or a behavioral discovery process of 'true' human nature? 158

7.1 Institutional economics, organizational change and environmental change: Modeling interdependence between 'external' and 'internal' incentive structures and capital contingencies 159

7.2 Taylor's sporadic analysis of organizational change in relation to environmental change 167

7.3 Simon's neglected analysis of organizational change in relation to environmental change 173

7.4 Williamson's firm-size-based analysis of organizational change and the assumption of environmental invariance/insignificance 179

8. Concluding discussion: The end of ethics or is economics the better moral science? 192

8.1 On the moral status of organizational economics and its image of human nature 192

8.2 'Interdisciplinary' collaboration between economics and behavioral sciences 206

8.3 Directions for future research 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-253) and index.

ISBN:

1840647140

OCLC:

49903252