Organization and bureaucracy : an analysis of modern theories / Nicos P. Mouzelis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mouzelis, Nicos P., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Organizational sociology.

Bureaucracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London, [England] ; New York, New York : Routledge, 2017.

Summary:

The American Journal of Sociology says of this book "Mouzelis knows and handles the literature well and accurately brings the reader up to the early sixties. A summarizer, synthesizer, and historian of modern theories, he serves his novice well. The more initiated student of formal organizations will appreciate the critiques of his favorite theorists: Mouzelis cuts clean and bold. Along with order, he does add critical insight to his borrowed materials." This book is a carefully integrated and very straightforward guide to the labyrinth of theory on organizational phenomena, and surveys the most important approaches to the study of organizations and the manner in which these approaches are interrelated. The author's interest is in showing the successive stages of theory generation and development in the two major traditions of thought on this subject, thereby providing a coherent overview of the field, a method for systematically investigating it, and an unusually broadening supplement to the standard treatment of organizations in undergraduate and graduate courses. The author discusses the writings of such theorists as Marx, Weber, and Michels who, from a very wide perspective, tried to assess the impact of large-scale bureaucracy on the power structure of modern society. He also examines the other tradition of organizational writings that starts with Taylor and the movement of scientific management. Finally, an analysis is made of recent theoretical trends that indicate a certain convergence of the bureaucracy and the managerial lines of thought. In emphasizing the conceptual frameworks that underlie organization theory and in showing the dynamics of theory progression, the author provides students with invaluable assistance in understanding the levels of theoretical analysis, the variables to be taken into consideration, and the manner

in which these variables may be accounted for in a systematic manner.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Acknowledgements page

Introduction

PART ONE: THE STUDY OF BUREAUCRACY

I: THE CLASSICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF BUREAUCRACY

1 The Marxist position

2 Weber's political sociology

3 Bureaucracy and oligarchy

4 Some critical remarks

II: THE IDEAL TYPE OF BUREAUCRACY

1 Some comments on the characteristics of bureaucracy

2 The mode of construction of the ideal type

3 The modern uses of the term 'bureaucracy'

4 Final considerations

III: THE POST-WEBERIAN THEORIES OF BUREAUCRACY

1 The conceptual framework

2 The 'dialectics' of bureaucracy

3 The empirical re-examination of the 'classical' problems

4 Critical remarks

PART TWO: THE MANAGERIAL TRADITION

IV: TAYLORISM AND FORMAL THEORIES OF ADMINISTRATION

1 The main features of Taylorism

2 Criticism

3 Formal theories of administration

4 The general framework of the 'universalist' theories

5 Some critical remarks

6 Conclusion

V: THE 'HUMAN RELATIONS' APPROACH TO THE ORGANISATI0N

1 Hawthorne and the evolution of empirical research in industry

2 The various subschools

3 The evolution of the human relations school as a whole

4 Criticism

VI: ORGANISATION THEORY: DECISION-MAKING IN ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXTS

1 Decision-making and the rational aspects of behaviour

2 The social psychology of organisational decision-making

3 Decision-making and organisational structure

4 Empirical 'content' and methodology

5 Criticism

PART THREE: CONVERGING TRENDS

VII: TOWARDS A BROADENING OF SCOPE

1 Theoretical convergence

2 The organisation as a social system

3 The organisation in terms of power and conflict

4 Concluding remarks

CONCLUSION.

1 Theory of organisations: an overall view

2 Theory of organisations and the problem of values

3 Theory of organisations and levels of analysis

4 Theory of organisations and the comparative approach

5 Theory of organisations and history

6 The relevance of theory

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed August 1, 2017).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-351-50128-3

OCLC:

993772827