Abstract
A common theme in much recent work on managerial practice is that, if organizations are to survive the challenges of contemporary economic, technological and social conditions, they need to take on a particular form. The well-structured, bureaucratic corporation, is criticised as rigid, dehumanising and incapable of adapting to the rapid changes of the business environment. The style of thinking that it embodies, mechanistic philosophy or scientific management, is held to be less appropriate than an approach which emphasises decentralization, autonomy and flexibility. Such principles are seen as resting in an organizational form variously characterised as ‘new’ (Drucker, 1988), ‘knowledge-based’ (Quinn, 1992), ‘informated’ (Zuboff, 1988), ‘virtual’ (Harrington, 1991) and even ‘postmodern’ (Bergquist, 1993). Beneath these labels lies a common perception of the adaptable, decentralised organizations which recapitulates Burns’ (1971) idea of the organic type of structure. This, in turn, can be related to the wider organismic metaphor for social activity (Morgan, 1986).
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Kamm, R. (1995). Information Use in the ‘New’ Organization. In: Ellis, K., Gregory, A., Mears-Young, B.R., Ragsdell, G. (eds) Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9883-8_46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9883-8_46
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