Organizations

How - as members, customers, voters or patients - do we deal with organizations: public administrations; universities and schools; hospitals; prisons; political parties; or the military? The systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is among the twentieth century's seminal scientific achievements, commensurate perhaps only with Einstein's theory of relativity, Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, or Freud's analysis of the unconscious. While systems theory is not easily accessible, the subject of organizations offers an opportunity to gain insight into the fecundity of this approach. This book is the first in which Luhmann's organizational theory and an introduction to systems theory have been presented in such brief and succinct form and will be readily grasped by a new audience. The author of Organizations argues that, in future, the elaborate conception that systems theory has put forward will be the standard that other theoretical approaches to explaining organizations will have to meet.

Informationen zum Autor Stefan Kühl studied sociology, historical science and economics at the University of Bielefeld, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Université Paris-X-Nanterre, and the University of Oxford. He is a professor of organizational sociology at the University of Bielefeld and one of the leading system theorists working in the field of organizational science. He works as an organizational consultant for Metaplan, a consulting firm based in Princeton in the USA, Paris, Hamburg and Zürich. Klappentext From businesses, public administrations, universities and schools, to hospitals, prisons, political parties, or the military, peoples' lives are inextricably bound up with organizations from cradle to grave. Yet we receive little training in how - as members, customers, voters, or patients - to deal with them. In Organizations Stefan Kühl asks and answers many questions. What are these entities that wield such strong influence in our society? What makes them tick? What are our options for intervening, either from within or without? This book explains how organizations function by examining their three central features: their purposes or goals, their hierarchies, and their memberships. The author presents the three aspects of organizations - the display, formal, and informal aspects, explaining them in metaphorical terms as façades, machines, and games. Acknowledging that the seminal systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is not easily accessible, Professor Kühl presents Luhmann's organizational concept in a succinct and user-friendly form that will be readily grasped by a practitioner audience and provides new insights in this ambitious theory. Zusammenfassung How - as members, customers, voters or patients - do we deal with Organizations: public administrations; universities and schools; hospitals; prisons; political parties; or the military?The systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is among the twentieth century's seminal scientific achievements. Inhaltsverzeichnis About the Author, 1. Organizations: What Are They, Actually?, 2. Membership, Goals, and Hierarchies, 3. Machines, Games, and Façades: The Three Aspects of an Organization, 4. Beyond the Iceberg Metaphor: The Possibilities and Limitations of Communicating about Organizations, Annex: A Somewhat Longer Justification for a Brief Introduction into the System Approach, References, Index...

Autorentext
Stefan Kühl studied sociology, historical science and economics at the University of Bielefeld, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Université Paris-X-Nanterre, and the University of Oxford. He is a professor of organizational sociology at the University of Bielefeld and one of the leading system theorists working in the field of organizational science. He works as an organizational consultant for Metaplan, a consulting firm based in Princeton in the USA, Paris, Hamburg and Zürich.

Klappentext

From businesses, public administrations, universities and schools, to hospitals, prisons, political parties, or the military, peoples' lives are inextricably bound up with organizations from cradle to grave. Yet we receive little training in how - as members, customers, voters, or patients - to deal with them. In Organizations Stefan Kühl asks and answers many questions. What are these entities that wield such strong influence in our society? What makes them tick? What are our options for intervening, either from within or without? This book explains how organizations function by examining their three central features: their purposes or goals, their hierarchies, and their memberships. The author presents the three aspects of organizations - the display, formal, and informal aspects, explaining them in metaphorical terms as façades, machines, and games. Acknowledging that the seminal systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is not easily accessible, Professor Kühl presents Luhmann's organizational concept in a succinct and user-friendly form that will be readily grasped by a practitioner audience and provides new insights in this ambitious theory.

Zusammenfassung
How - as members, customers, voters or patients - do we deal with Organizations: public administrations; universities and schools; hospitals; prisons; political parties; or the military?The systems theory developed by sociologist Niklas Luhmann is among the twentieth century's seminal scientific achievements.

Inhalt
About the Author, 1. Organizations: What Are They, Actually?, 2. Membership, Goals, and Hierarchies, 3. Machines, Games, and Façades: The Three Aspects of an Organization, 4. Beyond the Iceberg Metaphor: The Possibilities and Limitations of Communicating about Organizations, Annex: A Somewhat Longer Justification for a Brief Introduction into the System Approach, References, Index