"Organizational theory refers to a series of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations."
The study of how organizations operate, including different theoretical perspectives, such as systems theory, contingency theory, and resource dependence theory.
Organization: The study of how individuals and groups behave within an organization in order to achieve certain objectives.
Organizational Structure: The way in which an organization's activities are divided, organized and coordinated.
Organizational Design: The process of creating and adapting an organization's structure in response to changes in environment, strategy and technology.
Culture and Climate: The shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes that characterize an organization, and the extent to which they are supportive and productive.
Power and Politics: How power is distributed and exercised within an organization; how decisions are made and influenced by various stakeholders.
Leadership and Management: The skills, behaviors, and practices that are most effective in leading and managing individuals and groups within an organization.
Motivation and Job Satisfaction: The factors that drive individuals to perform and feel satisfied with their work, and how organizations can create a motivating and fulfilling work environment.
Communication: The processes and methods by which information is shared, exchanged, and interpreted within an organization.
Decision Making: How decisions are made within an organization, including the methods, criteria, and outcomes of different decision-making processes.
Change Management: The planning and implementation of strategies to manage and adapt to organizational change, including resistance to change and how to overcome it.
Organizational Behavior: The study of how individuals and groups behave within an organization, and how that behavior affects organizational performance and effectiveness.
Organizational Behavior: This subfield focuses on the study of individual behavior within organizations, including motivation, attitudes, and communication.
Organizational Culture: This subfield focuses on the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that define an organization's culture and shape its identity.
Organizational Design: This subfield focuses on the process of creating and managing the structure and systems of organizations to achieve specific goals.
Organizational Change: This subfield focuses on the process of managing and implementing change within organizations, including strategies and tactics for managing resistance to change.
Organizational Development: This subfield focuses on improving organizational effectiveness by enhancing the skills and abilities of individuals and teams within the organization.
Human Resource Management: This subfield focuses on managing the human resources of an organization, including recruitment, selection, training, and performance management.
Strategic Management: This subfield focuses on the process of formulating and implementing strategies to achieve an organization's goals.
Leadership: This subfield focuses on the study of leadership within organizations, including leadership styles, traits, and behaviors.
Knowledge Management: This subfield focuses on the creation, sharing, and dissemination of knowledge within organizations to improve organizational effectiveness.
Organizational Theory: This subfield focuses on the study of the structure, functioning, and behavior of organizations as complex systems.
"Organizational theory also seeks to explain how interrelated units of organization either connect or do not connect with each other."
"Organizational theory also concerns understanding how groups of individuals behave, which may differ from the behavior of an individual."
"The behavior organizational theory often focuses on is goal-directed."
"Organizational theory covers both intra-organizational and inter-organizational fields of study."
"Theories of organizations initially took a rational perspective."
"In a rational organization system, there are two significant parts: Specificity of Goals and Formalization."
"The division of labor is the specialization of individual labor roles, associated with increasing output and trade."
"Max Weber's conception of bureaucracy is characterized by the presence of impersonal positions that are earned and not inherited, rule-governed decision-making, professionalism, chain of command, defined responsibility, and bounded authority."
"Contingency theory holds that an organization must try to maximize performance by minimizing the effects of various environmental and internal constraints."
"Dwight Waldo in 1978 wrote that '[o]rganization theory is characterized by vogues, heterogeneity, claims and counterclaims.'"
"Organization theory cannot be described as an orderly progression of ideas or a unified body of knowledge."
"Suggestions to view organizations as a series of logical relationships between its participants have found its way into the theoretical relationships between diverging organizational theories as well."
"as explains the interdisciplinary nature of the field."
"The issues to which it should address itself (such as supervisory style and organizational culture)."
"the concepts and variables that should enter into such a theory."
"Modernization theorist Frank Dobbin wrote that 'modern institutions are transparently purposive.'"
"the ability to navigate this requisite variety may depend upon the development of a range of response mechanisms."
"The interdisciplinary nature of the field."