This book develops and applies a new approach to the study of the working group and indeed of productive enterprises more generally. Unlike similar studies, in this volume the human is related back to the technological, and it is the socio-technical system as a whole that is the object of study. The work reported in this book shows how alternative modes of work organization can exist for the same technology, giving the possibility of organizational choice.

This volume illustrates the broad range of research based on the garbage can model of organizational choice. This research varies with respect to decision making characteristics addressed, model extensions and integrations proposed, and organizational outcomes of interest. It suggests that the garbage can model is alive and kicking at forty.

Explores decision making in organizations, highlighting the roles of incentive, conflict, power and politics.

Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory is written in response to the neo-classical economic rational choice theories and organizational economic theories which have emerged in the past decade and gained center stage in current organizational analysis.

The Oxford Handbook of Decision-Making comprehensively surveys theory and research on organizational decision-making, broadly conceived. Emphasizing psychological perspectives, while encompassing the insights of economics, political science, and sociology, it provides coverage at theindividual, group, organizational, and inter-organizational levels of analysis. In-depth case studies illustrate the practical implications of the work surveyed.Each chapter is authored by one or more leading scholars, thus ensuring that this Handbook is an authoritative reference work for academics, researchers, advanced students, and reflective practitioners concerned with decision-making in the areas of Management, Psychology, and HRM.Contributors: Eric Abrahamson, Julia Balogun, Michael L Barnett, Philippe Baumard, Nicole Bourque, Laure Cabantous, Prithviraj Chattopadhyay, Kevin Daniels, Jerker Denrell, Vinit M Desai, Giovanni Dosi, Roger L M Dunbar, Stephen M Fiore, Mark A Fuller, Michael Shayne Gary, Elizabeth George,Jean-Pascal Gond, Paul Goodwin, Terri L Griffith, Mark P Healey, Gerard P Hodgkinson, Gerry Johnson, Michael E Johnson-Cramer, Alfred Kieser, Ann Langley, Eleanor T Lewis, Dan Lovallo, Rebecca Lyons, Peter M Madsen, A. John Maule, John M Mezias, Nigel Nicholson, Gregory B Northcraft, David Oliver,Annie Pye, Karlene H Roberts, Jacques Rojot, Michael A Rosen, Isabelle Royer, Eugene Sadler-Smith, Eduardo Salas, Kristyn A Scott, Zur Shapira, Carolyne Smart, Gerald F Smith, Emma Soane, Paul R Sparrow, William H Starbuck, Matt Statler, Kathleen M Sutcliffe, Michal Tamuz , Teri JaneUrsacki-Bryant, Ilan Vertinsky, Benedicte Vidaillet, Jane Webster, Karl E Weick, Benjamin Wellstein, George Wright, Kuo Frank Yu, and David Zweig.

This volume shows how to mitigate attacks on organizational decision-making and predict the impact of attacks on robustness, quality, and timeliness of an organization. Moreover, this book explains how to manage, in real time, the processes of attacking enemy organizations or defending friendly ones. By integrating artificial intelligence, game theory, control theory, management science, organizational science, and cognitive modeling, this resource helps professionals rethink the relations between organization, warfare, and information.

Examining the development of multiple forms of organisation in insurance from a historical and international context, this book relates this history to modern organisation theory. The 13 chapters by expert scholars cover eight major markets that together account for over half of world insurance today.

Colleges and universities are currently undergoing the most significant challenges they have faced since World War II. Rising costs, increased competition from for-profit providers, the impact of technology, and the changing desires and needs of consumers have combined to create a dynamic tension for those who work in, and study, postsecondary education. What worked yesterday is unlikely to work tomorrow. The status quo or bromides such as “stay the course” are insufficient responses in a market that demands creativity and innovation if an organization does not simply wish to survive, but thrive.Managerial responses or top-down linear decisions are antithetical to academic organizations and most likely recipes for disaster. In today’s “flat world”, decision-making for most organizations has become less hierarchical and more decentralized. Understanding this trend is of particular importance for organizations with traditions of shared governance. The message of this book is that understanding organizational culture is critical for those who recognize that academe must change, but are unsure how to make that change happen. Even the most seasoned college and university administrators and professors often ask themselves, “What holds this place together?” The author’s answer is that an organization’s culture is the glue of academic life. Paradoxically, this “glue” does not make things get stuck, but unstuck. An understanding of culture enables an organization’s participants to interpret the institution to themselves and others, and in consequence, to propel the institution forward.An organization’s culture is reflected in what is done, how it is done, and who is involved in doing it. It concerns decisions, actions, and communication on an instrumental and symbolic level. This book considers various facets of academic culture, discusses how to study it, how to analyze it, and how to improve it in order to move colleges and universities aggressively into the future while maintaining core academic values. This book presents updated versions of eight key articles on organizational culture in higher education by William G. Tierney. The new introduction that sets them in the context of current and future challenges will add further value to articles that are already in high demand.

"Debating Rationality is a terrific collection of essays written by an obviously first rate set of scholars. Several recent books have attempted to make similar points, but this volume pushes the ideas in new directions, rather than simply restating what are now established themes."--Roderick M. Kramer, co-author of Trust in OrganizationsDecision makers strive to be rational. Traditionally, rational decisions maximize an appropriate return. The contributors to this book challenge the common assumption that good decisions must be rational in this economic sense. They emphasize that the decision-making process is influenced by social, organizational, and psychological considerations as well as by economic concerns. Relationships, time pressure, external demands for specific types of performance, contractual expectations, human biases, and reactions to unfair treatment alter the decision-making context and the resulting decision outcomes.