Key Concepts in Organization Theory (SAGE Key Concepts series) - Hardcover

Cunliffe, Ann L; Luhman, John Teta

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847875521 ISBN 13: 9781847875525

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

Electronic Inspection Copy available for instructors here

From agency theory to power and politics, this indispensable guide to the key concepts of organization theory is your compass as you navigate through the often complex and abstract theories about the design and functioning of organizations. Designed to complement and elucidate your textbook or reading list, as well as introduce you to concepts that some courses neglect, this historical and interdisciplinary account of the field:

- Helps you understand the basics of organization theory

- Allows you to check your understanding of specific concepts

- Fills in any gaps left by your course reading, and

- Is a powerful revision tool

Each entry is consistently structured, providing a definition of the concept and why it's important to theory and practice, followed by a summary of current debates and a list of further reading. This companion will provide you with the nuts and bolts of an understanding that will serve you not just in your organization studies course, but throughout your degree and beyond.

Key concepts include: agency theory; business strategy; corporate governance; decision making; environmental uncertainty; globalization; industrial democracy; organizational change; stakeholder theory; storytelling and narrative research; technology and organization structure.

 

About this title

Review:

'Luhman and Cunliffe have provided a glossary of organization theory terms from agency to storytelling to transaction cost economics. In doing so they provide an important resource to any course on organizations, so students can make their path through the terminological jungle. Each chapter is a rest stop on the journey, providing helpful hints, pointing out the dangers of the terrain and the safest paths to follow' -
Professor David Boje
New Mexico State University

'Luhman and Cunliffe perform a valuable service, helping to capture and make accessible the richness of current organizational theory and behaviour' -
Richard J. Badham, Professor of Management
Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Austrailia

About the Author:

Ann Cunliffe is Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Leeds. She previously held positions at the University of New Mexico, California State University, the University of New Hampshire, USA and the University of Hull, UK. She is also a Visiting Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil and the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Ann’s current research interests lie at the intersection of organizational studies, philosophy and communications, to examine how organizational life, identities and action are shaped in living conversations. In particular, she is interested in exploring how we can engage in collaborative, responsive and ethical ways of managing organizations.  Other interests include: leadership; self-work; sensemaking; collaboration; developing reflexive approaches to management research, practice and learning; and expanding the reach and ‘rigor’ of non-positivist qualitative research. Her recent publications include the co-authored book Key Concepts in Organization Theory with John Luhman (2012), and articles in Organizational Research Methods, Human Relations, Management Learning, the Journal of Management Studies, and Organization Studies. In 2002 she was awarded the Breaking the Frame Award from the Journal of Management Inquiry for ‘the article that best exemplifies a challenge to existing thought’. Ann is currently co Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Management Learning and Consulting Editor of Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. She is a member of 8 international editorial boards, was Division Chair of the Critical Management Studies Division of the Academy of Management (2010) and organizes the biennial Qualitative Research in Management and Organization Conference. She received her PhD. and M.Phil. from Lancaster University, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1847875521
• ISBN 13: 9781847875525
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192