Week 3
Lecture 3: Organizational change
Theories of organizations and their consequences
Management
Management = a process of control in which the application of reliable
techniques leads to the achievement of indisputable desirable ends.
Assumes
An objextive rational (science-based) relationship between means and
ends
That common, shared goals can be set
Criticism
Relationships between means and ends hard to establish
Usually no concencus about goals
, Management theories: social practices in which means are deployed to
reach ends
Core tasks managers
Rational profession: construction, selection, evaluation and
implementation of procedures to reach shared organisational goals
Representative capital: control workforce to reach higher production
Political actor: mobilise influence in battle over contested ends and
means
Magic/ institurional actor: muddling through uncertainty
Vision of organizational change
Rational profession: needed for optimal ‘fit’ between organisation and
environment - through rational strategizing
Representative capital: needed in capitalist competition arrangements -
‘logic’ of capitalist dependencies
Political actor: change is the consequence of political battles in and
around the organization
Magic / institutional actor: change is the ‘ritual’ of modern management
/ often an optical illusion: no diversity but similarity (isomorphism)
Which theory is better?
Better’ is context-dependent. Which theorie provides the best action
repertoire? • E.g. for management practice Marxist theory usually too
abstract
Rational profession theory still most common but weak empirical
evidence • Mostly a normative theory: “it should go like this”. And a
hindsight rationalisation: “we did it in a logical manner”
Remain alert: which theory are you using (implicitly); what would you
do from another paradigm?
Remain critical towards literature: which paradigm is being used here?
Lecture 3: Organizational change
Theories of organizations and their consequences
Management
Management = a process of control in which the application of reliable
techniques leads to the achievement of indisputable desirable ends.
Assumes
An objextive rational (science-based) relationship between means and
ends
That common, shared goals can be set
Criticism
Relationships between means and ends hard to establish
Usually no concencus about goals
, Management theories: social practices in which means are deployed to
reach ends
Core tasks managers
Rational profession: construction, selection, evaluation and
implementation of procedures to reach shared organisational goals
Representative capital: control workforce to reach higher production
Political actor: mobilise influence in battle over contested ends and
means
Magic/ institurional actor: muddling through uncertainty
Vision of organizational change
Rational profession: needed for optimal ‘fit’ between organisation and
environment - through rational strategizing
Representative capital: needed in capitalist competition arrangements -
‘logic’ of capitalist dependencies
Political actor: change is the consequence of political battles in and
around the organization
Magic / institutional actor: change is the ‘ritual’ of modern management
/ often an optical illusion: no diversity but similarity (isomorphism)
Which theory is better?
Better’ is context-dependent. Which theorie provides the best action
repertoire? • E.g. for management practice Marxist theory usually too
abstract
Rational profession theory still most common but weak empirical
evidence • Mostly a normative theory: “it should go like this”. And a
hindsight rationalisation: “we did it in a logical manner”
Remain alert: which theory are you using (implicitly); what would you
do from another paradigm?
Remain critical towards literature: which paradigm is being used here?
