Organiseren in de 21e Eeuw
Docent: Sytze Kingma
Lecture 1: 10 feb 2023
Introduction
A sample of 21st century crises: banking crises, EU crisis with Greece, HST crisis (Fyra),
sports dope crisis, housing associations crisis, higher education crisis, birds-pigs flue, q-fever
in goats, climate crisis, nuclear energy crisis, terror crisis (9/11) and more.
We do not know what the next crisis will look like, when it will strike and how we can
recognize it before it occurs.
Such crisis are systemic and epidemic
Crises reflect system breakdowns, it is not an incident
Are crises primarily economic and political or could these crisis also be
organizational?
Crisis are very instructive, because they tend to reveal the often taken-for-granted and
hidden basic features of organizational systems
Continuity and change or continuous change? Do organizations constitute relatively stable
structures, which sometimes change? Or are 21st century organizations better conceived as
continuously changing, in which case stability is the exception rather than the rule.
Organizations change because of internal dynamics, interaction with each other and because
of interaction with society (institutions and markets and other organizations)
Therefore it is better to speak of ‘organizing’ instead of ‘organizations’
What do we mean with organizing and how das organizing relate to society?
Non-formal, non-organizational modes of ordering are institutions, networks, markets,
associations, clubs and societies, technologies, independent professional workers, cultures,
kinship relations, social movements and entrepreneurship.
Course objectives:
Understanding organizations as decided orders along varies dimensions
Learn to see societies as increasingly organized
Problematize technological, network and institutional tensions and pressures
Reflect on literature and relevant cases
The major themes are risk and crisis management, CSR and social movements, technology
and virtualizing organizations, identity and gender and the future and resilience.
1
,Lecture 2: 10 feb 2023
Organization and Society
Problem Ahrne & Brunsson (2011): there is a need to reconceptualize organization vis-à-vis
‘institution’ and ‘network’ to better understand the origins and consequences of order in the
world of organizations.
What are we talking about when we speak of organizing and organization? And how does
organization relate to ‘institution’ and ‘network’?
Main elements of organization, complete organizations possess all these elements whereas
partial organization do not possess all of these attributes:
Membership
Hierarchy
Rules
Monitoring
Sanctions
Institutions are social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience, are composed
of cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative elements that, together with associated
activities and resources, provide stability and meaning to social life (Scott, 2001).
Czarniawska (2009) stated that institutions are an (observable) pattern of collective
action, justified by a corresponding norm
A network consists of informal structures of relationships linking social actors, which
may be persons, teams or organizations
Organization as a dominant process. Meyer &
Bromley (2006): ‘a worldwide explosion of
organizations and organizing’, in numbers, domains
and intensity.
Perrow (1991): the increasing dominance over social
life of large organizations (and their satellites and
branches), banks are a clear example of
formalization, professionalization and
standardization.
Characteristics of contemporary formal organization (Meyer & Bromley, 2013): identity with
sovereignty, citizenship and control and information and means-ends purposiveness with
ends, means and resources.
The worldwide expansion of organization (Meyer & Bromley, 2013): the significance of
actorhood, increasing number of organizaitios, more fields are organized, organizations are
formalized and organizational reach is expanding
Are organizations becoming omnipotent and exploitative ‘Big Brothers’?
2
, Increasing competition and exchange, increasing efficiency and effectiveness,
capitalists interests and globalization?
However, the rate of organization exceeds the rate of economic growth by far, thus expanded
organizing as a cultural and political process. The ‘organization’ is as a dominant cultural
formation with a key role for education.
Features of modern organizations (Meyer & Bromley, 2013)
Expansion of social horizons, world society is perceived as a central locus of our
activity
Cultural rationalization, scientization, empowerment and education
Environmental rationalization, professionalization, standardizations and (ac)countings
Authority, actorhood, solving inconsistencies, bounded anatomy
Networking, learning, flexibility, professionalism, social responsibility, distributed
power, reflexivity, teamwork and increasing uncertainties
Remember, globalization produces a world of agentic, empowered, rationalized, standardized,
complex and professionally managed organizations.
Complete and partial organizing for corporate social responsibility
From corporate centered to corporate oriented, focus on various organizational
elements like membership
Weaknesses in monitoring and sanctioning
The importance of ‘CSR standards’ and ‘CSR partnerships’ (compare environmental
rationalization), CCO or communication constitutes organization
3
Docent: Sytze Kingma
Lecture 1: 10 feb 2023
Introduction
A sample of 21st century crises: banking crises, EU crisis with Greece, HST crisis (Fyra),
sports dope crisis, housing associations crisis, higher education crisis, birds-pigs flue, q-fever
in goats, climate crisis, nuclear energy crisis, terror crisis (9/11) and more.
We do not know what the next crisis will look like, when it will strike and how we can
recognize it before it occurs.
Such crisis are systemic and epidemic
Crises reflect system breakdowns, it is not an incident
Are crises primarily economic and political or could these crisis also be
organizational?
Crisis are very instructive, because they tend to reveal the often taken-for-granted and
hidden basic features of organizational systems
Continuity and change or continuous change? Do organizations constitute relatively stable
structures, which sometimes change? Or are 21st century organizations better conceived as
continuously changing, in which case stability is the exception rather than the rule.
Organizations change because of internal dynamics, interaction with each other and because
of interaction with society (institutions and markets and other organizations)
Therefore it is better to speak of ‘organizing’ instead of ‘organizations’
What do we mean with organizing and how das organizing relate to society?
Non-formal, non-organizational modes of ordering are institutions, networks, markets,
associations, clubs and societies, technologies, independent professional workers, cultures,
kinship relations, social movements and entrepreneurship.
Course objectives:
Understanding organizations as decided orders along varies dimensions
Learn to see societies as increasingly organized
Problematize technological, network and institutional tensions and pressures
Reflect on literature and relevant cases
The major themes are risk and crisis management, CSR and social movements, technology
and virtualizing organizations, identity and gender and the future and resilience.
1
,Lecture 2: 10 feb 2023
Organization and Society
Problem Ahrne & Brunsson (2011): there is a need to reconceptualize organization vis-à-vis
‘institution’ and ‘network’ to better understand the origins and consequences of order in the
world of organizations.
What are we talking about when we speak of organizing and organization? And how does
organization relate to ‘institution’ and ‘network’?
Main elements of organization, complete organizations possess all these elements whereas
partial organization do not possess all of these attributes:
Membership
Hierarchy
Rules
Monitoring
Sanctions
Institutions are social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience, are composed
of cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative elements that, together with associated
activities and resources, provide stability and meaning to social life (Scott, 2001).
Czarniawska (2009) stated that institutions are an (observable) pattern of collective
action, justified by a corresponding norm
A network consists of informal structures of relationships linking social actors, which
may be persons, teams or organizations
Organization as a dominant process. Meyer &
Bromley (2006): ‘a worldwide explosion of
organizations and organizing’, in numbers, domains
and intensity.
Perrow (1991): the increasing dominance over social
life of large organizations (and their satellites and
branches), banks are a clear example of
formalization, professionalization and
standardization.
Characteristics of contemporary formal organization (Meyer & Bromley, 2013): identity with
sovereignty, citizenship and control and information and means-ends purposiveness with
ends, means and resources.
The worldwide expansion of organization (Meyer & Bromley, 2013): the significance of
actorhood, increasing number of organizaitios, more fields are organized, organizations are
formalized and organizational reach is expanding
Are organizations becoming omnipotent and exploitative ‘Big Brothers’?
2
, Increasing competition and exchange, increasing efficiency and effectiveness,
capitalists interests and globalization?
However, the rate of organization exceeds the rate of economic growth by far, thus expanded
organizing as a cultural and political process. The ‘organization’ is as a dominant cultural
formation with a key role for education.
Features of modern organizations (Meyer & Bromley, 2013)
Expansion of social horizons, world society is perceived as a central locus of our
activity
Cultural rationalization, scientization, empowerment and education
Environmental rationalization, professionalization, standardizations and (ac)countings
Authority, actorhood, solving inconsistencies, bounded anatomy
Networking, learning, flexibility, professionalism, social responsibility, distributed
power, reflexivity, teamwork and increasing uncertainties
Remember, globalization produces a world of agentic, empowered, rationalized, standardized,
complex and professionally managed organizations.
Complete and partial organizing for corporate social responsibility
From corporate centered to corporate oriented, focus on various organizational
elements like membership
Weaknesses in monitoring and sanctioning
The importance of ‘CSR standards’ and ‘CSR partnerships’ (compare environmental
rationalization), CCO or communication constitutes organization
3
