essay on theories of organization

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Organization Theory

Introduction.

Collections of Readings
Thematic Collection
Communities
Structural Contingency Theory / Information-Processing Theory
Configuration Theory / Archetype Theory
Behavioral Theory of the Firm
Organizational Learning Theory
Resource Dependence Theory
Institutional Theory
Ecology Theory
Transaction Cost Economics
Agency Theory
Network Theory
Critical Theory
Identity Theory
Managerial and Organizational Cognition
Sensemaking Theory
Stakeholder Theory
Imprinting Theory
Paradox Theory
Practice Theory
Organizational Design
Organization Environments
Interorganizational Relationships
Organization Routines
Organization Culture
Organizational History
Hybrid Organizations
Organizational Reputation
Goals, Effectiveness, and Performance
Decision Making
Entrepreneurship
Technology and Innovation
Organizational Change
Power, Politics, and Conflict
Organizations and Professions
Corporate Political Activity
Organizational Corruption/Wrongdoing
Grand Challenges

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

Corporate Globalization
Organization Design
Organizational Learning and Knowledge Transfer
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Organization Theory by Royston Greenwood , Bob Hinings , John Amis LAST REVIEWED: 01 March 2021 LAST MODIFIED: 23 June 2021 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0024

Organization theory is concerned with the relationship between organizations and their environment, the effects of those relationships on organizational functioning, and how organizations affect the distribution of privilege in society. A central concept is organizational design (sometimes termed “organizational form”). Organizational design is important because the ability of societies to respond to various problems depends on the availability of organizations with different capabilities. Organization theorists are thus interested in the range of organizational designs; their governance, capabilities (e.g., the ability to innovate, learn, and adapt), processes (e.g., decision making), and consequences (and for whom); and how new organizational designs arise and become established. Recently, organization theorists have been applying their insights to “grand challenges” and in making an impact on practice (see online ). The authors of this bibliography would like to acknowledge the suggestions and constructive advice of Tony Briggs, David Deephouse, Jennifer Jennings, Sally Maitlis, Evelyn Micelotta, Mia Raynard, Wendy Smith, and Tyler Wry.

Organizational theory texts may cover the breadth of the field (see, e.g., Scott and Davis 2007 , Tolbert and Hall 2009 ) or focus on particular themes, such as organizational design or organizational change (see, e.g., Daft 2021 , Jones 2010 ), or adopt a particular approach (see, e.g., Hatch 2018 ). Most textbooks are revised and published as new editions every two or three years. A very different introduction to the literature is provided in Pugh and Hickson 2007 , which is organized around the works of important scholars (not all of whom are organization theorists).

Blomberg, Jesper. Organization Theory: Management and Leadership Analysis . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2020

Analyzes organzations through four theoretical frameworks: structural, human resources, power, and symbolic. Includes online resources, including powerpoint slides.

Daft, Richard L. Organization Theory and Design . 13th ed. Boston: Cengage, 2021.

Focuses on organizational design, managing contextual relationships, and managing dynamic processes. Provides examples and research alongside time-tested principles.

Jones, Gareth R. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change: Text and Cases . 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010.

Looks at organizational design and change.

Hatch, Mary Jo. Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives . 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Students are introduced to the range of organization theory perspectives and challenged to explain, explore, and evaluate those perspectives by drawing on their own experiences as well as the book’s diverse practical examples

Pugh, Derek S., and David J. Hickson. Writers on Organizations . 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2007.

DOI: 10.4135/9781483329628

Unlike most texts, this one is not organized by topic or perspective. Instead, the text summarizes the works of a range of major scholars.

Scott, W. Richard, and Gerald F. Davis. Organizations and Organizing: Rational, Natural, and Open System Perspectives . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

Revision of Scott’s Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1981), which ran to five editions.

Tolbert, Pamela S., and Richard H. Hall. Organizations: Structures, Processes, and Outcomes . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

Based on classical and modern-day theory, this text examines the impacts organizations have on individuals and society.

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login .

Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here .

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Organization Theory

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Description
Aims and Scope
Editorial Board
Abstracting / Indexing
Submission Guidelines

Organization Theory (OT), published in collaboration with the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), is a global, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes the best theory and review work in the domain of organization and management studies. Watch the Organization Theory launch video here .

Broad in Scope

OT publishes theory papers on different subjects within organization and management studies, including work within subject areas such as strategy, organizational behavior, work and employment relations, human resource management, international business, general management, public administration, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, ethics, and gender and diversity.

The journal offers a platform for theory development and theory-related discussions that significantly deepen our understanding of different subject areas; critiquing or deepening received views, and identifying significantly new ways of researching and understanding a particular subject.

OT is European at heart, but global in coverage and reach. The journal aims to cover and disclose to a broad audience the intellectual breadth of theoretical work on organizations and organizing that is carried out around the world.

Look to OT for the best theoretical work in each of these subject areas as well as for work that transcends the boundaries of particular subjects to speak to a broader audience.

A Range of Perspectives and Styles

OT is a multi-disciplinary journal, rooted in the social sciences, inspired by diversity and paradigmatic plurality, and open to commentary and debate.

Given this pluralistic ethos, papers can adopt different theory building styles and can be written up as research articles or perspective-taking essays, in both longer and shorter formats.

Besides regular articles, OT publishes review papers and a series of commissioned essays that speak to the bigger theoretical topics and debates in the field (see our Submission Guidelines for more details on these journal related features).

OT is an open access journal. Publication in the journal is free for authors as the article processing charge (APC) for accepted articles is waived by Sage and/or financed by EGOS.

Organization Theory aims to promote the understanding of organizations, organizing, and the organized in and between societies, through the publication of double-blind peer-reviewed, top quality theoretical papers.

Organization Theory publishes work in all areas of organization theory, including papers that develop new substantive theories or offer theoretical extensions, papers on the history and philosophy of management and organizational theory, meta-theoretical inquiries into the core underpinnings of existing theories, critiques of theories and theoretical developments, and theory-driven reviews of important areas of research.

As a theory journal, OT does not publish papers that draw on empirical data to make data-driven theoretical claims. Such empirical papers are published in Organization Studies – another journal under the auspices of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) – and authors are encouraged to submit their empirical manuscript to this journal.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Organization Theory

Organization Theory (OT) publishes work in all areas of organization theory, including papers that develop new substantive theories or offer theoretical extensions, papers on the history of organization and management theory, meta-theoretical inquiries into the core underpinnings of existing theories, critiques of theories and theoretical developments, and theory-driven reviews of important areas of research.

Given the pluralistic ethos of the journal, papers that are written on a subject can take a variety of forms and lengths. Whatever the format and style in which papers are written, the general hallmark of papers published in OT is that (a) a theoretical argument is coherently developed and laid out; and in a way that (b) significantly contributes to our understanding of organizations and management. Meaningful new implications or insights for theory must be present in all work published in the journal, regardless of whether such implications or insights are derived from the development of novel ideas into new theory, from a critique of received theory, or from a conceptual synthesis of recent advances. Submissions should therefore also clearly signal and communicate the nature of their theoretical contribution in relation to the existing literature.

Open Access
Article processing charge (APC)
What do we publish? 3.1 Aims & Scope 3.2 Article types 3.3 Writing your paper
Editorial policies 4.1 Peer review policy 4.2 Authorship 4.3 Acknowledgements 4.4 Funding 4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Publishing policies 5.1 Publication ethics 5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
Preparing your manuscript 6.1 Formatting 6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics 6.3 Supplemental material 6.4 Reference style 6.5 English language editing services 6.6 Identifiable Information
Submitting your manuscript 7.1 How to submit your manuscript 7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts 7.3 ORCID 7.4 Information required for completing your submission 7.5 Permissions
On acceptance and publication 8.1 Sage Production 8.2 Online publication 8.3 Promoting your article
Further information
Appealing the publication decision

OT is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics .

Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ot to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal . For any questions related to OT, please reach out to the journal’s editorial team at [email protected] .

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of OT will be reviewed. As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights to the work, it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

OT may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

1. Open Access

Organization Theory is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs.

2. Article processing charge (APC)

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.

3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to OT, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope .

3.2 Article types

Submissions to OT fall in three categories: regular full-length submissions (‘theory article’); review papers (‘review article’), and shorter, essay-style contributions to a debate or conversation regarding a theoretical problem or issue (‘controversies and conversations’).

Before submitting your manuscript to OT, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope section.

3.2.1 Theory Article

OT publishes theory articles on different subjects within the broad domains of organizations (in their environment), processes of organizing, and the organized, including work within subject areas such as strategy, organizational behavior, work and employment relations, human resource management, international business, general management, public administration, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, ethics, and gender and diversity.

Submissions to OT may feature different approaches to theory development, including approaches centred on proposition development, process theorizing, or on a theoretical critique and synthesis of the existing literature.

Each submission should therefore explicitly signal its theoretical aims and position and maintain congruity with this approach throughout the paper. The openness of OT to different styles and approaches, at the same time, encourages authors to make their articles accessible to the journal’s wide-ranging readership. Whilst submissions may be focused on a particular specialized area or set of ideas, they should be written in such a way that our general readers are able to access and understand the ideas and arguments presented.

3.2.2 Review Article

OT routinely publishes papers that provide a comprehensive and theory-driven review of a particular research field. These review articles provide a theoretically-informed review and integration of an important area of research, and offer significant implications for subsequent theory development and research.

In other words, formative reviews published in OT have to be strongly theory-led, either in the design of the review (e.g., comparing and synthesizing different streams of theorizing and research on a topic), or in the implications for theory derived from the study.

Because of this specific expectation, authors are asked to clearly elaborate the theoretical contributions of their review and the strong implications they see for further research in an area.

The submission and review processes for these reviews are identical to those for regular submissions.

3.2.3 Controversies and Conversations

Essays in this section of OT feature commentary and debate on important theoretical topics in the field. Sets of authors may engage in a conversation about a topic in a complementary manner, for example by highlighting alternative but compatible viewpoints or ways of researching a subject. In other instances, the communication between the two sides may take the form of a debate around competing viewpoints (controversies), but similarly with the constructive aim of fostering new or revised ways of thinking about and researching organizations.

The initiative for the development of a controversies and conversations contribution may come from the editors, the journal’s editorial board, or through an informal proposal from authors to a member of the editorial team. On receiving such a proposal, the editorial team will evaluate the proposal and, if it is approved, will ask for a more formal proposal which describes the relevance, scope and contribution of the essays, including the different positions of the respective authors on the issue or topic and the proposed outcome of the conversation or debate.

Proposals for this section are received on a rolling basis, and can be formally submitted via the manuscript central system. When preparing a proposal, we advise authors to read previous examples of debates featured in the journal to get a good understanding of what is required.

Please visit our Sage Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual and/or video abstracts.

3.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published , plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance your article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

3.3.1 Making your article discoverable

For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the editors, and only those papers that meet the scientific and editorial standards of the journal, and fit within the aims and scope of the journal, will be sent for outside review.

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. OT adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties. To ensure anonymity in the double-blind refereeing process, the author’s name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript.

As part of the review process, reviewers provide comments and feedback to the author as well as recommendations to one of the Co-Editors-in-Chief or any of the Associate Editors, who will make the final decision on the manuscript.

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.

Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors;
The reviewer is based at the funding body of the study or material on which the paper is based;
The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. gmail/yahoo/hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).

Editors or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in OT. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

4.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools .

4.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.

4.3.1 Third party submissions

Third party submissions – that is, instances in which an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s) – are not considered for publication in OT.

4.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

4.4 Funding

OT requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

OT encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway .

5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway .

5.1.1 Plagiarism

OT and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editors at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Organization Theory publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses . The standard license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page . Alternative license arrangements are available at the author’s request.

6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

Submissions should generally not exceed 11,000 words (including references), although in some cases longer versions may be accepted.
Manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of 300 words (maximum), and by 3-10 keywords from the OT ScholarOne keyword list.
Within the manuscript, text should be formatted as double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman type. Tables may be single spaced and in smaller fonts, if necessary, for formatting. Use footnotes sparingly.
Organize the manuscript by using primary, secondary, and tertiary headings (see a recent OT issue for examples), rather than numbered headings.

6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

Add each table or figure on separate pages at the end of the manuscript after the references, rather than inserting these directly in the text. Include a reference in the manuscript (i.e., Insert table 1 about here) in the appropriate place.

Please ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway .

For additional guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

6.3 Supplemental material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files .

6.4 Reference style

OT adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

6.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

6.6 Identifiable Information

Where a journal uses double-anonymised peer review, authors are required to submit:

A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymised material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.

See https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-anonymized-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.

7. Submitting your manuscript

7.1 How to submit your manuscript

OT is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ot to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help .

7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract of 300 words (maximum) and 3-10 keywords from the OT ScholarOne keyword list to accompany your article. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID . ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized. We encourage all authors and co-authors to link their ORCIDs to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. We collect ORCID iDs during the manuscript submission process and your ORCID iD then becomes part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

7.4 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed on the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.5 Permissions

8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been checked for Sage Production, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online within an average of 30 days.

8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit, or by email to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time it will be completely free to view and download for all.

8.3 Promoting your article

After publication, you can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. In addition, Sage is partnered with Kudos, a free service that allows authors to explain, enrich, share, and measure the impact of their article. Find out how to maximize your article’s impact with Kudos .

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The Power of Organizations: A New Approach to Organizational Theory

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Organizations are all around us: government agencies, multinational corporations, social-movement organizations, religious congregations, scientific bodies, sports teams, and more. Immensely powerful, they shape all social, economic, political, and cultural life, and are critical for the planning and coordination of every activity from manufacturing cardboard boxes to synthesizing new drugs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To understand our world, we must understand organizations. This book defines the features of organizations, examines how they operate, traces their rise over the course of a millennium, and explains how research on organizations has evolved from the mid-nineteenth century to today. It shows how almost all contemporary research on organizations fits into three general perspectives: demographic, relational, and cultural. It also offers constructive criticism of existing research, showing how it can be remade to be both more interesting and influential. The book examines how we can use existing theories to understand the changes wrought by digital technologies, and it argues that organizational scholars can and should alter the impact that organizations have on society, particularly societal and global inequality, formal politics, and environmental degradation.

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Contingency Theory of Organizations

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Otenyo, E.E. (2018). Contingency Theory of Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20928-9_58

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103 Organizational Theory Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Organizational theory is a branch of management that focuses on analyzing and understanding how organizations operate and function. It encompasses various perspectives and approaches to studying organizations, including structural, behavioral, and contingency theories. Students studying organizational theory often need to write essays on various topics within the field. To help inspire and guide students in their writing, here are 103 organizational theory essay topic ideas and examples:

The evolution of organizational theory over time
The role of organizational culture in shaping organizational behavior
The impact of globalization on organizational structures
The relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance
The influence of technology on organizational design
The importance of communication in organizational effectiveness
The challenges of implementing organizational change
The role of power and politics in organizations
The impact of diversity on organizational performance
The relationship between organizational structure and strategy
The role of ethics in organizational decision-making
The significance of organizational learning in today's competitive environment
The role of emotions in organizational behavior
The impact of organizational climate on employee motivation
The relationship between organizational size and structure
The role of organizational identity in shaping employee behavior
The importance of organizational design in achieving strategic goals
The challenges of managing virtual teams in today's globalized world
The impact of organizational change on employee morale
The role of organizational justice in promoting employee satisfaction
The influence of organizational politics on decision-making processes
The relationship between organizational culture and innovation
The role of leadership development in organizational success
The impact of organizational structure on employee engagement
The challenges of managing conflict in organizations
The importance of teamwork in organizational performance
The role of organizational values in shaping employee behavior
The impact of organizational communication on employee engagement
The relationship between organizational structure and employee motivation
The significance of organizational trust in building strong relationships
The role of organizational citizenship behavior in promoting organizational success
The challenges of managing generational diversity in the workplace
The impact of organizational design on employee satisfaction
The importance of emotional intelligence in organizational leadership
The relationship between organizational culture and employee retention
The role of organizational learning in promoting innovation
The influence of organizational climate on employee well-being
The impact of organizational change on employee performance
The challenges of managing cross-cultural teams in a globalized world
The role of organizational identity in shaping organizational strategy
The importance of organizational design in achieving competitive advantage
The relationship between organizational culture and employee engagement
The role of leadership styles in promoting organizational change
The impact of organizational structure on employee empowerment
The challenges of managing resistance to change in organizations
The importance of organizational communication in building trust
The relationship between organizational values and employee behavior
The significance of organizational justice in promoting fairness
The role of organizational politics in decision-making processes
The impact of organizational culture on employee creativity
The challenges of managing virtual teams in a digital age
The role of organizational design in promoting innovation
The relationship between organizational structure and employee engagement
The challenges of managing diversity in organizations
The influence of organizational climate on employee motivation
The relationship between organizational culture and employee satisfaction
The impact of organizational structure on employee performance
The importance of teamwork in promoting organizational effectiveness
The role of organizational values in shaping employee attitudes
The significance of organizational trust in fostering collaboration
The role of emotional intelligence in promoting effective leadership
The challenges of managing change in a rapidly evolving environment
The importance of organizational culture in shaping employee behavior
The role of organizational climate in promoting employee well-being
The relationship between organizational structure and employee retention
The influence of organizational identity on organizational strategy
The significance of organizational learning in promoting innovation
The role of organizational communication in building trust
The importance of teamwork in achieving organizational goals
The relationship between organizational culture and employee empowerment
The role of leadership styles in promoting organizational success
The importance of organizational values in promoting ethical behavior
The role of organizational politics in influencing decision-making processes
The significance of organizational justice in fostering fairness
The challenges of managing virtual teams in a globalized world
The importance of emotional intelligence in effective leadership
The relationship between organizational structure and employee satisfaction

In conclusion, organizational theory is a vast and complex field that offers numerous opportunities for research and exploration. By choosing one of these essay topics or coming up with your own, students can delve deeper into the study of organizations and gain valuable insights into how they operate and function. Good luck with your organizational theory essays!

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Organizational Communication Theories Report (Assessment)

Introduction.

Bureaucracy

Acceptance Theory of Authority

General systems theory, theory x and theory y, functional approach to corporate culture, theory of corporate colonization, the speech-act theory & the learning organization, reference list.

Available literature demonstrates that communication is a central component to the existence of the organization (DuBrin, 2010). Yet, it is a complex process, which generally involves creating, exchanging, interpreting, and storing messages to accomplish common tasks and goals within an enterprise (Conrad, 1994).

This paper purposes to briefly explain some organizational communication theories. Besides, it will provide examples in real-life scenarios and explicate their contexts within the history of the field. As a result, the paper will reveal and analyze all the general theories of organisational communication.

Organizational Communication Theory: Bureaucracy

The Theory of Bureaucracy was developed by German sociologist Max Weber to exemplify an ideal organizational form; that is, an organization exhibiting a high level of formal structure. In terms of communication, the theory assumes as hierarchical approach where each organizational member reports to one above him/her until the communication reaches the top command.

According to the theorists, ideal organizations should assume an impersonal structure and have a clear set of rules not only to control emotional-oriented behaviors of workers that causes them to react irrationally and unpredictably, but also to protect common workers from abuse of power by those in the upper echelons of the structure (Fergusson, 2007).

The United States Military, public service, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations are all examples of bureaucratic organizations.

Bureaucracy comes to organizational communication from the Classical School. It is important to organizational communication because of its effectiveness in strictly controlling workers, ensuring an absolute chain of command and structure, facilitating predictability of behavior in general and, by extension, the performance of the organization, and promoting principles of workplace standardization and specialization (Conrad, 1994; Fergusson, 2007).

This theory was first proposed in 1938 by Chester Barnard in his book The Functions of the Executive . Among his major contributions, Barnard argued “…that the three functions served by the informal organization are (1) communication, (2) maintenance of cohesiveness in the formal organization, and (3) maintenance of feelings of personal integrity and self respect” (Fergusson, 2007, pp 26-27).

Additionally, Barnard provided a “bottom-up” explanation of authority and the communication process, suggesting that executives were merely interconnecting centers in a communication system (Conrad, 1994), and that authority was not vested in those who gave the orders (executive) but on the recognition or non-recognition of authority by subordinates (Ferguson, 2007).

Many academics believe that church-based organizations utilize this theoretical typology as rejection of a communication by the congregation is perceived as denying the authority of the communicator.

This theory comes to organizational communication from the Human Relations School. It is important to organizational communication because it does not only stress the need to acquaint all organizational members with effective channels of communication, but also underlines the importance of formal channels of communication to connect all organizational members, with every individual within the organization reporting to or demonstrating subordination to someone else (Conrad, 1994). Indeed, Barnard also stresses that “lines of communication must be as direct and as short as possible in order to increase the speed of communicating and to decrease distortions” (Ferguson, 2007, p. 27).

This theory originated from biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffly in 1937, but has been extended by other scholars, including Talcott Parsons and Erwin Laszlo. In developing the theory, Ludwig sought to account for the interrelationships in the world around him and to view the world in a holistic way.

For communication scholars, this theory provides the most natural avenue for investigating organizational functions and relationships because it “…views the organization as a system composed of many subsystems whose interdependent and interlocking parts are held together by communication” (Ferguson, 2007, p. 42).

The theory also postulates that the same kind of communication exchanges that occurs within the boundaries of the organization also transpire between the entity and the external environment, with such transactional processes involving the transfer of energy, labor, money, resources or information.

Many researchers believe that the 2008 global financial meltdown was as a result of systems thinking, whereby the housing bubble orchestrated by financial institutions and subprime lending led to the collapse of major global economies.

The theory comes to organizational communication from the Systems School. It is important to organizational communication not only because of highlighting the importance of feedback in any communication agenda, but also due to its capacity to influence researchers to look outside the entity’s boundary for better comprehension of communication exchanges inside the organization (Conrad, 1994; Ferguson, 2007).

This motivational theory was coined by Douglas McGregor based on directly opposing assumptions of human nature. In his theory, McGregor not only underlines the development of self control, promotes creativity, and recognizes people as the greatest asset of the enterprise, but also suggests that workers should be rewarded based on their performance and contribution toward the attainment of goals set by the organization rather than on the basis of individual attainments, and that they should be given a stake in the running of organizational affairs by motivating them and giving them a voice (Ferguson, 2007).

In modern management scene, it is evident that most managers of innovative blue chip companies such as Google and Microsoft use Theory Y in McGregor’s theory to motivate employees through opening up communication channels to spur innovativeness and commitment to organizational objectives.

The theory comes to organizational communication from the Human Resources School (Ferguson, 2007), and its importance lies in its capacity to demonstrate that effective communication and motivation are two sides of the same coin; that is, effective communication rather than external control and threat of punishment is likely to motivate people to work towards the achievement of organizational objectives (DuBrin, 2010).

This approach views culture as an indispensable asset to the organization because it enhances performance unification across the organization. Among the many theorists of this approach, Deal and Kennedy developed the “strong” approach to organizational culture and suggested that strong organizational cultures not only enable workers to comprehend and identify with the work roles and with each other (DuBrin, 2010), but such cultures arise due to a supportive business environment, commitment to shared vision and values, reputable corporate heroes, and the internalization of effective rights, rituals and networks (Conrad, 1994).

Scholars and mainstream commentators are in agreement that world-renowned companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Virgin Atlantic, have been able leverage growth and competitive advantage due to their strong approach to organizational culture.

The theory comes to organizational communication from the Cultural Perspectives. It is important to organizational communication due to presumption that effective communication reflects and creates a distinctive organizational culture, which leverages growth and competitiveness by shaping how work gets done (DuBrin, 2010).

Having originated from Stanley Deetz, the theory purposes to demonstrate how the corporate sector has evolved to become the primary institution of the United States society, and how this sector has succeeded to colonize most facets of our lives, including government, family relations and the media.

The theory presupposes that our capacity to participate in fully functional organizations has been gradually eroded by capitalist bureaucracies that breed passive-employee consumers, and that to revive participation we must expose the ramifications of colonization and work (LittleJohn & Foss, 2009).

In recent times, media organizations such as Fox News and CCN have colonized the lives of most workers, not only reducing them to passive employee-consumers who do not participate in corporate decisions, put also systematically reducing political and workplace participation due to the unobtrusive nature of colonization.

The theory comes to organizational communication from the Critical Perspectives. It is important to organizational communication mainly due to its most basic tenet that organizational communication (re)produces systems of power within the organization that lack any neutrality or randomness with the view to enhance dominant vested interests (LittleJohn & Foss, 2009).

Originally coined in 1975 by British philosopher John Austin, this theory is developed upon the understanding that human existence is defined by the ability to coordinate efforts through the employment of language, as well as the capacity to create images from others to construct reality through words (Barker & Camarta, 1998).

Due to the theory’s presupposition that human beings cannot act without interpreting what is being said by others, it is increasingly used to assist organizations address challenges, issues, and performance gaps within their business departments and with their employees through the concept of learning organizations (Senge, 2006).

It is evident that many technology-based companies such as Dell, Compaq and HP apply this theory not only to leverage creativity and innovativeness, but also to remain ahead of competition through focused and coordinated efforts to construct reality through learning from others.

The theory comes to organizational communication from the Constructivist Paradigm. It is important to organizational communication as it assist stakeholders in learning organizations to realize that reality does not exist independently of the individual, and that learning should take place at all levels of the organization through effective communication and corroboration of members (Barker & Camarta, 1998).

Barker, R. T. & Camarta, M. R. (1998). The role of communication in creating and maintaining a learning organization: Preconditions, indicators, and disciplines. Journal of Business Communication, 25 (4), 443-467.

Conrad, C. (1994). Strategic organizational communication – Towards the twenty-first century . Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

DuBrin, A. J. (2010). Human relations for career and personal success: Concepts, applications, and skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ferguson, S. (2007). Organizational theory and Communication implications. In S.D. Ferguson & S. Ferguson (Eds.), Organizational Communication (2nd ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

LittleJohn, S. W. & Foss, K. A. (2009). Encyclopedia of communication theory, volume 1 . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth Discipline: The art & Practice of the learning organization (2nd ed.). New York: Currency Doubleday.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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Call for Papers - Corporate Purpose and Sustainable Capitalism Conference 2024

1. call for papers - corporate purpose and sustainable capitalism conference 2024.

We're thrilled to announce the call for papers for our upcoming Corporate Purpose and Sustainable Capitalism 2024 poster presentation. Hosted by ISOI at Gies College of Business - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and HEC Paris. The conference will explore new directions in theoretical and empirical work that addresses the development and management of Corporate Purpose and Sustainable Capitalism. It aims to explore the role of corporations in shaping a sustainable future through inclusive, ethical, and environmentally conscious business practices. It will also discuss how individual corporations can integrate a sense of purpose while addressing pressing issues like climate change, diversity, and social inequality. We're actively seeking diverse scholars, with a special focus on junior faculty and doctoral students dedicated to research on corporate purpose and sustainability. While we prefer empirical work, theoretical papers will also be given full consideration. To apply, simply send your 3 to 5-page proposals to [email protected] by April 30, 2024, at 11:59 PM CDT. For complete details, check out the attached document. https://uofi.box.com/s/5wg7uwxs1ezdgzcubzl7573eo7oacrm2

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NPR's 'obsession' with DEI, diversity 'tracking system' scrutinized following veteran editor's bombshell essay

T he bombshell essay penned by a veteran National Public Radio journalist puts a spotlight on what's been called NPR's "obsession" with the left-wing DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) ideology.

Uri Berliner, the senior business editor and a 25-year NPR veteran, went viral for exposing how liberal groupthink has captured the NPR newsroom and drew significant attention to diversity becoming the news outlet's so-called "North Star" following the death of George Floyd in 2020.

"It was an anguished time in the newsroom, personally and professionally so, for NPR staffers. Floyd’s murder, captured on video, changed both the conversation and the daily operations at NPR," Berliner described in a piece published in The Free Press.

NPR EDITOR REBUKES OUTLET'S OWN COVERAGE OF HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP, COVID LAB LEAK AND RUSSIAGATE

Berliner repeatedly cited then-NPR CEO John Lansing, who left the organization last fall after a four-year tenure.

"When it comes to identifying and ending systemic racism, we can be agents of change," Lansing wrote to staff at the time. "Listening and deep reflection are necessary but not enough. They must be followed by constructive and meaningful steps forward. I will hold myself accountable for this."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

An article published by NPR in September 2020 declared DEI "is not a project: it is our work" with Lansing stating, "the leaders in public media — starting with me — must be aware of how we ourselves have benefitted from white privilege in our careers. We must understand the unconscious bias we bring to our work and interactions. And we must commit ourselves — body and soul — to profound changes in ourselves and our institutions."

CREDIBILITY CRISIS: NPR INSISTED COVID ORIGINATED NATURALLY BY DISMISSING LAB LEAK THEORY AS NONSENSE

According to Berliner, Lansing "declared" that diversity of NPR's staff and audience was "the overriding mission, the ‘North Star’ of the organization" and that race and identity had "became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace." Several affinity groups dedicated to various subsets of NPR staffers were also formed, including "MGIPOC (Marginalized Genders and Intersex People of Color mentorship program); Mi Gente (Latinx employees at NPR); NPR Noir (Black employees at NPR); Southwest Asians and North Africans at NPR; Ummah (for Muslim-identifying employees); Women, Gender-Expansive, and Transgender People in Technology Throughout Public Media; Khevre ( Jewish heritage and culture at NPR); and NPR Pride (LGBTQIA employees at NPR)."

NPR also began requiring its journalists to log the "race, gender, and ethnicity," among other traits, of their interviewees and sources in a "centralized tracking system" that monitored diversity.

"I wouldn't have a problem with it if we were also looking at trying to figure out people's perspective, their viewpoint. I didn't love it, but I also think it was very limited. If we were going to do it, let's go all the way," Berliner told The Free Press founder Bari Weiss on her "Honestly" podcast.

NPR HIT WITH MASSIVE LAYOFFS, CANCELS 4 PODCASTS

DePauw University journalism professor Jeffrey McCall told Fox News Digital that tracking sources based on their identity "artificially disrupts the process of sourcing and researching the news."

"A tracking system is certainly designed to chill the reporting process and alter the normal journalism instincts to go where the story can best be told," McCall argued.

"The obsession at NPR on race and diversity post-George Floyd is a microcosm of the destructive impact of DEI," Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson told Fox News Digital. "Rather than focusing on the accuracy of a source's information, the source's race, ethnicity, and other identities were tracked and used to measure reporting performance. The news and reporting mission were inevitably corrupted."

NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin sent a memo to staff Tuesday saying she and her leadership team colleagues "strongly disagree" with Berliner's essay and are "proud to stand behind the exceptional work" of their journalists.

"We believe that inclusion - among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage - is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world," Chapin wrote. "We track sources… so we can expand the diversity of perspectives in our reporting."

While diversity of skin color took priority at NPR, Berliner told Weiss "diversity of outlook" had ultimately fallen by the wayside, pointing to his own stats that found while 87 of NPR's editors were registered Democrats, zero were Republican.

Berliner also acknowledged the irony of NPR's diversity push, which resulted in 2023 with only 6% of its audience being Black and 7% being Hispanic, something he stressed "doesn’t come close to reflecting America" since NPR's audience is "overwhelmingly White and progressive, and clustered around coastal cities and college towns."

NPR did not respond to requests for comment.

Original article source: NPR's 'obsession' with DEI, diversity 'tracking system' scrutinized following veteran editor's bombshell essay

NPR required journalists to log the race, ethnicity and gender of all interview subjects and sources in what Berliner called a diversity-based "centralized tracking system." Getty Images

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We're thrilled to announce the call for papers for our upcoming Corporate Purpose and Sustainable Capitalism 2024 poster presentation. Hosted by ISOI at Gies College of Business - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and HEC Paris. The conference will explore new directions in theoretical and empirical work that addresses the development and management of Corporate Purpose and Sustainable ...
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The bombshell essay penned by a veteran National Public Radio journalist puts a spotlight on what's been called NPR's "obsession" with the left-wing DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) ideology ...