Editing Organizational theory (section)

{{Short description|Sociological study of social organizations}}
{{Distinguish|Organization theory (Castells)}}
{{Sociology}}
{{Related|[[Organization studies]]}}
'''Organizational theory''' refers to a series of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social [[organization]]s. Organizational theory also seeks to explain how interrelated units of organization either connect or do not connect with each other. Organizational theory also concerns understanding how groups of individuals behave, which may differ from the behavior of an individual. The behavior organizational theory often focuses on is goal-directed. Organizational theory covers both intra-organizational and inter-organizational fields of study.

In the early 20th century, theories of organizations initially took a rational perspective but have since become more diverse. In a rational organization system, there are two significant parts: Specificity of Goals and Formalization. The ''division of labor'' is the specialization of individual labor roles, associated with increasing output and trade. [[Modernization theory|Modernization theorist]] Frank Dobbin wrote that "modern institutions are transparently purposive and that we are in the midst of an extraordinary progression towards more efficiency." [[Max Weber]]'s conception of [[bureaucracy]] is characterized by the presence of impersonal positions that are earned and not inherited, rule-governed [[decision-making]], [[professionalism]], [[command hierarchy|chain of command]], defined responsibility, and bounded authority. [[Contingency theory]] holds that an organization must try to maximize performance by minimizing the effects of various environmental and internal constraints,<ref>{{cite book |last1=R. Jones |first1=Gareth |title=Organizational Theory, Design and Change |date=2013 |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |location=Harlow, England |isbn=978-0-273-76560-8 |edition=7 |url=https://industri.fatek.unpatti.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/085-Organizational-Theory-Design-and-Change-Gareth-R.-Jones-Edisi-7-2013.pdf |access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> and that the ability to navigate this [[variety (cybernetics)#Law of requisite variety|requisite variety]] may depend upon the development of a range of response mechanisms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Achterberg |first1=Jan |last2=Vriens |first2=Dirk |title=Organizations |chapter=Specific Design Principles: de Sitter's Organizational Structures |year=2010 |pages=228–230 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-14316-8_7 |publisher=Springer Berlin |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-14316-8_7 |isbn=978-3-642-14315-1 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>

[[Dwight Waldo]] in 1978 wrote that "[o]rganization theory is characterized by vogues, [[Homogeneity and heterogeneity|heterogeneity]], claims and counterclaims."<ref>[[Dwight Waldo|Waldo, Dwight]]. 1978. "Organization Theory: Revisiting the Elephant." ''[[Public Administration Review]]'' 38(November/December). p. 597</ref> Organization theory cannot be described as an orderly progression of ideas or a unified body of knowledge in which each development builds carefully on and extends the one before it. Rather, developments in theory and descriptions for practice show disagreement about the purposes and uses of a theory of organization, the issues to which it should address itself (such as supervisory style and organizational culture), and the concepts and variables that should enter into such a theory. Suggestions to view organizations as a series of logical relationships between its participants have found its way into the theoretical relationships between diverging organizational theories as well,<ref>{{cite web |title=Modern Organization Theory. Edited by Mason Haire. |url=https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/39/1/90/2227162?login=false |publisher=Oxford Academic |access-date=5 April 2023}}</ref> as explains the interdisciplinary nature of the field.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Interdisciplinary organization as a basic academic unit? |date=2021 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0950422220956951 |publisher=SAGE Journals |doi=10.1177/0950422220956951 |access-date=5 April 2023 |last1=Yang |first1=Liu |last2=Albats |first2=Ekaterina |last3=Etzkowitz |first3=Henry |journal=Industry and Higher Education |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=173–187 |s2cid=225236696 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>