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"Organizations deserve more attention than they have hitherto found-above all, a different sort of attention. This may seem a bold assertion given the many ways in which organizations are discussed in everyday communication and in the relevant scientific disciplines. But this is the very reason to concentrate our attention more strongly not on organizations as countable entities but on organization as a process. This is relevant from a theoretical perspective, given that inquiry into the essence of organization seems to have become unproductive (which is typical of questions of essence, indeed of what- questions per se). But a different understanding of organization could prove important for the purposes of practical policy. Precisely because organizations (again in the plural) have become crucial, indispensable to modern life, it could be important to have a better grasp of their "intrinsic logic." Especially if heteronomy-be it subjection to owners or other "masters," to liberal or socialist ideologies, or to representatives of interests that are themselves organized-is increasingly called into question, it could be important to give organizations a conception of themselves that enables them to answer for themselves"--
List of contents
1. Organization theory: the classical constructions; 2. Organization as an autopoietic system; 3. Membership and motives; 4. The paradox of decision-making; 5. Time relations ; 6. Uncertainty absorption; 7. Decision premises; 8. Decision programs; 9. Personnel; 10. The organization of organization; 11. Structural change: the poetry of reform and the reality of evolution; 12. Technology; 13. Organization and society; 14. Self-description; 15. Rationality; Conclusion: theory and practice.
About the author
Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998) ranks as one of the most important German social theorists of the twentieth century. His works have been highly influential in sociology and other social sciences, including organization studies. The significance of organizations for Luhmann can be traced in his biography: at the beginning of his career, he spent almost eight years as a legal expert in public administration, through which he gained professional expertise in the function of organizations. This practice inspired much of his later theoretical work at Harvard's Graduate School for Public Administration, the University for Public Administration at Speyer, the Center for Social Research in Dortmund, where he was head of department, and at the Department for Sociology at Bielefeld University, where he largely refrained from administrative work. This book, which was one of Luhmann's last, can be regarded as his conclusion to over thiry years of research on organized social systems.Dirk Baecker is a Full Professor of Sociology at Witten/Herdecke University in Germany. He is one of the leading experts on Niklas Luhmann's work and has previously edited several translations of Luhmann's books, including Social Systems (1996), Theory of Society (2012), and Introduction to Systems Theory (2012).Rhodes Barrett is a professional translator. He has previously translated two other books by Niklas Luhmann: Risk (1993) and Theory of Society (2012).
Summary
Translated into English for the first time, Luhmann's classic text explores how organizations work; how they should be designed, steered, and controlled; and how they order and structure society. A must-read for scholars and graduate students in organizational theory and sociology.
