Discuss the ways in which recent work in areas related to organisational theory have challenged or contributed to conventional understandings of the subject.
Organisation theory is the study of people’s behaviour and interaction within an organisation. It consists of a collection of general propositions about organisations.
Pre modern writings were based around managerial principles and not the organisation as a whole. Ancient texts also show the poor relations between worker and leader with low levels of trust and high levels of punishment.
However recent work in areas related to organisation theory can be categorised in to three main perspectives, Modernist, Symbolic-Interpretive and Post-modernist. I will begin by briefly introducing these three main perspectives along with their ontological and epistemological differences. Then I shall move on to talk about how work on social structure has challenged or contributed to conventional understandings of Organisation Theory.
Modernism came about in the Enlightenment period and key theorists such as Immanuel Kant and Descartes attempted to rationalise ideas about the world. They wanted humans to be able to take control of their lives and their environments instead of leaving their lives up to fate and superstition.
Human progress was a key factor in the Modernist perspective and the common debate about whether or not humans know more now than before still stands. They claim that full knowledge requires us to objectively look at the world.
The Symbolic-Interpretive angle came about in the latter part of the twentieth century subsequent to the fall of Colonialism. They argue that the best way to understand an organisation is to look at the wo ...