{"product_id":"information-and-organizations-california-series-on-social-choice-and-political-economy-19-9780520067813","title":"Information and Organizations California Series","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn ambitious new work by a well-respected sociologist, Information and Organizations provides a bold perspective of the dynamics of organizations. Stinchcombe contends that the information problem and the concept of uncertainty provide the key to understanding how organizations function. In a delightful mix of large theoretical insights and vivid anecdotal material, Stinchcombe explores the ins and outs of organizations from both a macro and micro perspective. He reinterprets the work of the renowned scholars of business, Alfred Chandler, James March and Oliver Williamson, and looks in depth at corporations like DuPont and General Motors. Along the way, Stinchcombe explores subjects as varied as class consciousness, innovation, contracts and university administration. All of these analyses are distinguished by incisive thinking and creative new approaches to issues that have long confronted business people and those interested in organizational theory. A tour de force, Information and \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments xi\u003cbr\u003e 1. INFORMATION, UNCERTAINTY, STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY\u003cbr\u003e Rationality \u003cbr\u003e Uncertainty \u003cbr\u003e Uncertainty About What? \u003cbr\u003e Information \u003cbr\u003e Structure and Function \u003cbr\u003e The Plan of the Book \u003cbr\u003e 2. INDIVIDUALS' SKILLS AS INFORMATION PROCESSING:CHARLES F. SABEL AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e Relations Between Routines and Skills \u003cbr\u003e Two Relations Between Routines and Human Decisions \u003cbr\u003e Complexity of the Routine \u003cbr\u003e Artisans at the Beginning of the Industrial Revolution \u003cbr\u003e The Division of Skill Between Workers and Professionals \u003cbr\u003e Three Organizations for Learning Routines and Decision Skills \u003cbr\u003e Earnings Curves for Craftsmen, Professionals, and Managers \u003cbr\u003e Jurisdictions of Occupations \u003cbr\u003e The Determinants of the Division of Labor Between Engineers and Skilled Workers \u003cbr\u003e Manufacturing Artisans in the Early Industrial Revolution \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Economic and Technical Threats to Artisan Organization \u003cbr\u003e Authority Reorganization and Artisan Skill \u003cbr\u003e The Ideology of Mass Production Management \u003cbr\u003e Scientific Management Authority in Practice \u003cbr\u003e Conflict over the New Authority System \u003cbr\u003e \"Fordism\" \u003cbr\u003e The Impact of Certainty and Uncertainty on Fordism \u003cbr\u003e Sources of Uncertainty in the Market \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 3. MANUFACTURING INFORMATION SYSTEMS:SOURCES OF TECHNICAL UNCERTAINTY AND THE INFORMATION FOR TECHNICAL DECISIONS 73\u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e People Driving versus Information Systems in Management \u003cbr\u003e Some Data on Manufacturing Information Systems \u003cbr\u003e Operating Characteristics of Information Systems \u003cbr\u003e Types of Operating Information Systems \u003cbr\u003e Summary of Dimensions That Differentiate Operating Information Systems \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 4. MARKET UNCERTAINTY AND DIVISIONALIZATION:ALFRED D. CHANDLER'S STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e The Concepts of Centralization and Decentralization \u003cbr\u003e A Definition of Methodological Individualism \u003cbr\u003e Individuals in Du Pont: Organizing Information Flows \u003cbr\u003e Individuals in Du Pont: Organizational Theory \u003cbr\u003e Individuals in Du Pont: Responsibility for Inventing and Adopting a Remedy \u003cbr\u003e Individuals in Du Pont and HUD: How Decentralization Works \u003cbr\u003e Is It Still Sociology? \u003cbr\u003e The Causes of Divisionalization \u003cbr\u003e General Motors Creates a Multidivisional Structure by Centralizing \u003cbr\u003e The Centralization Revolution at General Motors \u003cbr\u003e The Theoretical Problem of Sears \u003cbr\u003e Regional Information in Merchant Wholesaling and Sears \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Commodity Line Rationality versus Store Inventory Rationality \u003cbr\u003e The General Problem of Wholesaling \u003cbr\u003e Organizational Problems of the Service Sector \u003cbr\u003e What Is Chandler's Independent Variable? \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 5. TURNING INVENTIONS INTO INNOVATIONS: SCHUMPETER'S ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY MODERNIZED \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e Innovation, the Learning Curve of Cost Reduction, and Monopoly \u003cbr\u003e Cases in Which the Follower and Innovator Have Learning Curves of Different Shape \u003cbr\u003e Innovation, the Marketing Network, and Monopoly \u003cbr\u003e The Theory or Doctrine of an Innovation \u003cbr\u003e A \"Zero Resources Innovation\" Described in Detail \u003cbr\u003e The Multidivisional Structure of Chandler as an Innovation \u003cbr\u003e Social Predictors of Success in Introducing Innovations \u003cbr\u003e Technological Utopianism \u003cbr\u003e Investment Approval \u003cbr\u003e Cost Reduction and Manufacturing Improvements \u003cbr\u003e Markets and Innovation Success \u003cbr\u003e The Division of Benefits \u003cbr\u003e Examples of Incentives for Innovation \u003cbr\u003e Divisionalization and Innovation \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 6. ORGANIZING INFORMATION OUTSIDE THE FIRM:CONTRACTS AS HIERARCHICAL DOCUMENTS \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e An Extended Definition of Hierarchy \u003cbr\u003e Prediction of Performance Requirements and Performance Measurement \u003cbr\u003e Elements of Hierarchy in Contract Contents \u003cbr\u003e Theoretical Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e Notes \u003cbr\u003e 7. SEGMENTATION OF THE LABOR MARKET AND INFORMATION ON THE SKILL OF WORKERS \u003cbr\u003e The Fundamental Uncertainty of the Labor Contract \u003cbr\u003e Institutional Substitutes for Measurement of Productivity \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Types of Information About Work Performance \u003cbr\u003e A General Theory of Certification \u003cbr\u003e The Great Segmenting Factor Is Who Holds the Job Now \u003cbr\u003e Segmentation by Internal Labor Markets: Promotions Go to Those Now Employed by Big Firms and Government \u003cbr\u003e Worker-Controlled Recruitment in Professional and Craft Occupations \u003cbr\u003e Family Recruitment in Small Firm Sectors \u003cbr\u003e Union Membership as a Certificate of Productivity \u003cbr\u003e The Secondary Labor Market \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 8. CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY: E. P. THOMPSON APPLIED TO CONTEMPORARY CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e Unity in Diversity: Why Are Societies with Factories So Much Alike? \u003cbr\u003e E. P. Thompson's Conception of Working-Class Consciousness \u003cbr\u003e Cross-national Variation in Class Consciousness \u003cbr\u003e Class Consciousness in Soviet Societies \u003cbr\u003e Class Consciousness in Corporatist Capitalism \u003cbr\u003e The Culture in Which Class Consciousness Grew \u003cbr\u003e The Cultural Perception of Exploitation,Oppression, and the Wage Bargain \u003cbr\u003e Constitutionalism in Modern Organizations \u003cbr\u003e Debureaucratization, or Individualizing the Labor Contract \u003cbr\u003e Low Unionization of the Modern Service Sector:Theory \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: Demography \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: Selling Status Symbols \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: The Small Firm Effect \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 9. UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH SPACE AND TEACHING LOADS: MANAGERS WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEIR WORKERS ARE DOING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Types of Information About Work Performance \u003cbr\u003e A General Theory of Certification \u003cbr\u003e The Great Segmenting Factor Is Who Holds the Job Now \u003cbr\u003e Segmentation by Internal Labor Markets:Promotions Go to Those Now Employed by Big Firms and Government \u003cbr\u003e Worker-Controlled Recruitment in Professional and Craft Occupations \u003cbr\u003e Family Recruitment in Small Firm Sectors \u003cbr\u003e Union Membership as a Certificate of Productivity \u003cbr\u003e The Secondary Labor Market \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 8. CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY: E. P. THOMPSON APPLIED TO CONTEMPORARY CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS \u003cbr\u003e Introduction \u003cbr\u003e Unity in Diversity: Why Are Societies with Factories So Much Alike? \u003cbr\u003e E. P. Thompson's Conception of Working-Class Consciousness \u003cbr\u003e Cross-national Variation in Class Consciousness \u003cbr\u003e Class Consciousness in Soviet Societies \u003cbr\u003e Class Consciousness in Corporatist Capitalism \u003cbr\u003e The Culture in Which Class Consciousness Grew \u003cbr\u003e The Cultural Perception of Exploitation,Oppression, and the Wage Bargain \u003cbr\u003e Constitutionalism in Modern Organizations \u003cbr\u003e Debureaucratization, or Individualizing the Labor Contract \u003cbr\u003e Low Unionization of the Modern Service Sector:Theory \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: Demography \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: Selling Status Symbols \u003cbr\u003e Service-Sector Class Consciousness: The Small Firm Effect \u003cbr\u003e Conclusion \u003cbr\u003e 9. UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH SPACE\u003cbr\u003e AND TEACHING LOADS: MANAGERS WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEIR WORKERS ARE DOING","brand":"University of California Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49402793034071,"sku":"9780520067813","price":27.9,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780520067813.jpg?v=1730481527","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/information-and-organizations-california-series-on-social-choice-and-political-economy-19-9780520067813","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}