Description
Book SynopsisTranslated into English for the first time, Luhmann''s modern classic, Organization and Decision, explores how organizations work; how they should be designed, steered, and controlled; and how they order and structure society. Luhmann argues that organization is order, yet indeterminate. In this book, he shows how this paradox enables organizations to embed themselves within society without losing autonomy. In developing his autopoietic perspective on organizations, Luhmann applies his general theory of social systems by conceptualizing organizations as selfreproducing systems of decision communications. His innovative and interdisciplinary approach to the material (spanning organization studies, management and sociology) is integral to any study of organizations. This new translation, edited by one of the world''s leading experts on Luhmann, enables researchers and graduate students across the English-speaking world to access Luhmann''s ideas more readily.
Trade Review'Niklas Luhmann is one of the most innovative thinkers of the twentieth century. His approach to the social world had a major impact on social theorizing. His key work on organizations, Organization and Decision, is finally out in English translation. It is a must-read for all scholars and students of organization.' David Seidl, University of Zurich, Switzerland
'A long-awaited translation of Niklas Luhmann's landmark contribution to organization studies. We discover an author extremely well versed in the management literature, who is in constant dialogue with key authors such as Karl E. Weick, Herbert A. Simon and Michel Crozier. A must read for anyone interested in the communicative constitutive approaches to organization and organizing.' François Cooren, Université de Montréal, Canada
Table of Contents1. 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.
