Organization Studies and the Concept of Rationality

Bryman, Alan

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.1984.tb00235.x

Cited by 40 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Studies of management accounting (Weick, 1976;Bryman, 1984;Dermer & Lucas, 1986) suggest that individuals and groups within organizations have different interests and goals and are engaged in a constant struggle to achieve them (Quattrone & Hopper, 2001).…”

Section: Institutional Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Factors Affecting Resistance to Changes in Management Accounting Systems

Angonese

Lavarda

2014

Rev. contab. finanç.

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Despite changes in the environment and management accounting practices, studies indicate that management accounting systems do not change or change at a much slower rate than expected. The stability of the management accounting systems used by companies may relate to resistance to changing these systems. This study analyzes the factors that contribute to resistance to implementing an integrated management system from the perspective of institutional theory, grounded in the old institutional economics. Methodologically, this study provides a qualitative assessment of the problem and a descriptive analysis of the resistance factors through a case-study approach. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content analysis. Two companies were selected for this study due to their differing characteristics. The following seven factors were analyzed for resistance to implementing integrated management systems: institutional power, ontological insecurity, trust, inertia, lack of knowledge, acceptance of routines and decoupling. However, there was no evidence to characterize hierarchical power. The research findings indicate that changing management accounting systems, through the implementation of an integrated management system, faces internal resistance in these organizations. Each factor varies in intensity but is permanently present in these companies, such as ontological insecurity, trust, inertia, lack of knowledge, acceptance of routines and decoupling. These factors are awakened when the change process begins and, if they gather enough force, can stop the change.

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Section: Institutional Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Factors Affecting Resistance to Changes in Management Accounting Systems

Angonese

Lavarda

2014

Rev. contab. finanç.

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“…While recognizing that the jettisoning of the rational model need not entail a similar fate for the concept of rationality, he cites attempts to qualify the latter through reference to bounded rationality (Simon, 1957), imperfect rationality (Watkins, 1970), weaker forms of rationality (Cohen, 1976), limited rationality (Gershuny, 1978); and outside the area of organization theory: Rawls' deliberative rationality (1972), Liebenstein's selective rationality (1976), and Lukes' (1967) context bound rationality. Bryman (1984) proposes reference to degrees of rationality or multiple rationalities to the simple dichotomy of rational versus irrational. [2] Brunsson (1982,1985,1990) also tries to formulate alternative conceptions of organized rationality which incorporate political and cultural processes (Reed, 1991).…”

Section: Responses To Performance Appraisalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[3] Weber poses substantive rationality in contrast to instrumental rationality. Bryman (1984) uses this concept to argue for the importance of values in organizational life, while du Gay (1994) has argued that there is an implicit appeal to substantive rationality in portrayals of bureaucratic rationality. [4] However, I want to suggest another dimension of the rational, one which has a longer pedigree and, I argue, greater practical bene®ts.…”

Section: Responses To Performance Appraisalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Reason and Performance Appraisal

Townley

1999

J Management Studies

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This paper examines responses of chairs of university departments to the news that they would be required to conduct a formal performance appraisal system. It is suggested that in order to understand resistance to appraisal we need to reject explanations invoking polarized antinomies ± formal/informal, rational/political ± and interrogate the concept of rationality. Drawing on MacIntyre's work, the paper examines the concept of practical reason to make sense of the chairs' responses and considers its relevance for understanding management and change in universities.

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“…Such a behavior can be interpreted as "satisficing" instead of rational "maximizing" (Simon 1955). This means that people usually have a certain aspiration level that they try to achieve; they do not aim at the optimal, best solution (Siegel 1957;Bryman 1984). Humans do not strive for perfect rationality, but for some form of limited or bounded rationality.…”

Section: Research Problemsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Perspectives on rationality in system dynamics—a workshop report and open research questions

Größler

Milling

Winch

2004

System Dynamics Review

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A research workshop at Mannheim University, Germany, brought together a small group of Europe-based experts in system dynamics to discuss basic assumptions about rationality in system dynamics modeling and simulation. As an underlying theme it was found that-although system dynamics is open for various notions of rationality-policies are mostly modeled to be bounded rational and, in this sense, system dynamics models are valid descriptions of real-world situations. By reviewing key points emerging during the debates against the relevant literature, this article identifies a number of important further research issues. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Syst. Dyn. Rev. 20, 75-87, (2004) Common use and English dictionaries define rational as reasonable or sensible. A rational decision is understood to be based on somehow intelligent thinking and not purely on emotions. However, in many sciences, particularly in economics, the notion of rationality is a more specific one. In the classical economic view, striving for optimality is a sign of being rational, which is considered to be the "normal" condition of human beings: in this economic sense, men are supposed to exclusively consider their utility (von Neumann and Morgenstern 1944). The basic idea of this theory is that individuals make rational decisions and choose those alternatives of action that maximize their expected utility, giving it the name "theory of expected utility". Under conditions of perfect information and certainty, homo oeconomicus or Economic Man tries to achieve his goals in an optimal manner, only limited by the restrictions of the environment. These goals (the most commonly used is profit maximization) are stable, coherent and explicit. Within an environment of stable goals and perfect foresight, for instance, optimal production programs can be deduced from demand, cost and production functions (see, for instance, Pindyck and Rubinfeld 1995). If the underlying assumptions are accepted, this orthodox view of economics offers great normative power and explanation. Together with the interlinked assumption of perfect competition, perfect rationality as described in this paragraph builds the basis for classical economic theorizing.In reality, individuals usually do not make (and cannot make) rational decisions in the sense of utility maximization-except in artificially simplified settings (Simon 1959). In real-world contexts, people try to achieve some,

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Organization Studies and the Concept of Rationality

Cited by 40 publications

References 41 publications

Analysis of the Factors Affecting Resistance to Changes in Management Accounting Systems

Analysis of the Factors Affecting Resistance to Changes in Management Accounting Systems

Practical Reason and Performance Appraisal

Perspectives on rationality in system dynamics—a workshop report and open research questions

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