Sociologists and the Study of Bureaucracy: a Critique of Ideology and Practice

Goldman, Paul

doi:10.1177/089692057800800103

Insurgent Sociologist

1978

DOI: 10.1177/089692057800800103

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Sociologists and the Study of Bureaucracy: a Critique of Ideology and Practice

Paul Goldman¹

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1981

1987

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Cited by 3 publications

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“…These types of analyses which are lodged firmly in the present-analyzing how the organization functions and concentrating on the internal characteristics of the organization (intraorganizational structure)-are not only ahistorical but tend to reinforce the status quo because they fail to deal with the major ways in which organizational change occurs (Goldman, 1978). Further, these analyses explain only minor evolutionary adjustments within the organization.…”

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confidence: 99%

Criticisms of the Dominant Perspective on Organizations

Zey-Ferrell

1981

The Sociological Quarterly

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The major criticisms of the dominant comparative structural and structural contingency approaches to organizations were examined and found to possess at least ten major limitations. These structural approaches have resulted in an emphasis on organizational efficiency, goals, consensus, statics, and constraints of the environment, size, and technology which perpetuate the status quo; but the analysis of power, change, conflicts of interest, and individual volition have been obscured. Although structural analysis has resulted in some limited abstract generalizations concerning the form of organizations, these generalizations do little to contribute to understanding organizational processes, strategic choice, and power relationships. These important aspects of organizations could be unmasked by viewing organizations as arenas of micro-individual and group interests as well as arenas through which macrosocietal, class, and multinational interests and conflicts are played out. To minimize these limitations in the analysis of organizations, triangulations of perspectives, levels of analysis, sources of data, and methodologies are suggested.

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confidence: 99%

Criticisms of the Dominant Perspective on Organizations

Zey-Ferrell

1981

The Sociological Quarterly

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Organization Studies and the Concept of Rationality

Bryman

1984

J Management Studies

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The Political Economy and Technical Control of Work Humanization in Sweden During the 1970s and 1980s

Houten

1987

Work and Occupations

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This article closely looks at the nature of the Swedish production system incorporating autonomous work groups, and the historical course the innovation has taken from its emergence in the early 1970s to its reversion in the 1980s. The article examines (1) whether managers were motivated by idealism or by labor shortages and protest; (2) whether or not the production system is a sophisticated form of technical control; (3) whether or not the innovation produces mixed outcomes for labor and for employers; and (4) whether or not the managers' interest in the innovation has diminished as unemployment has risen in the late 1970s and 1980s. Based on eight months of interviews in Sweden and many secondary sources in English and Swedish, this article concludes that the adoption and diffusion of a workplace innovation cannot be fully understood without considering: (1) the characteristics of the production system in which the innovation is implanted that may simultaneously embrace rationalization and humanization, (2) the task environment of the firm that may compel managers to design production innovations with an eye to competition and market fluctuations, and (3) economic cycles and shifts in the political climate, both of which can influence (4) the relative strengths of labor and management to demand arrangements in a labor process favoring them.

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Sociologists and the Study of Bureaucracy: a Critique of Ideology and Practice

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

Criticisms of the Dominant Perspective on Organizations

Criticisms of the Dominant Perspective on Organizations

Organization Studies and the Concept of Rationality

The Political Economy and Technical Control of Work Humanization in Sweden During the 1970s and 1980s

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