Organization and Bureaucracy: An Analysis of Modern Theories / Edition 1

by Nicos P. Mouzelis

Overview

The American Journal of Sociology says of this book "Mouzelis knows and handles the literature well and accurately brings the reader up to the early sixties. A summarizer, synthesizer, and historian of modern theories, he serves his novice well. The more initiated student of formal organizations will appreciate the critiques of his favorite theorists: Mouzelis cuts clean and bold. Along with order, he does add critical insight to his borrowed materials."

This book is a carefully integrated and very straightforward guide to the labyrinth of theory on organizational phenomena, and surveys the most important approaches to the study of organizations and the manner in which these approaches are interrelated. The author's interest is in showing the successive stages of theory generation and development in the two major traditions of thought on this subject, thereby providing a coherent overview of the field, a method for systematically investigating it, and an unusually broadening supplement to the standard treatment of organizations in undergraduate and graduate courses.

The author discusses the writings of such theorists as Marx, Weber, and Michels who, from a very wide perspective, tried to assess the impact of large-scale bureaucracy on the power structure of modern society. He also examines the other tradition of organizational writings that starts with Taylor and the movement of scientific management. Finally, an analysis is made of recent theoretical trends that indicate a certain convergence of the bureaucracy and the managerial lines of thought.

In emphasizing the conceptual frameworks that underlie organization theory and in showing the dynamics of theory progression, the author provides students with invaluable assistance in understanding the levels of theoretical analysis, the variables to be taken into consideration, and the manner in which these variables may be accounted for in a systematic manner.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780202300788
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	07/15/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Nicos P. Mouzelis was lecturer in sociology, University of Leicester. He is currently professor of sociology at the London School of Economics and is a member of the Hellenic Observatory's Advisory Board. He was a founding member of the Association for the Study of Modern Greece and has written many articles on Modern Greece. He helped organize the School of Social Science at the University of Crete and the curriculum at the School of Social Science at the University of the Aegean.

Table of Contents

Introduction; One: The Study of Bureaucracy; One: The Classical Approach to the Study of Bureaucracy; Two: The Ideal type of Bureaucracy; Three: The Post-Weberian Theories of Bureaucracy; Two: The Managerial Tradition; Four: Taylorism and Formal Theories of Administration; Five: The Human Relations Approach to the Organisation; Six: Organisation Theory; There: Converging Trends; Seven: Towards a Broadening of Scope; Conclusion