Why Organizations? How and Why People Organize

"Why Organizations? is an intriguing title and very much deserves our attention. The author, Professor Bengt Abrahamsson, is a well-known Swedish organizational sociologist, with wide experience of the world of work easily apparent in his book, a concise introduction to the theory of organizations. . . . One of the merits of the author's approach is that he combines a knowledge of both Anglo-American literatures with the Continental and Scandinavian approaches, the latter being one of his specialties as Director of the Swedish Center for Working Life in Stockholm. It is a sound, reflective book. . . . The chapters on the free-rider problem, transaction costs, and the organizational process do . . . deserve special mention and are rather well done." --Journal of General Management "Expertly crafted and rich in detail, Why Organizations? leads readers on a frequently surprising journey. Abrahamsson draws upon work that spans time, discipline, and continent to create a diverse and comprehensive analysis. . . . Abrahamsson's is a uniquely integrated perspective that should fascinate and provoke sociologists and economists alike--as well as inspire some debate among them. . . . Why Organizations? presents a useful and critical synthesis of sociological and economic organization theory. . . . Students in economics and sociology, particularly those with special interests in antiorganization theory and industrial democracy, will find something of value or worthy of debate in this book." --Contemporary Sociology "Bengt Abrahamsson here performs a great service by excavating an underlying stability beneath the baffling social fluctuations of the past 30 years. . . . It is a great contribution of the present volume to bring us back to the fundamental question of the function of organization, scraping away the encrustations of ideological distortion and wishful thinking. In the process Abrahamsson draws our attention to some of the vital functions of formal structure. . . . Abrahamsson goes not only out far but also in deep using these broad aspects of the problem of organization. A great deal of bunk is debunked and much ground is cleared. . . . there may well be something to the notion of network forms which is emerging in the sociological literature. But whatever explorations are taken in this direction will first have to absorb the lessons of Abrahamsson's analysis here, and pay attention to the universals of organization which he so effectively brings to light." --from the Foreword by Charles C. Heckscher Why do organizations exist? Why can't the market--free contracts between single buyers and sellers--solve all production and distribution problems? What are the causes behind the rise of industrial enterprises and other hierarchies? Why Organizations? goes beyond the basics of organizational theory to discuss these and other questions. Abrahamsson deftly surveys the conditions for the emergence of hierarchy, bureaucracy, and democracy in organizations--and why organizations exist and if their existence is at all necessary. Abrahamsson frames his discussion in rationalistic organization theory based on such concepts as rationality, interest, power, form and function, external forces and inner logic, and organizational mandators and executives. This ground-breaking study is a must-read for professionals, researchers, instructors, and students of organizational studies, management, sociology, political science, and education.