Formal Organizations: A Comparative Approach
| AUTHOR | Blau, Peter M.; Scott, W. Richard |
| PUBLISHER | Stanford Business Books (01/01/1962) |
| PRODUCT TYPE | Paperback (Paperback) |
Upon its publication in 1962, this book became one of the founding texts of organizational sociology. Bringing together diverse approaches, it presented a new focus of interest: the formal organization. Blau and Scott raised the level of analysis from attention solely on individual participants and work groups to a broader understanding of organizations as collective actors.
In the book, the authors reviewed multiple types of studies--including case studies, experimental research, and surveys--and integrated them to define new central themes. They used their own empirical studies of two social welfare agencies to illustrate the ways in which varying organizational contexts shape work group and participant attitudes and activities. Formal Organizations served to integrate research on both formal and informal systems, authority and leadership, and stressed the importance of links to the wider environment. This reissue, which includes a new introduction by Scott, makes this seminal work accessible to a new generation of scholars and practitioners.
In the book, the authors reviewed multiple types of studies--including case studies, experimental research, and surveys--and integrated them to define new central themes. They used their own empirical studies of two social welfare agencies to illustrate the ways in which varying organizational contexts shape work group and participant attitudes and activities. Formal Organizations served to integrate research on both formal and informal systems, authority and leadership, and stressed the importance of links to the wider environment. This reissue, which includes a new introduction by Scott, makes this seminal work accessible to a new generation of scholars and practitioners.
Upon its publication in 1962, this book became one of the founding texts of organizational sociology. Bringing together diverse approaches, it presented a new focus of interest: the formal organization. Blau and Scott raised the level of analysis from attention solely on individual participants and work groups to a broader understanding of organizations as collective actors.
In the book, the authors reviewed multiple types of studies--including case studies, experimental research, and surveys--and integrated them to define new central themes. They used their own empirical studies of two social welfare agencies to illustrate the ways in which varying organizational contexts shape work group and participant attitudes and activities. Formal Organizations served to integrate research on both formal and informal systems, authority and leadership, and stressed the importance of links to the wider environment. This reissue, which includes a new introduction by Scott, makes this seminal work accessible to a new generation of scholars and practitioners.
Peter M. Blau is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Before tha the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Before that, he was Quetelet Professor of Sociology at Columbia Univert, he was Quetelet Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Among his many publications are "The Organization of Asity. Among his many publications are "The Organization of Academic Work "and "Exchange and Power in Social Life, "both cademic Work "and "Exchange and Power in Social Life, "both published by Transaction in paperback. published by Transaction in paperback.