Summary articles Oids
Scott & Davis (2007) Organizations and Organizing: rational, natural and open systems
perspectives; pages 35-41 & 56-58
-rationality refers to the extent to which a series of actions is organized in such a way as to
lead to predetermined goals with maximum efficiency
-goal specificity
*supply criteria for choosing among alternative activities
*guide decisions about how the organization structure itself is to be designed
*specify what tasks are to be performed, what kinds of personnel are to be hired, and how
resources are to be allocated among participants
*the more general or diffuse the goals, the more difficult it is to design a structure to
pursue them
-formalization
*a structure is formalized to the extent that the rules governing behaviour are precisely and
explicitly formulated and to the extent that roles and role relations are prescribed
independently of the personal attributes and relations of individuals occupying positions
in the structure
*an attempt to make behaviour more predictable by standardizing and regulating it
*entails a system of abstraction which should be cognitively adequate, communicable and
contain an improvement trajectory that enables correction over time
*an attempt to make more explicit and visible the structure of relationships among a set of
roles and the principles that govern behaviour in the system
*effecten van formalization:
>leiders die aangewezen werden spendeerden minder tijd aan het beweren van hun
macht, dan leiders die natuurlijk aan de macht waren gekomen
>works to legitimate inequalities in hierarchies
>sociometric structure= the patterning of affective ties among participants
-from the rational system perspective, structural arrangements within organizations are
conceived as tools deliberately designed to achieve the efficient realization of ends
Deephouse et. al (2017) Organizational legitimacy: 6 key questions; pages 1-42
-legitimacy is a fundamental concept of organizational institutionalism
*it influences how organizations behave and has been shown to affect their performance
and survival
-legitimacy is a continually unfolding process in which different scenarios can be identified at
different points in time
-what is organizational legitimacy?
*organizational legitimacy refers to the degree of cultural support for an organization – the
extent to which the array of established cultural accounts provide explanations for its
existence, functioning, and jurisdiction, and lack or deny alternatives
*a completely legitimate organization would be one about which no question could be
raised
, *a legitimate organization has largely unquestioned freedom to pursue its activities
*legitimacy is a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are
desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms,
values, beliefs, and definitions
*organizational legitimacy is the perceived appropriateness of an organization to a social
system in terms of rules, values, norms, and definitions
*4 basic states of organizational legitimacy
>accepted
^those that are not, or have not recently been, actively evaluated
>proper
^those that have recently been actively evaluated
>debated
^reflects the presence of active disagreement within the social system
>illegitimate
^reflects the assessment by the social system that the organization is inappropriate and
that it should be radically reformed or cease to exist
-why does legitimacy matter?
*most stakeholders will only engage with legitimate organizations
*legitimate organizations have largely unquestioned freedom to pursue their activities
-who confers legitimacy, and how?
*legitimacy can be granted by a variety of sources, each using a distinct routine
>sources: internal and external stakeholders who observe organizations and make
legitimacy evaluations, by comparing organizations to particular criteria or standards
-what criteria are used?
*regulatory
*pragmatic
*moral
*cultural-cognitive
-how does legitimacy change over time?
-where do we go from here?
Bowman (2021) Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy
-critical theory
*a theory is critical to the extent that it seeks human “emancipation from slavery”, acts as a
“liberating ... influence”, and works “to create a world which satisfies the needs and
powers of” human beings
*provides the descriptive and normative bases for social inquiry aimed at decreasing
domination and increasing freedom in all their forms
*CT is the Frankfurt School, ct is the broader sense
*is adequate when it meets 3 criteria
>explains what is wrong with current social reality
>identifies the actors to change it
>provides clear norms for criticism and achievable practical goals for social transformation
*both explanatory and normative at the same time
*requires holding both one’s own experience and the normative self-understanding of the
tradition or institution together at the same time, in order to expose bias or cognitive
Scott & Davis (2007) Organizations and Organizing: rational, natural and open systems
perspectives; pages 35-41 & 56-58
-rationality refers to the extent to which a series of actions is organized in such a way as to
lead to predetermined goals with maximum efficiency
-goal specificity
*supply criteria for choosing among alternative activities
*guide decisions about how the organization structure itself is to be designed
*specify what tasks are to be performed, what kinds of personnel are to be hired, and how
resources are to be allocated among participants
*the more general or diffuse the goals, the more difficult it is to design a structure to
pursue them
-formalization
*a structure is formalized to the extent that the rules governing behaviour are precisely and
explicitly formulated and to the extent that roles and role relations are prescribed
independently of the personal attributes and relations of individuals occupying positions
in the structure
*an attempt to make behaviour more predictable by standardizing and regulating it
*entails a system of abstraction which should be cognitively adequate, communicable and
contain an improvement trajectory that enables correction over time
*an attempt to make more explicit and visible the structure of relationships among a set of
roles and the principles that govern behaviour in the system
*effecten van formalization:
>leiders die aangewezen werden spendeerden minder tijd aan het beweren van hun
macht, dan leiders die natuurlijk aan de macht waren gekomen
>works to legitimate inequalities in hierarchies
>sociometric structure= the patterning of affective ties among participants
-from the rational system perspective, structural arrangements within organizations are
conceived as tools deliberately designed to achieve the efficient realization of ends
Deephouse et. al (2017) Organizational legitimacy: 6 key questions; pages 1-42
-legitimacy is a fundamental concept of organizational institutionalism
*it influences how organizations behave and has been shown to affect their performance
and survival
-legitimacy is a continually unfolding process in which different scenarios can be identified at
different points in time
-what is organizational legitimacy?
*organizational legitimacy refers to the degree of cultural support for an organization – the
extent to which the array of established cultural accounts provide explanations for its
existence, functioning, and jurisdiction, and lack or deny alternatives
*a completely legitimate organization would be one about which no question could be
raised
, *a legitimate organization has largely unquestioned freedom to pursue its activities
*legitimacy is a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are
desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms,
values, beliefs, and definitions
*organizational legitimacy is the perceived appropriateness of an organization to a social
system in terms of rules, values, norms, and definitions
*4 basic states of organizational legitimacy
>accepted
^those that are not, or have not recently been, actively evaluated
>proper
^those that have recently been actively evaluated
>debated
^reflects the presence of active disagreement within the social system
>illegitimate
^reflects the assessment by the social system that the organization is inappropriate and
that it should be radically reformed or cease to exist
-why does legitimacy matter?
*most stakeholders will only engage with legitimate organizations
*legitimate organizations have largely unquestioned freedom to pursue their activities
-who confers legitimacy, and how?
*legitimacy can be granted by a variety of sources, each using a distinct routine
>sources: internal and external stakeholders who observe organizations and make
legitimacy evaluations, by comparing organizations to particular criteria or standards
-what criteria are used?
*regulatory
*pragmatic
*moral
*cultural-cognitive
-how does legitimacy change over time?
-where do we go from here?
Bowman (2021) Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy
-critical theory
*a theory is critical to the extent that it seeks human “emancipation from slavery”, acts as a
“liberating ... influence”, and works “to create a world which satisfies the needs and
powers of” human beings
*provides the descriptive and normative bases for social inquiry aimed at decreasing
domination and increasing freedom in all their forms
*CT is the Frankfurt School, ct is the broader sense
*is adequate when it meets 3 criteria
>explains what is wrong with current social reality
>identifies the actors to change it
>provides clear norms for criticism and achievable practical goals for social transformation
*both explanatory and normative at the same time
*requires holding both one’s own experience and the normative self-understanding of the
tradition or institution together at the same time, in order to expose bias or cognitive
