Samenvatting
Organization theory summary and lecture notes 2024
- Instelling
- Tilburg University (UVT)
Summary, lecture notes and extra explanations based on the lectures and papers.
[Meer zien]Voorbeeld 4 van de 58 pagina's
Voorbeeld 4 van de 58 pagina's
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Voorbeeld van de inhoud
Lecture 1 introduc-on• Course objec+ves: The learning goals of this course consist of aspects we cover for each theory. By
passing this course, students are able for each of the organiza=on theories:
• To correctly reproduce defini=ons of main concepts;
• To reproduce and explain the main assump=ons;
• To reproduce, explain, and apply baseline conceptual models and advanced models on selected
topics;
• To correctly formulate the main hypotheses, and explain the
• arguments grounding these hypotheses;
• To read and understand academic papers that empirically test these theories
At the end of this lecture…
¨ The student knows which organiza3on theories will be discussed, and whether these theories
have a macro-, meso-, or micro-orienta3on.
¨ The student has insights into the func3ons and use of organiza3on theories.
¨ The student knows how theory can be dis3nguished from common wisdom and prac3ce.
Theories discussed in the course
• Macro Organiza3on Theories: enviroment
• Organiza3onal Ecology Theory (OET): big popula3ons in organiza3ons, survive or not in
the environment
• Neo Ins3tu3onal Theory (NIT): different communi3es in organiza3ons (legi3macy)
• Meso Organiza3on Theories: organiza3on itself
• Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTF): coali3on in organiza3ons, people
• Transac3on Cost Theory (TCT): why do organiza3ons excist, with make and buy?
• Resource Dependence Theory (RDT): organiza3ons and their external rela3onships
(power and resources)
• Micro Organiza3on Theories: inside of organiza3ons
• Goal SePng Theory (GST): how organiza3ons set goals
• Social Interdependence Theory (SIT): interac3ons between employees
Goal interdependence: The extent to which a goal’s achievement is hindered or facilitated by other goals.
(you need someone else to get to your goal)
• Posi3ve goal interdependence: the achievement of goal a facilitates the realiza3on of goal b.
• Nega3ve goal interdependence: the achievement of goal a hinders the realiza3on of goal b.
o Nega3ve goal interdependence induces rivalry between departments in organiza3ons,
and consequently hampers collabora3on
Func+on and use of (organiza+on) theories
• Parable of the “Six Blind Men and the Elephant”
• Par+al truths
§ An elephant is like a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan, and a rope
§ The organiza3on is like a sales department, a purchase department, quality
management, produc3on, … ONLY
• To see and understand an elephant, an integra+ve view (elephant) is needed
§ Only when you add two ears, a trunk, two tusks, four big legs a big body, a bunch
of intes3nes, a hairy tail, etc., you have an actual elephant.
, § Only when you add up/combine the goal achievement/bonuses at the level of
the organiza3on, we can observe the goal interdependencies and their
organiza3onal effects.
• Common wisdom and policy theories
• Each day, we work with ‘personal and policy theories’ → theory is everywhere!
• Examples:
§ Opposites a\ract.
§ In health, once a widespread belief among both pa3ents and medical
professionals was that smoking cigare\es was not risky behavior.
• If the government subsidizes the salary costs of R&D workers, firms’ innova3on will go
up.
• The challenge with “theory”
• Most people contrast prac+ce with theory AND prefer examples over theories.
• BUT: prac3ce suffers from par3al views that hinder complete observa3on, and thus
(be\er) explana3ons (see in-class exercise).
• Generaliza3on – being able to claim the validity of a certain mechanism over a large
sample organiza3ons – requires abstrac3on from the individual firm or prac3ce, based on
impar3al observa3on.
• We need an integrated and focused view!
• SO… Nothing as prac3cal as a good theory!
• How to study theory is challenging, but that is the aim of this course!
, Lecture 2 what is (organiza-on) theory?
At the end of this lecture…
¨ The student can define the core concepts of “organiza5on” and “theory”;
¨ The student knows the core elements of “theory” according to Whe>en (1989) –
“WHAT” (concepts), “HOW” (rela5onships), “WHY” (argumenta5on), and “WHO,
WHERE, WHEN” (boundary condi5ons);
¨ The student understands how Whe>en’s (1989) concepts can be applied to
understand and compare organiza5on theories;
¨ The student has insights into what theory is NOT (and why), following Su>on and
Staw (1995);
¨ The student is aware of the importance of organiza5on theories, as well as five big
ques5ons that can be answered with the organiza5on theories included in the OT
course.
What is organiza5on?
• Defini3on (DaV, 2010: 10):
o “Organiza5ons are …
§ Social en55es (bunch of people that come together) that …
§ are goal-directed, …
§ are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated ac5vity
systems, and …
§ are linked to dis5nct external environments.” (connected to external
environment)
• Organiza3onal forms: networks, pla]orms, project-based organiza5ons, collabora5on
between organiza5ons.
What is theory?
• Defini&on (Johnson & Johnson, 2015: 20):
o “A theory consists of a set of interrelated concepts, defini5ons, and
proposi5ons that explain orpredict events or situa5ons by specifying rela5ons
among variables.”
o “The word ‘theorise’ comes from the Greek word ‘theorein’ , which consists
of a blend of two words, ‘thea’ which means to see or observe, and ‘horan’
which means to see a thing a>en5vely or to contemplate it.”
, • A theory…
o Typically focuses on a small part of reality.
o Abstracts of many other relevant aspects.
o Helps us to see detail this way.
o Helps us to understand that limited part of reality be>er.
o Is NOT the whole story and needs to be seen in a larger theore5cal context.
Core element of a theory (Whe>en, 1989)
A Theory…
• Consists of a set of concepts (what) and the (posi5ve, nega5ve, lineair or non lineair)
rela5onships that 5e them together (how) into an explana5on of the phenomenon of
interest (why)
• Builds on a set of assump5ons that form the founda5on for a series of logically
interrelated claims (core assump5ons of the world)
X = independent (explain the y)
Y = dependent
The core elements of a theory
• Who, where, and when? BOUNDARIES
§ Condi5ons that place limita5ons on the proposi5ons/hypotheses
§ Temporal and contextual factors that set the boundaries of generalizability
§ Determine the range of the theory
• Examples:
§ WHERE: Islamic banking – maybe it is not applicable for others
• Principles of Islamic law
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