1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910495888603321

Autore

Stinchcombe Arthur L.

Titolo

Information and Organizations / / Arthur L. Stinchcombe

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [1990]

©1990

ISBN

1-282-35558-9

9786612355585

0-520-90962-3

0-585-29942-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (404 p.)

Collana

California Series on Social Choice and Political Economy ; ; 19

Disciplina

658.4/038

658.403

Soggetti

Uncertainty

Management information systems

Organizational behavior

Industrial organization

Industrial sociology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 363-377) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Information, Uncertainty, Structure, And Function In Organizational Sociology -- 2. Individuals' Skills As Information Processing: Charles F. Sabel And The Division Of Labor -- 3. Manufacturing Information Systems: Sources Of Technical Uncertainty And The Information For Technical Decisions -- 4. Market Uncertainty And Divisionalization: Alfred D. Chandler's Strategy And Structure -- 5. Turning Inventions Into Innovations: Schumpeter's Organizational Sociology Modernized -- 6. Organizing Information Outside The Firm: Contracts As Hierarchical Documents -- 7. Segmentation Of The Labor Market And Information On The Skill Of Workers -- 8. Class Consciousness And Organizational Sociology: E. P. Thompson Applied To Contemporary Class Consciousness -- 9. University Administration Of Research Space And Teaching Loads: Managers Who Do Not Know What Their Workers Are Doing -- 10.



Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Author Index -- Subject Index

Sommario/riassunto

An ambitious new work by a well-respected sociologist, Information and Organizations provides a bold perspective of the dynamics of organizations. Stinchcombe contends that the "information problem" and the concept of "uncertainty" provide the key to understanding how organizations function. In a delightful mix of large theoretical insights and vivid anecdotal material, Stinchcombe explores the ins and outs of organizations from both a macro and micro perspective. He reinterprets the work of the renowned scholars of business, Alfred Chandler, James March and Oliver Williamson, and looks in depth at corporations like DuPont and General Motors. Along the way, Stinchcombe explores subjects as varied as class consciousness, innovation, contracts and university administration. All of these analyses are distinguished by incisive thinking and creative new approaches to issues that have long confronted business people and those interested in organizational theory. A tour de force, Information and Organizations is a must-read for business people and scholars of many stripes. It promises to be a widely discussed and debated work.