The Foreman Rle Organizations

The foreman is usually regarded as a filter in a chain of command in industrial organizations. In this book, however, the author suggests that this view is not adequate, and he proposes instead a model of analysis which employs a systems perspective. The role of the foreman is seen in terms of the interaction of three sub-systems representing the organization, the group and the individual. The book is based on the work of researchers from many disciplines and employs a sociological framework to account for the peculiar strains, conflict and ambiguities associated with the foreman’s role.

The diverse topics in this volume bring together developments in the field of organization studies. Although the approaches are by no means undifferentiated the articles share a commitment to a revitalized organizational analysis, an historically based analysis and one which attempts to understand the structure and impact of organizations in terms of the location of these organizations within structure of class and power.

This volume adopts an interdisciplinary approach. The study of the workplace is approached from the standpoint of industrial sociology, industrial relations, industrial anthropology and other related disciplines. It includes contributions from economists and psychologists as well as from sociologists. The theoretical and practical issues raised, are, however, central to the sociological tradition of Marx and Weber in that they concern the meaning of human and social phenomena and their relevance to resolving questions of moment in industrial and industrializing societies.

A pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and behaviour Mary Parker Follett authored a number of books and numerous essays, articles and speeches on human relations, political philosophy, psychology and management. The first woman invited to address the London School of Economics, this book includes five lectures delivered to the newly-formed Department of Business Administration at the LSE in 1933, as well as six given by Parker Follett a the Taylor Society in New York in 1926.

This book discusses social psychological research in organizations and illustrates the implications of this research for organizational theory and practice. The book focuses on the relationship of man to the organization in which he works; his sense of satisfaction, involvement, feelings of identification or loyalty, conflicts, and tensions – as well as his effort in support of, or opposition to, the formally defined goals of the organization.

This book charts the state of organizational research and theory during the 1960s. A compendium of results, references, concepts ideas and theories, this Handbook will be of interest to both academics in organizational theory and managers facing operating problems of organizations.

In this textbook Alan Bryman provides a detailed and critical examination of the literature on leadership in organizations, giving special recognition to the needs of students of organizational behaviour and the social psychology of organizations. After an examination of the complexity of the concept of leadership, the author describes the major approaches to the analysis of leadership in organizations, including: the idea that effective leaders have special traits; the various attempts to examine leader behaviour; normative approaches to the study of leadership; and the various theories which emphasize the importance of recognizing situational differences in understanding leadership effectiveness.

This volume presents a critical analysis of sociological theorizing and power which enables the reader to grasp fully the nature of power, rule and domination in organizational life. By making use of the discussions he recorded at a construction site, the author brings the reader into contact with the everyday social world in which he locates his analysis of power and authority at both a structural and phenomenological level. This analysis is complemented by the author’s review of the literature on ‘theorizing’ by writers such as Wittgenstein, Blum, McHugh, Phillips and Cicourel; his examination of the ‘community power debate’ between authors such as Bachrach and Baratz and Dahl; and a survey of the literature on power in its organizational aspects by Weber, Simmel and the more contemporary work of Hickson.

This book represents a selected collection of the writings, from 1950 to 1960, of members of the Human Relations Research Group (HRRG), from UCLA. The writings are followed by independent comments and appraisal from different viewpoints, prepared by distinguished experts in management theory, group psycho-therapy and psychology and sociology.

This book presents an integrated view of the three main approaches to organization – classical, human relations and systems – showing what each has of value to contribute and how they complement each other. The three approaches are introduced, followed by critical analysis. The main classical problems are reviewed in the light of the systems approach. Finally there is a comparative summary in tabular form, an illustrative systems study and a decision schedule.