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"Organizations in Action" by James D. Thompson.

Presentation · April 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2232.8721

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Organizations in Action
Social Bases of Administrative Theory
Scott, R. 2008. Introduction. Organizations in Action by James Thompson.
Transaction Publishers. xv-xxiii.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

Introduction
James D. Thompson´s Organizations in Actions has been very
important in the development of organization theory and research
since 1967.
According to Scott, the author undertakes three tasks in his book:
▪ To portray the field of organization studies before Thompson
(BT)
▪ To describe Thompson´s seminal contributions (CT)
▪ To note developments in organization studies subsequent to
Thompson´s work (AT)

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Prior to 1950
▪ Comparative studies of Max Weber
▪ Scientific management work by Frederick Taylor
▪ Human relations studies by Elton Mayo and William
Whyte
▪ Adaptive system views of Chester Barnard and Philip
Selznik

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Comparative studies of Max Weber
▪ Considered as “grand theory”.
▪ Weber observed that the West was leading the way with the rise
of the nation-state and its rapid industrialization overseen by
corporate organizations.
▪ In Weber´s formulation, rationalized legal and administrative
systems were replacing traditional and charismatic models of
administration, and the rise of public and private sector
bureaucracies were and important indicator and carrier of their
new beliefs and values.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Scientific management work by Frederick Taylor
▪ Taylor observed and wrote about the same transformations
Weber observed, however, as an engineer, he focused primarily
on changing approaches to production within factories, rather
than being content describing and understating these
developments, Taylor was deeply engaged in advancing them.
▪ Taylor´s ideas spread to guide reorganizations of work in other
arenas, such as schools and other service organizations.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Human relations studies by Elton Mayo and William Whyte
▪ Challenged the view that factories were simply production
systems and worker economic entities.
▪ Noted the importance of social ties among workers (and later
among managers) and documented the role of informal
structure and non-rational motivations in organizing work.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Adaptive system views of Chester Barnard and Philip Selznik
▪ Advanced the view of organizations as adaptive systems
attempting to survive in their environment.
▪ Organizations are not simply technical systems, but political and
social systems embodying norms and values of importance to
their participants and a wider circle of constituents.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Goulder´s models
▪ Rational: viewed organizations as instruments that
could be shaped and molded to accomplish given
ends, assuming that participants can control
developments.
▪ Natural: viewed organizations as organic systems that
evolve via spontaneous, indeterminant processes.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

BT: Organizational Studies Before Thompson
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, W. Ross Ashby and Norbert Wiener
▪ General Systems Theory
– Many scientific phenomena from microorganisms to
planets operate as systems.
– Systems vary in level of complexity, reactivity and degree
of coupling.
– Organizations are open systems (Boulding, 1956).
– The open systems conception directed the attention
toward recognizing the importance of organization-
environment connection.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

CT: Thompson´s Contributions
▪ Decision Theory: decision making by individuals in
organizations.
▪ Variation among Organizations
– Different types of environments (levels of complexity and uncertainty) give
rise to different types of organizations.
– Organizations with more turbulent and complex environments develop
“organic” structures.
– Organizations with simpler and more stable environments develop
“mechanistic” structures by higher levels of specialization and
formalization.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

CT: Thompson´s Contributions
Variation within Organizations
▪ A “levels” model that proposes:
– All organizations are by their nature, open to the environment.
– All organizations must adapt by crafting appropriate structure.
– Organizations are differentiated systems, and some sub
components are designed to be more open and some more
closed to environmental influences than others.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

CT: Thompson´s Contributions
▪ Embraced a three-level distinction developed by
Parsons(1960): production, managerial and
institutional components or organizations.
▪ In Thompson´s model, all organizations are
simultaneously rational and natural systems;
and all are both open and closed systems.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

AT: After Thompson
▪ Contingency Theory of Organizations: size,
environmental, structural , task complexity
▪ “Configurational” version of Contingency
Theory of Organizations: organizational
adaptation is not driven by a single variable but
by a combination of conditions.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

AT: After Thompson
▪ Ecology Theory: organizations can readily change their
structures to adapt to changing circumstances. New types or
organizations arise to meet new circumstances rather than
existing ones altering their structures.
▪ Institutional Theory: legal systems, widely shared belief
systems and norms define the environments of organizations
and shape the response repertory available to any given
organization.

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

Concept
Map

By Nadia
Rodriguez

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

 Gracias

PRESENTED BY NADIA K. RODRÍGUEZ 4/26/2016

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