Book Description
The central theme in this selection of readings is the importance of reflective action in the process of managing formal organizations. Contrary to traditional thinking in Organizational Behaviour (OB) which sees management in terms of social engineering, new thinking in OB highlights the subjective and reflective relationship between managers and the organizations they attempt to manage. Organizations are viewed as fluid, ambiguous constructions, the nature of which depends crucially on the interpretative frameworks applied to them. The articles chosen are all very recent, and written by leading authorities in the field. Although their authors elaborate on the main features of new thinking in OB, they do so through its juxtaposition with traditional theory. In his introduction, the editor has synthesized the arguments of the contributors within the new approach to OB as well as showing their connections to the wider literature.
