Organizations: Structures, Processes, and Outcomes

by Richard H. Hall

Book Overview

Based upon classical and contemporary theory and empirical research, this text forms a sociological analysis of organizations, focusing on the impacts that organizations have upon individuals and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131849700
• ISBN13: 9780131849709
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Classic work for org. theorists in the field

Im a doctoral student of organizations and I felt challenged but enlightened by this text. It may not be the most lucid or entertaining work you'll ever read. But organizational theory in sociology is fragmented and complex--thats reflected in the book. Those "hundred of various studies and papers" should be expected because the book generally covers decades of theory and research in the field. The book begins with a discussion about the nature of organizations and examines themes such as power, structure, change and culture throughout. The reason why this book may read like an "opinion" or essay is that Hall is an academic who decided to write in conversational/exploratory style meant to engage his thoughts with the reader--but backed up with an enormous amount of references. This is not a book for people who want freshman-level textbook answers to the question, "what is an organization?" This book is an extended intellectual exercise for a more sophisticated student/thinker. Even so, its often considered an easier-to-read classic, an accessible primer for org. graduate students (its in its 9th edition since 1972, for crying out loud). The reviewer who scratches their head may need something more rudimentary---look to some business school or management books or organizational behavior; those are pretty watered down. Org. theory only becomes more complicated with the other classic writers (Selznick, Powell and Dimaggio, Blau, Pfeffer etc.)