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- Title
"Organization". A Multi Facet Concept.
- Authors
Colombo, Carlotta Meo; Mella, Piero
- Abstract
The study of organizations implies the observation of entities that reveal many diverse possible characteristics, and the definition of an "organization" should help us to understand its specific features, since many authors have tried to provide their own definition. As Baum and Rowley have suggested, although we could construct a mental model of an organization, it is difficult to give a single formal definition of one (2005). The aim of this paper is to provide a reasoned review of many different perspectives about organizations, a full analysis, a structure of investigation of organizations, and, lastly, to present which perspective is useful as a key to interpreting future developments. Considering these various perspectives on the definition of an organization, we present a framework based on Scott's (1998) three definitions of organizations as rational, natural, and open systems. (1) Organizations can be conceived of as rational social systems since they are built to achieve goals and show a high formalization of internal social structures. (2) Organizations can also be viewed as natural social systems where participants share a common interest, while participating in informal collective activities. (3) Lastly, organizations are open systems because they are embedded in an environment in which they behave and set goals. The paper concludes the analysis of the three different perspectives, developing a matrix that creates a "landscape" of analysis, according to the matching of the different perspectives presented.
- Subjects
SOCIAL systems; SOCIAL structure; GOAL (Psychology); ORGANIZATION
- Publication
Economia Aziendale Online, 2021, Vol 12, Issue 4, p487
- ISSN
2038-5498
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.13132/2038-5498/12.4.487-506