Logics of Organization Theory (ebook)

Argumento de Logics of Organization Theory (ebook)

"There is nothing like this book in the field today. Its remarkable contribution is to demonstrate that logical formalization can breathe new insights into a social science research program, even when it has attained a mature level of development. The book's process of logical reconstruction sheds light not only on the ecological paradigm, but also on other social science perspectives--both within and outside organization studies."--Martin Ruef, Princeton University

"It is vanishingly rare for organization theorists (social scientists more generally) to make such a big investment in regrounding theory--especially when it is their own theory! This book really challenges the reader to think seriously about developing good theory, and about fixing the theory we have. I particularly appreciate the role given to the 'audience' in creating organizational forms, as well as the use of fuzzy sets to capture how categorization processes work. These new building blocks pay off in many fresh insights into longstanding issues. As such, the book is a huge service to the field."--Ezra Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Logics of Organizational Theory deserves to be read and discussed by everyone interested in organizations and in the method of developing sociological theory."--Michele Lamont, American Journal of Sociology

"The book will appeal to different audiences, making the book itself an interesting case study for the theory developed in it. The broader message of the book, developing a new set of tools that aid theorizing in sociology and the administrative sciences, will appeal to those interested in social science methodology. But first and foremost, it is of interest to researchers working on organization theory in general and on organizational ecology in particular. It goes substantially beyond earlier formalizations of organizational ecology published in the last decade, with a radical shift in focus toward the whole process of theory building."--Administrative Science Quarterly0Preface xi

Chapter 1: Language Matters 1
1.1 Languages for Theory Building 1
1.2 Using Dynamic Logic 5
1.3 Partial Memberships: Fuzziness 12
1.4 Organizational Ecology 18
1.5 Unification Projects 21

PART 1. AUDIENCES, PRODUCERS, AND CODES 27
Chapter 2: Clusters and Labels 29
2.1 Seeds for Categories and Forms 32
2.2 Domains 34
2.3 Similarity 37
2.4 Similarity Clusters 41
2.5 Labels 47
2.6 Extensional Consensus 52
2.7 Complex Labels 56

Chapter 3: Types and Categories 59
3.1 Schemata 60
3.2 Types 65
3.3 Intensional Semantic Consensus 67
3.4 Categories 69
3.5 Intrinsic Appeal and Category Valence 71

Chapter 4: Forms and Populations 78
4.1 Test Codes and Defaults 79
4.2 Taken-for-Grantedness 82
4.3 Legitimation and Forms 84
4.4 Populations 85
4.5 Density Dependence Revisited 89
4.6 Delegitimation 96

Chapter 5: Identity and Audience 100
5.1 Identity As Default 101
5.2 Multiple Category Memberships 107
5.3 Code Clash 109
5.4 Identities and Populations 110
5.5 Structure of the Audience 111

PART 2. NONMONOTONIC REASONING: AGE DEPENDENCE 121
Chapter 6: A Nonmonotonic Logic 123
6.1 Beyond First-Order Logic 124
6.2 Generalizations 127
6.3 Nonmonotonic Reasoning 130
6.4 A Precis of the Formal Approach 133
6.5 Chaining Probabilistic Arguments 142
6.6 Closest-Possible-Worlds Construction 143
6.7 Falsification 145

Chapter 7: Integrating Theories of Age Dependence 150
7.1 Capability and Endowment 152
7.2 First Unification Attempt 157
7.3 Obsolescence 161
7.4 Second Unification Attempt 163

PART 3. ECOLOGICAL NICHES 169
Chapter 8: Niches and Audiences 171
8.1 Tastes, Positions, and Offerings 174
8.2 Category Niche 177
8.3 Organizational Niche 178
8.4 Fundamental Niche 183
8.5 Implications of Category Membership 186
8.6 Metric Audience Space 187

Chapter 9: Niches and Competitors 191
9.1 Fitness 191
9.2 Realized Niche 193
9.3 Niche Overlap 194
9.4 Niche Width Revisited 198
9.5 Convexity of the Niche 203
9.6 Environmental Change 206

Chapter 10: Resource Partitioning 209
10.1 Scale Advantage 210
10.2 Market Center 214
10.3 Market Segments and Crowding 215
10.4 Dynamics of Partitioning 220
10.5 Implications of Category Membership 226

PART 4. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE 229
Chapter 11: Cascading Change 231
11.1 Identity and Inertia 232
11.2 Organizational Architecture 235
11.3 Cascades 236
11.4 Architecture and Cascades 239
11.5 Intricacy and Viscosity 246
11.6 Missed Opportunities 248
11.7 Change and Mortality 253

Chapter 12: Opacity and Asperity 256
12.1 Limited Foresight: Opacity 256
12.2 Cultural Opposition: Asperity 261
12.3 Opacity, Asperity, and Reorganization 265
12.4 Change and Mortality 268

Chapter 13: Niche Expansion 271
13.1 Expanded Engagement 271
13.2 Architectural and Cultural Context 276
13.3 Age and Asperity 278
13.4 Distant Expansion 279
13.5 Expansion and Convexity 281

Chapter 14: Conclusions 286
14.1 Theoretical Unification 287
14.2 Common Conceptual Core 289
14.3 Inconsistencies Resolved 291
14.4 Theoretical Progress 293
14.5 Empirical Implications 298

Appendix A. Glossary of Theoretical Terms 305
Appendix B. Glossary of Symbols 313
Appendix C. Some Elementary First-Order Logic 321
Appendix D. Notation for Monotonic Functions 331
Appendix E. The Modal Language of Codes 334
Bibliography 339
Index 355