Antonio Strati: Theory and Method in Organization Studies. - book review

Organization Studies, May, 2003 by Jean-Claude Thoenig

2000, London: Sage Publications. 256 pages.

Many introductory books deal with the domain of organization studies. Those published in the 1970s and 1980s looked identical: a first chapter on classical theory and taylorism, a second on the behavioral revolution and the Carnegie school, a third on the sociology of bureaucratic institutions, etc. The spectacular growth of business education combined with the diffusion of all kinds of new organizational templates has expanded the market in more recent years. Differentiation has become a must for publishers and authors.

What selection to make is not an easy task for students and teachers. Some introductory books are very long, quite boring to read and expensive to buy, while others are short, more affordable and sometimes even superficial in terms of content. Their focus also varies. In some cases students are considered not to be at all familiar with social sciences, and the book looks more like an applied list of action-oriented recipes. In other cases readers are supposed to be mainly driven by philosophical and epistemological concerns enabling them to understand or to be critical of the modem world. Another difference reflects the regional or epistemic roots of the authors. The content may barely acknowledge contributions made by non-American scholars, as is the case with many American books (this reflects a wider phenomenon, as suggested by the percentage of citations of foreign research contributions in academic publications in the social sciences in 1997: Germany 75.1%; France 74.6%; United Kingdom 49.5%; USA 17.2%. See National Science Board [2000]). Or the introduction may in fact be a presentation of one specific paradigm to which the author feels close or of which the author is an advocate, leaving aside a more general state of the art.

This book by Antonio Strati, a professor of sociology at the universities of Trento and Sienna, consists of two parts. The first part is subdivided into five chapters covering themes and problems. Organizations, whether formal, networks or without walls, are defined and interpreted as the centers of gravity of contemporary societies. A wide variety of schools and models dealing with organizations as social contexts are described, starting with the scientific management approach and ending with semiotics and the dramaturgical school. Each school or model favours certain subjects of empirical study and explores distinctive features, all listed elegantly by Strati. Chapter 3 suggests how analysts wishing to avoid aligning themselves with particular organizational settings, or wishing to remain independent of a priori definitions of organizations, should behave. According to Strati, a social construction of reality perspective should be adopted in order to weave the organization together. The fourth chapter explo res the questions to be asked in order to investigate textures of organizing and organizational life. It deals with actors and subjects, social order and action, tacit knowledge and the capacity for aesthetics. Chapter 5 identifies the current agenda of the domain. Thematic continuities include power and the negotiation of the organizational order, alienation and the governance of organizational structures, participation, institutionalization, and decision-maldng. Emerging themes deal with gendered organizations, and organizational space and time.

The second part of the book deals with research and methods. Three chapters provide inputs on how to design a research project, and with the help of which techniques. They also warn the reader that the toolkit is not neutral and does not provide any interpretation of empirical phenomena. Measurement should be handled with care given its pervasive character. Qualitative methods are also presented, and issues related to interpretation are discussed in detail. Several pages deal with computer programs applied to the interpretation of organizational texts.

Such a book should attract beginners as well as seasoned scholars. It is welcome in many ways.

It is simultaneously European and internationally oriented. It offers acceptable coverage of a wide array of contributions, including perspectives such as Italian, German or French work which has not been published in A-ranked journals or has not been translated into English. 'The hegemony of English is a crucial issue for the study of organizations as social contexts, because it is not a medium but instead constitutes the actual space of organizational thought' (p. 131). It also deals with new advances in knowledge in a balanced and open-minded manner. Theories dealing with organizations as cognitive constructs, hypertexts or sensory experiences are considered equally important or relevant as more classical issues such as decision-making, power and learning. Listing about 450 references, the bibliography covers at the same time past and contemporary authors, mainstream contributions and less-known publications.

The book argues that the classical and neo-classical legacies remain valid. At the same time their ability to explain our world is on a declining curve. Their agenda represents only part of the agenda that organization studies should deal with. Strati considers knowledge in the field as somewhat composite. He questions the domination of the domain by a so-called scientific or logico-rational tradition.