It [a power based model of organization] sees organizations a intentional human constructions but not necessarily rational systems guided by official… - Charles Perrow

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It [a power based model of organization] sees organizations a intentional human constructions but not necessarily rational systems guided by official goals; as bargaining areas rather than cooperative systems; as systems of power rather than coercive institutions reflecting cultural norms, and as resources for other organizations and groups rather than closed systems. If we define organizations, then, as intentional human constructions wherein people and groups within and without the organization compete for outputs of interest them under conditions of unequal power, we have posed the issue of effectiveness quite differently

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About Charles Perrow

Charles B. Perrow (born February 9, 1925) is an American Emeritus Professor of sociology at and visiting professor at . He is the author of several books and many articles on organizations, and is primarily concerned with the impact of large organizations on society. Perrow graduated in 1960 at the University of California, Berkeley, supervised by Philip Selznick, with the unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, entitled "Authority, Goals, and Prestige in a General Hospital." Perrow's research interests broadened over the years. Nowadays they include "the development of bureaucracy in the 19th Century; the radical movements of the 1960s; Marxian theories of industrialization and of contemporary crises; accidents in such high risk systems as nuclear plants, air transport, DNA research and chemical plants; protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure; the prospects for democratic work organizations; and the origins of U.S. capitalism (source: yale.edu)."

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Alternative Names: Charles B. Perrow C. B. Perrow Charles Bryce Perrow
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The dominant group, reflecting the imperatives of the particular task that is most critical (to the organization), their own background characteristics (distinctive perspectives based on their training, career lines, and areas of competence) and the unofficial uses to which they put the organization for their own ends.

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Organizational theorists, at least since the pioneering work of Burns and Stalker, 1961 and Joan Woodward, 1965 and others in what came to be called the contingency school, have recognized that centralization is appropriate for organizations with routine tasks, and decentralization for those with nonroutine tasks. For an early statement see Perrow 1967, and Lawrence and Lorch, 1967.

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