The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organizational theory:
Organizational theory – the interdisciplinary study of social organizations. Organizational theory also concerns understanding how groups of individuals behave, which may differ from the behavior of individuals. The theories of organizations include bureaucracy, rationalization (scientific management), and the division of labor.
Each theory provides distinct advantages and disadvantages when applied. The classical perspective emerges from the Industrial Revolution in the private sector and the need for improved public administration in the public sector.
Forms Conglomerate Community organization Formal organization Articles of organization Corporate structure Self-regulatory organization Functional organization Informal organization Cooperative Non-governmental organization International organization Intellectual property organization Membership organization Charitable organization Consumer organization Multidimensional organization Organic organisation Pacifist organization Participatory organization Social network Collaborative network Social organization Social enterprise Umbrella organization Emergent organization Joint venture Sister organization
Types Advocacy group Employers' organization Front organization Gang Hybrid organization Military organization Meta-organization Mutual organization Professional services network Trade association Virtual organization
Concepts Co-determination Group concept mapping Collective action Corporatism Decentralization Decoupling (organizational studies) Deliberation Fail fast Hawthorne effect Human resources Intention Institutional logic Just-in-time learning Learning organization Maturity model Metadesign Model of hierarchical complexity New Public Management Organizational patterns Participative decision-making in organizations Principal-agent problem Social system Sociotechnical system Superior-subordinate communication Technology–organization–environment framework Voluntary redundancy
I/O psychology
Job characteristic theory Leader–member exchange theory Organisation climate Organizational identification Requisite organization Safety culture Trait activation theory
Design
Adhocracy Cellular organizational structure Departmentalization Flat organization Hierarchical organization Technostructure
Development
Organizational behavior Organizational behavior management Organizational culture Organizational effectiveness Organizational engineering Organizational identity Organizational digital identity Organizational identification Organizational safety Organizational space
Theories Actor network theory Critical theory Contingency theory Imprinting (organizational theory) Internalization theory Institutional theory Modernization theory Order theory Organizational information theory Resource dependence theory Social network theory Stakeholder theory Strategic Choice Theory Systems theory
Themes Bureaucracy Collective intentionality Diversity, equity and inclusion Public administration Sociocracy
Aspects Organizational analysis Organizational network analysis Organizational assimilation Organizational chart Organizational ecology Organizational ethics Organizational justice Organizational technoethics Organizational performance Organisational semiotics
Branches
History of organizations Industrial organization Organisation climate Organizational adaptation Organizational communication Organizational storytelling Organizational economics Organizational capital Organizational life cycle Organizational learning Organizational memory Organizational metacognition Ambidextrous organization
People Chester Barnard Dwight Waldo Elton Mayo Frederick Winslow Taylor Herbert A. Simon Mary Parker Follett Max Weber Ulbo de Sitter
Major works Cyert, Richard & March, James (1963). A Behavioral Theory of the Firm Simon, Herbert A. (1947). Administrative Behavior Weber, Max (1968). Economy and Society Waldo, Dwight (1948). The Administrative State Senge, Peter (1990). The Fifth Discipline Barnard, Chester (1938). The Functions of the Executive Lipset, Seymour Martin et al. (1956). Union Democracy
Related lists Outline of academic disciplines Outline of industrial organization Outline of management Outline of sociology
References
Further reading
External links
Organization theory, Britannica Organization Theory, SAGE Publications Organizations and Organization Theory, Stanford Graduate School of Business