Organisational Theories and Models

  • Pietro Previtali
Chapter

Abstract

The intent of this chapter is to illustrate various organisational theories that were developed in the last century, beginning from “scientific management”, also called “Taylorism”, to the more recent theories of “population ecology”, “new institutionalism” and “transaction cost theory”. We will illustrate the current state of organisational theories and follow its evolution along paths both convergent and divergent, before arriving at a point where an unequivocal understanding of organisational theories and models is difficult. Our attention will then turn to neo-institutional theory, and we will explore how organisations attempt to incorporate norms by drawing from their environments. Here, we illustrate the concept of “institutional isomorphism” as a fundamental explanation for the homogenisation of organisational forms and compliance to norms and laws by articulating three distinct types: “mimetic isomorphism”, “normative isomorphism” and “coercive isomorphism”.

Keywords

Organisational Theory Resource Dependence Theory Transaction Cost Theory Market Governance Mimetic Isomorphism 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Pietro Previtali
    • 1
  1. 1.Economics and Management ScienceUniversity of PaviaPaviaItaly

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