Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis

by Gibson Burrell, Gareth Morgan

The authors argue in this book that social theory can usefully be conceived in terms of four broad paradigms, based upon different sets of meta-theoretical assumptions with regard to the nature of social science and the nature of society. The four paradigms - Functionalist, Interpretive, Radical Humanist and Radical Structuralist - derive from quite distinct intellectual traditions, and present four mutually exclusive views of the social work. Each stands in its own right, and generates its own distinctive approach to the analysis of social life. The authors provide extensive reviews of the four paradigms, tracing the evolution and inter-relationships between the various sociological schools of thought within each. They then proceed to relate theories of organisation to this wider background. This book covers a great range of intellectual territory. It makes a number of important contributions to our understanding of sociology and organisational analysis, and will prove an invaluable guide to theorists, researchers and students in a variety of social science disciplines. It stands as a discourse in social theory, drawing upon the general area of organisation studies - industrial sociology, organisation theory, organisational psychology, and industrial relations - as a means of illustrating more general sociological themes. In addition to reviewing and evaluating existing work, it provides a framework for appraising future developments in the area of organisational analysis, and suggests the form which some of these developments are likely to take.

Genres: Sociology, Social Science, Cultural, Reference, Management

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1979

Reviews

[Teroluoma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems to be a classic in business studies at doctoral level because it describes the theory foundation of organizational studies. However, this book is mainly built on the critical writings of Marx and Weber. It totally ignores for example Ludwig von Mises, which is unbelievable! I personally prefer Mises' The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science compared to this one.

[Esther Neven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent book for starting a PhD. Burrell and Morgan giev bring you an overview of paradigma in Social Sciences, even from philosofical viewpoint.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pertama membaca buku ini memang membuka banyak wawasan tentang apa yang dimaksud dengan asumsi paradigmatik. Asumsi menentukan bagaimana kita membangun ilmu pengetahuan. Epat paradigma (fungsionalis, interpretif, radikal humanis, radikal strukturalis) dijelaskan berdasarkan asumsi atas ilmu dan asumsi atas masyarakat.

Namun harus hati-hati benar supaya tidak terpenjara ya... Perlu diingat bahwa tidak ada asumsi tentang Tuhan. Bottom linenya: semua paradigma yang dijelaskan memang sekuler.