Routledge Organizations, Strategy and Society: The Orgology of Disorganized Worlds

Organizations are ubiquitous, from clubs and associations to firms and public agencies. They confer meaning to all of us, and our attachment to and membership of organizations have a profound effect on all areas of our lives. However, in our increasingly turbulent world, these organizations run the risk of disappearing or losing their legitimacy, creating a sense of pointlessness and absurdity. Organizations, Strategy and Society: The Orgology of Disorganized Worlds draws on neo-institutional and strategy theories of competitive advantage and develops an integrative approach to theorizing organizations and their behaviors, termed ‘orgology’. It explains that organizations can act strategically to protect and renew the meaning that individuals give to their lives. In so doing, organizations that survive and thrive impose their logics on society, thereby influencing what is legitimate or not. In turn, individuals must reinterpret their multiple associations with organizations and contribute to reinforcing or inhibiting social evolutions. This new way of understanding organizations’ relationships with society results in a reconsideration of management and the role of individuals in building their future. This book will be of interest to students at all levels, to researchers in organizational studies, strategic management and sociology, as well as to people willing to reorganize their world. Review ‘This is an engaging account of the loss of identity and the ways to remedy it in our organizational society. Durand ranges far and wide in his tour of organizational theory, sociology, and management and offers a unique take at changing our world.’ - Hayagreeva Rao, Atholl McBean Professor of Organizations, Stanford University, USA ‘Organizations, Strategy and Society provides a profound examination of the crucial role of organizations in creating meaning and how we experience social and economic life. Weaving together various strands of social theory, including the institutional logics perspective, strategy and organization theory, Durand explicates what he calls the study of orgology with a wealth of contemporary organizational illustrations. The agenda of linking the study of organizing to wider social processes is important, and should be required reading for all students interested in strategy and organization theory.’ - Michael Lounsbury, Thornton A. Graham Chair and Professor, University of Alberta, School of Business, Canada About the Author Rodolphe Durand is the GDF-Suez Professor of Strategy, academic director of the MSc in Strategic Management, and founder of the ‘Society and Organizations’ Research Center at HEC Paris, France.