The Nerves of Organization: a Genealogical Discourse of Organizational Theory and Its Threads

This book examines the theory of organization in the context of the changes that have characterized the evolution of organizations in our society over the years. It choreographs the intellectual attentions that have been focused on the subject matter of organizational theory over these periods and, the accompanying paradigmatic influences such attentions have elicited. In the process, the eclectic disputations over the issue of ideological, philosophical or conceptual preeminence vis-à-vis the subject matter of organizational theory and its focus were addressed. The pedigree of organizational theory and its relevance to the anatomy of real organization was traced. This enabled a proper discussion of the classical works of theorists of repute who have contributed to the expansion of the frontiers of our knowledge in the area to the extent that their works have become indispensable reference points which scholars and researchers can only ignore at their own perils. The concept of organization was examined as a prelude to the genealogical discourse of the threads of organizational theory. Against this background, the evolution of the subject was thoroughly examined.