Organizations, Strategy and Society

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

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.

Part I:Entry. Disorganized Worlds 1.The flaw in the model 2.The organization, carrier of meaning 3.Orgology: the path of intermediaries Part II: Entry. Two Sources of Disorganization 4.Solutions and co-constructing meaning 5.Organizational Insanity 6.Meaning Depreciation Part III:Entry. The Fluctuating Legitimacy of the Logics of Action 7.The Three Dimensions of the Public Space 8.Multiple Logics of Action 9.Logic of the Market and Performance Tests Part IV:Entry. The Disjointed History of Temporary Advantages 10.Competitive Advantage 11.The History of Advantages 12.The Insignificant Individual Part V:Entry. Re-Ensensing the World 13.The Exquisite Corpse and the Reprise of the World 14.From a World for Us to A World for Others 15.Orgology and Managements Conclusion: Changing the World through Organizations