In this book the author lays the foundations for a new political economy of information. The information space, or I-Space is the conceptual framework in which organizations, institutions and cultures are being transformed by new information and communication technologies. In the penultimate chapter, the I-Space’s usefulness as an explanatory framework is illustrated with an application: a case study of China’s modernization. Information Space proposes a radical shift in the way that we approach the emerging information age and the implications it holds for societies, organizations and individuals.

This is a comprehensive, systematic casebook which demonstrates the contribution of research to the formulation and resolution of organisational problems actually faced by managers. The cases are presented in clusters which centre on a particular aspect of organisational behaviour: motivation, groups, technology, leadership, structure, change and development. Each cluster is introduced by comments on the cases and references to the theoretical literature. The introduction reviews the case method and provides suggestions for using it.

An understanding of the nature and forms of organisation, particularly with reference to industrial societies, is a key area in sociological analysis. This book discusses and explains what concepts to employ and what analytical procedures to adopt as well as conveying a sense of the theoretical and empirical diversity involved in the study of organisations. Among the questions explored are: why do we classify organisations in particular ways and for what purpose? how can on explore the relationships pertaining to an organisation and its environment? what issues are raised by the existence of many varied and often competing organisations in industrial societies?

This volume contrasts the life and problems of organizations in many parts of the world and highlights the differences between those societies as reflected in their different institutional sectors such as manufacturing, commerce, social services and government administration. In so doing, the book contributes to the theoretical foundations of the sociology of organizations by revealing previously unseen relationships between societies and institutions, offering an original synthesis of available research.

This book aims at clarifying the role of materiality, spaces, digitality and embodiment in institutional dynamics from the perspective of Management & Organization Studies. Presenting a rich set of theoretical, methodological and epistemological advances on materiality and institutions, it also gives voice to distinctive and diverse perspectives on materiality in institutions, structuring chapters into four major topics: artefacts and objects, digitality and information, space and time, body and embodiment. This book sparks discussion and debate about ontological dimensions of Management & Organization Studies, including post-discursive, visual, phenomenological and material. With a foreword by Professor Thomas B. Lawrence, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

The diverse topics in this volume bring together developments in the field of organization studies. Although the approaches are by no means undifferentiated the articles share a commitment to a revitalized organizational analysis, an historically based analysis and one which attempts to understand the structure and impact of organizations in terms of the location of these organizations within structure of class and power.

The United States Internal Revenue Service introduced a multi-million dollar program to automate its operations in the early 1980s. This book describes a multidisciplinary study of the experiences of several thousand users in this program, based primarily on questionnaires, observation and interviews. The case study gives valuable guidance to managers and their consultants involved in planning introduction of new office technology, as well as providing more academic insights into aspects of human behaviour under changing working conditions.