Modernism, Post Modernism and Organizational Analysis 3: The Contribution of Jacques Derrida

1989 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
Formal Organization ◽  
Post Modernism ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Essential Function ◽  
The Stability

This paper, the third in a series on the relevance of the modernist-post modernist debate to organizational analysis (Cooper and Burrell 1988, Burrell 1988), examines the work of Jacques Derrida. Specifically, Derrida's work is viewed as a contribution to the analysis of process (as opposed to structure) in social systems. In this context, three interrelated themes of his work - deconstruction, writing, 'difference' — are described in some detail and their implications explored for social and organizational analysis. Derrida's account of the logic of writing shows it to be fundamental to the division of labour and therefore to significant dimensions (complexity, formalization) of formal organization. Since 'organization theuries' are themselves products of writing and the division of labour, their essential function is to explain and justify the structures they represent, they are therefore more concerned with maintaining their own consistency and the stability of the organized world they describe rather than critical understanding. This point is illustrated by a detailed deconstruction of two major approaches to the study of bureaucracy (the 'formalist' and 'expertise' models) in organization theory. Finally, it is suggested that the affinity between the logic of writing and the division of labour underlies Michel Foucault's concept of knowledge-power and the development of areas of professionalized knowledge such as accountancy.

Copyright and information service provision in public university libraries in Kenya

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 375-388
Author(s):  
Salome W. Mathangani ◽  
Japheth Otike
Keyword(s):  
Organization Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Public University ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Information Services ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
General Direction ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Copyright law supposedly brings a balance between copyright owners and information users as a way of creating a harmonious relationship. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Kenya’s Copyright Act and the provision of information services in public university libraries in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach The study was informed by both the organization theory and the social systems theory which, respectively, provided a base for discussion on the library and its basic functions, and an interdisciplinary approach that accommodate library services and law. Data were collected from a sample of 77 librarians from public universities libraries, and analyzed using the qualitative method. Findings The study established that librarians were reasonably aware of the copyright Act. However, they were apprehensive and uncertain about copyright effect on the library. Evidence from the study showed that librarians needed to extend their knowledge and understanding of the copyright law for the effective provision of information services. The paper concludes that there is scope for librarians, using their wealth of knowledge and expertise, to make relevant and useful suggestions on copyright. Such contribution would assist in bringing harmony in the use of copyrighted materials. Originality/value These findings are original and will be useful in giving general direction on copyright. The study highlights the important issue of universities as parent institutions providing needed leadership in the copyright area.

scholarly journals Polymorphism and division of labour in a socially complex ant: neuromodulation of aggression in the Australian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1811) ◽  
pp. 20150704 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Frances Kamhi ◽  
Kelley Nunn ◽  
Simon K. A. Robson ◽  
James F. A. Traniello
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Oecophylla Smaragdina ◽  
Minor Worker ◽  
Task Specialization ◽  
Territorial Defence ◽  
Weaver Ant ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Worker Size ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

Complex social structure in eusocial insects can involve worker morphological and behavioural differentiation. Neuroanatomical variation may underscore worker division of labour, but the regulatory mechanisms of size-based task specialization in polymorphic species are unknown. The Australian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina , exhibits worker polyphenism: larger major workers aggressively defend arboreal territories, whereas smaller minors nurse brood. Here, we demonstrate that octopamine (OA) modulates worker size-related aggression in O. smaragdina . We found that the brains of majors had significantly higher titres of OA than those of minors and that OA was positively and specifically correlated with the frequency of aggressive responses to non-nestmates, a key component of territorial defence. Pharmacological manipulations that effectively switched OA action in major and minor worker brains reversed levels of aggression characteristic of each worker size class. Results suggest that altering OA action is sufficient to produce differences in aggression characteristic of size-related social roles. Neuromodulators therefore may generate variation in responsiveness to task-related stimuli associated with worker size differentiation and collateral behavioural specializations, a significant component of division of labour in complex social systems.

Culture, Humanitarian Knowledge and Self-Organization Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-351
Author(s):  
Georgy G. Malinetsky
Keyword(s):  
Organization Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Technological Revolution ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
The Future ◽  
Cultural Choice ◽  
Development Paths

In the 1950s, Charles Snow wrote about the growing gap between the humanities and natural science cultures. He saw this as a great danger both for science itself and for all humankind. In Russia, it was complemented by a crisis of humanitarian knowledge. The article considers the ways to overcome this crisis and build a bridge between cultures.The solution of these problems is associated with the development of interdisciplinary approaches in general, and the theory of self-organization in particular. Synergetics today represents an approach that lies at the intersection of subject knowledge, philosophical reflection and mathematical modeling. It allows you to solve problems that go beyond individual scientific disciplines. Many of them require an analysis of processes and factors in rational, emotional and intuitive spaces.The article shows that the ongoing humanitarian and technological revolution, the tasks of designing the future, increase the role of humanitarian knowledge. The author substantiates the importance of a civilizational approach to humanitarian culture and considers the cultural issues of the unique civilization of Russia. There is outlined a number of specific steps to overcome the crisis of Russian humanitarian knowledge.The concept of cultural challenge is of particular importance among the problems for which solutions are proposed. The transition from the industrial to the post-industrial phase of the civilization development and the widespread use of artificial intelligence systems will free from work about half of people. The social stability and prospects for the civilization development are determined by the ability of culture to make their life complete, meaningful and creative. The use of interdisciplinary approaches in the education system of Russia is of fundamental importance in the course of the humanitarian and technological revolution. The organizational and financial reforms of the last thirty years have led education to a deep crisis. The interdisciplinary approaches are needed in order to balance the wishes of the programs authors, the opportunities of students and to correlate the training received with the prospects for the country’s development. The revision of the content and forms of education today is becoming a problem not only for teachers and scientists, but also for the entire national culture.The imperative of our country’s cultural development is the image of the future. In the industrial era, there was an idea of universality of the ways of social systems development. In the postindustrial reality, the world becomes more complex, diversity increases. At the current point of bifurcation, several development paths open up. A civilization’s cultural choice, based on tradition, scientific forecasting and the image of the future, becomes fundamental. Interdisciplinary approaches can play a fundamental role in shaping such a cultural choice.

scholarly journals Reciprocity and behavioral heterogeneity govern the stability of social networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 2993-2999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roslyn Dakin ◽  
T. Brandt Ryder
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Network Stability ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Behavioral Heterogeneity ◽  
The Stability

The dynamics of social networks can determine the transmission of information, the spread of diseases, and the evolution of behavior. Despite this broad importance, a general framework for predicting social network stability has not been proposed. Here we present longitudinal data on the social dynamics of a cooperative bird species, the wire-tailed manakin, to evaluate the potential causes of temporal network stability. We find that when partners interact less frequently and when social connectedness increases, the network is subsequently less stable. Social connectivity was also negatively associated with the temporal persistence of coalition partnerships on an annual timescale. This negative association between connectivity and stability was surprising, especially given that individual manakins who were more connected also had more stable partnerships. This apparent paradox arises from a within-individual behavioral trade-off between partnership quantity and quality. Crucially, this trade-off is easily masked by behavioral variation among individuals. Using a simulation, we show that these results are explained by a simple model that combines among-individual behavioral heterogeneity and reciprocity within the network. As social networks become more connected, individuals face a trade-off between partnership quantity and maintenance. This model also demonstrates how among-individual behavioral heterogeneity, a ubiquitous feature of natural societies, can improve social stability. Together, these findings provide unifying principles that are expected to govern diverse social systems.

Drawing the Technologies of Improving the Methods of Crisis Management Based on a Complex Approach

2019 ◽  
pp. 222-240
Author(s):  
Nelu Mocanu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
Complex Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Politics ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
The Stability

The purpose of any modern economic politics is to ensure the stability and economic growth. In order to achieve this goal, each economic agent models (builds) an individual economic strategy. The building of the actual economic model is influenced by many factors – political, geographical, national, and cultural. Today, by the notion of crisis, we understand an aggravation of the discrepancies of the social-economic system that threaten its stability. Specialist that deal with problems of crisis management claim that measures must be taken when the financial results of the enterprise become unsatisfactory, when symptoms of an unfavorable situation of the activity of enterprise appear. This chapter presents the economic-organizational analysis of the strategies applied in the anti-crisis management.

Partition signed social networks by spectral features and structural balance

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (19) ◽  
pp. 1950211
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Zhu ◽  
Yinghong Ma
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Structural Balance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Signed Social Networks ◽  
Spectral Algorithm ◽  
Community People ◽  
Signed Network ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Relationship

In social networks, individuals are usually but not exactly divided into communities such that within each community people are friendly to each other while being hostile towards other communities. This is in line with structural balance theory which enables a comprehensive understanding of the stability and tensions of social systems. Yet, there may be some conflicts such as the intra-community negative edges or inter-community positive edges that affect the balancedness of the social system. This raises an interesting question of how to partition a signed network for minimal conflicts, i.e., maximum balancedness. In this paper, by analyzing the relationship between balancedness and spectrum space, we find that each eigenvector can be an indicator of dichotomous structure of networks. Incorporating the leader mechanism, we partition signed networks to maximize the balancedness with top-k eigenvectors. Moreover, we design an optimizing segment to further improve the balancedness of the network. Experimental data both from real social and synthetic networks demonstrate that the spectral algorithm has higher efficiency, robustness and scientificity.

Ecology and Society: a Lesson for Organization Theory, from the Logic of Economics

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-348
Author(s):  
James A. Robins
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Organizational Ecology ◽  
Neoclassical Economics ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
General Logic ◽  
Social Theories

Recent work on organizational ecology has helped to clarify the discussion of organiza tion-environment relations by providing a precise analytical distinction between the organization and its environment. However, the clarity of the distinction also exposes serious problems in the population perspective on organizations. The fact that ecology has been wedded to evolutionism cripples it in dealing with some of the central issues of organizational analysis. This paper looks at ways in which the precision of ecology may be combined with social and economic theories other than evolutionism to provide a powerful analysis of the organization in its social environment. Neoclassical economics serves as a model for the sort of theory that can be used to replace evolutionism. The paper concludes by examining the underlying axiomatic structure of neoclassical economics and outlining the general logic required to link ecological and social theories for the purposes of organizational analysis.

Miejsce pracy w Marksowskim humanizmie

Etyka ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Kuderowicz
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
A Value ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Free Development ◽  
Spontaneous Expression ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
The Individual

The article deals with the attitude of Marx and Engels towards the appraisal of labour as a value, and the relation between labour and the implementation of the principle of universal development of the individual personality. First, the changes in their views on the appraisal of labour are discussed. In his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts Marx understood labour as a spontaneous expression of human thought and the formation of a new environment in which man recognizes his own qualities. In that period Marx considered value to be an affirmation of human life and a requirement put to the individual and to society. In his later, mature works Marks refused to consider an act of labour as value and defined it as conquering nature. The act of labour was to Marx no longer a value but a process which is giving value to human products and, therefore, is a necessary condition of human existence in all social systems. Marx did not regard the act of labour as a postulate or an ideal. In his opinion, the act of labour acquired value depending on its effects for the universal development of all individuals. The Marxian ideal of a perfect man implied a series of postulates relating to the organization of labour. The author criticizes Raymond Aron’s interpretation of Marxian humanism. In the works of Marx, Aron perceives a contradiction between the postulate of universal labour and the postulate of leisure in the meaning of condition in which the idea of the perfect man is realized. According to the author, from the ideal of a perfect man results the postulate of obligatory labour for all members of the society, i.e., that everybody should contribute to the development of the productive forces in order to secure the material conditions for the development of their personality. The realization of Marxian humanism requires also the maintenance of definite proportions between labour determined by the social division of labour (necessary in this sense), and leisure which should imply not only resting but also activity towards a free development of various individual abilities. In the works of Marx there is no contradiction but a complementary relation between labour and leisure. Pobierz

Two Faces of Organizational Irony: Endemic and Pragmatic

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1427-1447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hoyle ◽  
Mike Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Organization Theory ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Organizational Analysis ◽  
Verbal Irony ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Future Theory ◽  
Change Efforts

This paper puts forward a perspective on organizational irony framed in terms of two reciprocal faces, as a contribution to the developing interest in irony as a tool for organizational analysis. Endemic irony explores theoretical approaches implying that irony is a characteristic of all organizations, extended by contingent manifestations in contemporary organizations. Pragmatic irony conceptualizes how organization members engage in ironic strategies and deploy verbal irony as modes of coping — with both endemic discrepancies between intention and outcome, and contingent contradictions generated through major change efforts. This perspective is offered as a heuristic for exploring organizations whose members are inherently confronted by irony. First, those philosophical, literary and organization theory approaches to irony are reviewed which relate most closely to organizational irony. Second, the endemic nature of organizational irony is elaborated. Third, distinctive manifestations of irony in contemporary organizations that extend endemic irony are discussed. Fourth, instances of pragmatic irony in contemporary organizations, conceived as the reciprocal of endemic irony, are explored. Finally, the value of an ironic perspective as a means of understanding organizations is asserted and suggestions offered for future theory-building and research.

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