Talking About Organizations Podcast

Please join us as continue our discussion of Oliver E. Williamson's famous 1981 article, "The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach." Williamson proposed several important constructs in the article such as the 'efficient boundary' and how asset specificity shapes organizational behaviors. What did we think of these ideas?

Following on a theme from the previous episode, we explore an important reading that bridges organization theory with economics. This was the explicit aim of Oliver E. Williamson’s famous article, “The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach,” published in the American Journal of Sociology in 1981. The article begins with a statement that the assumption of firms operating on a pro...

De-centralization as a guideline or strategy is thought to promote innovation and greater participation. Organizations that de-centralize as a matter of course may view centralized hierarchy as old-fashioned, complacent, even ossified. So, what about the virtues of centralization? One of the main arguments for greater centralization in organizations is that it brings greater efficiency.

In this final part, we step out of the debate and discuss centralization vs. decentralization as ourselves. So what do we think? The results may surprise you!

The debate continues with question N2: "Why do organizations oscillate between centralization and decentralization, and is there a golden mean?". Join in as we shift the context to more contemporary matters. What are the benefits and risks of centralizing or de-centralizing organizations in modern times?

How exciting! The podcasters engaging in debate over whether centralizing is better or should organizations de-centralize? Learn about how this tension shaped the early days of the United States while Ralph and Pedro face off against Dmitrijs and Tom! A special Thank You also goes out to Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings who set the tone and questions for this very first TAOP debate!

Episode 42 concludes as the podcasters discuss unlearning, present their takeaways and budding research questions based on Levitt & March's review of "Organizational Learning," our fifth episode in the Carnegie-Mellon series. What would it take for organizations to learn 'better'? How might we find out? Where does collective intelligence come in? Also see: Episode 4 on Organizational Routines, Epi...

Episode 42 continues as we debate the gaps and lingering questions in Levitt & March's review of "Organizational Learning," our fifth episode in the Carnegie-Mellon series. What did we think about the author's views on organizational memory? What about the levels of analysis used in the text? Find out our take on these and other questions.

Please join us for the fifth episode in our Carnegie-Mellon School series as we discuss Barbara Levitt and James G. March’s brilliant literature review of “Organizational Learning,” published in the Annual Review of Sociology in 1988. This work surveyed the literature across various streams in organizational learning up through the 1980s. Topics include learning from experience, organizational mem...

Near the end of Episode 41, we discussed the themes of member commitment to the organization and an organization’s commitment to its individual members. This arose in the context of our continuing discussions of the gig economy and its impact on our understandings of organization. The ‘gig economy’ was the subject of several previous episodes (such as Episode 18 on algorithmic management and Episo...

Our discussion of Gareth Morgan's classic 'Images of Organization' concludes as we discuss the modern-day implications of these metaphors. How can we use metaphor to better understand the interactions of organizations in the environment, and of organization and member commitment to each other? We also discuss possible areas of future research.

Our discussion of Gareth Morgan's Images of Organization continues as we explore the individual metaphors and compare them. What makes some metaphors better understood than others? How do they describe the positive and negative aspects of organizing?

Our discussion of Gareth Morgan's Images of Organization begins with an overview of the text and Morgan's use of metaphor to capture the essence of entire streams of literature into a simple idea. We also introduce several of the metaphors and show how together they tell the story of organization theory from the beginning. Join us for the final episode of Season 4 and ask yourself - which metaphor...

Final panel from our Symposium on Continuities, Disruptions and Management in the Gig Economy. This panel focused on methodological issues in researching gig and sharing economy, and featured Gretta Corporaal (Oxford), Mareike Mohlmann (WBS) and Rebecca Prentice (Sussex). Please enjoy!

Please join us for the first panel of the TAOP Symposium on Continuities, Disruptions and Management in the Gig Economy, held at the University of Sussex on 15 December 2017. In this first panel, Arianna Tassinari from Warwick Business School (also Episode 18), Sarah O'Connor from Financial Times, and Natalia Levina from NYU (and part 1 of this Special) discuss the different ways how one can under...

TAOP Symposium on the Gig Economy was a unique, one-day interdisciplinary symposium on the forms and effects of management in the contemporary sharing (a.k.a. gig) economy that took place on 15 December 2017 at the University of Sussex. Blending individual and panel presentations from leading scholars and commentators with group conversations, we wanted to examine the continuities – as well as dis...

During Episode 39 we explore a famous 1972 article in Administrative Science Quarterly from Cohen, March, and Olsen on the Garbage Can Model of Decision Making, which contained (above all things) a fully-documented computer program written in FORTRAN 66! The sidecast also included details of how they designed the program what its outputs were. As we discuss during the podcast, this was far from an...

Our discussion of “The Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice” by Cohen, March, & Olsen, concludes with our reflections on the article. The model was provocative for its time, but what have we learned in the forty years since now that the garbage can model is better understood and accepted as common practice in organizations? Other posts in the Carnegie Mellon School series: Episode 4 on Organ...

Our discussion of “The Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice” by Cohen, March, & Olsen, continues as the podcasters discuss the technical aspects of the model and its implications for modern practice. Also from the Carnegie-Mellon School series: Episode 4 on Organizational Routines, Episode 19 on Organizational Learning, Episode 29 on Business School Design,and our Series Introduction.

Please join us for the fourth episode in our series of podcasts focused on works from the Carnegie-Mellon School. For this episode, the podcasters tackle “The Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice” by Michael Cohen, James March, and Johan Olsen, published in Adninistrative Science Quarterly in 1972. The article was a radical departure from conventional thinking about choice and decision makin...

Our discussion of John Van Maanen's "Police Socialization" concludes with a more in-depth look at his methodology and use of 'covert' methods. As a participant-observer, Van Maanen's study included his participation in police training and joining patrols. Covert research challenges the principle of informed consent but may be necessary for conduct research on populations that are otherwise difficu...

Please join us as we continue talking about John Van Maanen's article, "Police Socialization: A Longitudinal Examination of Job Attitudes in an Urban Police Department." For Part 2, we look to other, more contemporary settings where similar socialization activities occur. How has our growing understanding of socialization shaped organizational life since 1975 when this article was written? How has...

Please join us as TAOP returns in 2018 to open a New Year with a discussion of John Van Maanen's classic work from 1975, "Police Socialization: A Longitudinal Examination of Job Attitudes in an Urban Police Department." In Part 1, Pedro, Dmitrijs, Tom and Miranda introduce the article - what Van Maanen tried to accomplish and, more importantly, how. The result was a major step forward in ethnograp...

Please join us as we welcome Professor Peter Adamson of the LMU in Munich and the amazing History of Philosophy without any Gaps Podcast to discuss Xenophon's Oeconomicus. The book conveys an Ancient Greek dialogue between Socrates and a young wealthy man named Critobulus who seeks to expand his wealth. Part 1 presents the background of the book and the main ideas it espouses. What was Xenophon tr...

Now that Peter Fleming has made his points, where do we go from here? That is the subject of Part 3 on "The Human Capital Hoax." The podcasters synthesize the text and offer ideas for future research and practice. An exciting debate you will not want to miss!