Organizing and Organizations

Citation

Fineman, S., Gabriel, Y., & Sims, D. (2010). Organizing & Organizations (4th ed.). Sage Publications.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition runs to about 500 pages and is built from an introduction followed by twenty-two short thematic chapters. The publisher describes the book as having an accessible, conversational tone, real-life examples and a strong critical approach, and as covering a wealth of concepts, research and literature on organisations and organisational behaviour. The chapter titles are unusually plain, naming everyday experiences of working life rather than theories, and the summaries below limit themselves to what those titles and the publisher's description show.

Introduction

The opening unit introduces the book's subject, organisations and the process of organising named in its title.

Entering and Leaving; Lifelong Learning; Motives and Motivating; Rules Are Rules; Buildings and Organizing

The titles of the first group suggest a working life followed from its edges: entering and leaving organisations, learning, motivation, rules, and the buildings in which organising takes place.

Leading; Politics and Deals; Influence and Power; Us and Them; Being Different?

The titles of these chapters point to leadership and to the political side of organisations: deals, influence and power, the boundary between "us" and "them", and difference. The publisher states that the chapter on Influence and Power is new to this edition.

Morals; Greening; Machines and Routines; Innovation and Change

This group takes up morals, environmental concerns ("Greening"), machines and routines, and innovation and change. The chapter on Innovation and Change is also new to this edition.

Feelings; Sex; Serious Joking; Virtuality; Career Shifts

The titles point to the emotional and social texture of work: emotions, sexuality, humour, working in virtual settings and changing careers.

Producing and Consuming; Working and Living; Learning and Organizing in Uncertain Times

The final chapters widen the frame to production and consumption, the balance of work and the rest of life, and how learning and organising proceed under uncertainty.

Key Concepts

Throughout the Book

• Organizing as well as organizations: the title treats organising as an activity people carry out, alongside organisations as structures.
• Power and influence: a chapter topic named as new in the fourth edition.
• Innovation and change: likewise a new chapter in this edition.
• Theoretical links: each chapter has a section that highlights the theory informing it.
• Glossary of key concepts: the book ends with a fully updated glossary.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Accessible and conversational. The publisher stresses the tone and real-life examples, and a review in Leadership and Organization Development, quoted by Sage, called it an excellent introductory text with concise, well-written coverage of the main concepts and a well-structured combination of case studies and theoretical discussion.
• Built-in learning tools. The fourth edition adds review questions, critical review questions for debate, and "reading on" sections pointing to journal articles available free on the companion website, as well as illustrations in every chapter.
• A critical outlook. The publisher says a strong critical approach is integrated throughout, which distinguishes the book from texts that present organisational behaviour as a set of techniques.
• Breadth of topics. The contents include morals, sex, serious joking, greening and virtuality alongside leadership and power, so the book covers more of everyday organisational life than its title suggests.

Limitations

• Selective rather than systematic. Topic-based chapters with everyday titles do not follow the standard sequence of individual, group and organisational levels, and a reader looking for a conventional survey of theories will have to assemble it from several chapters.
• An introduction, not a specialist text. The publisher presents the book as support for students of management, organisational behaviour and the psychology and sociology of organisations; the contents list has no chapters named for selection, testing or research methods, so students who need those should add a specialist text.
• Dated. Published in 2009–10, the book cannot cover later developments in technology and work, so the chapters on virtuality and uncertain times should be supplemented with recent sources.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within organisational psychology this is a general introduction with a critical, sociological flavour. Furnham's The Psychology of Behaviour at Work is a longer text that treats work behaviour from a mostly individual and psychological perspective, and Spector's Industrial and Organisational Psychology is a textbook of the science and practice of the field, with selection, training and performance. Chmiel, Fraccaroli and Sverke's Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology and the OpenStax Organizational Behavior are other introductory choices.

Read Fineman, Gabriel and Sims for a first, wide look at organisational life, then move to Furnham or Spector for systematic psychology, or to Morgan's Images of Organisation and Weick's Sensemaking in Organizations for theory. Dawson and Andriopoulos's Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation and Hayes's The Theory and Practice of Change Management go further into the topic of its Innovation and Change chapter.

How to Use This Book

The book is aimed at students of management, organisational behaviour and the psychology and sociology of organisations, and no specialist prerequisite is stated. Because the chapters are short and self-contained, they can be read in any order that suits a course.

For a first pass, read the Introduction, then Leading, Politics and Deals, Influence and Power, and Us and Them, which form the core of the organisational argument. Add chapters according to your interests, for example Feelings and Serious Joking for the emotional side of work. Use the review questions after each chapter, follow the "reading on" article for the topics that matter to you, and consult the glossary for terms. If your course assigns a different edition, check the chapter list, since the fourth edition added chapters.