One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Study of the Structural Requisites of Organization

Abstract

The paper utilizes Solzhenitsyn's novel, One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, to portray the operation of organization structure at its least understood level as a psychological artifact. The novel provides a rare opportunity to observe structure 'in action' at the level of the organizing scheme employed by the central character, Shukhov, in his quest for survival. The unencumbered view of structure in operation as a psychological artifact leads to an understanding of the paradox which organization structure presents to organization analysts and theoreticians.

The principal source of the paradox lies in an understanding of the transformation process which structure performs at the psychological level. The organizing power of structure lies in its ability to reduce a complex field of relationships into a manageable set of objects and categories. In the process of this transformation the very medium of thought is altered in a way that, by definition, obscures the field of relationships whose interplay defines the basic structural requisites of the situation. As a result, our understanding of structure either in relation to a given situation or as a phenomenon is distorted by the fact that it is the form which structure takes rather than the substantive function which it performs which draws our attention.

The paper concludes with the argument that an understanding of this paradox takes the mystique out of structure and provides the first step in the development of a conceptual scheme which will provide a basis for the more systematic study of structure.

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