Based on the view that theorizing is metaphorical, this paper examines the impact of cybernetic imagery on the study of organizations. Imagery treating organizations as "black boxes," "thermostats," "decision-makers," "morphogenic systems," "learning systems," and the concept of "organizational ecology" is explored. Developing the distinction between "cybernetics as technique" and "cybernetics as epistemology, " it is suggested that organization theory has for the most part used cybernetics in the former sense. The paper develops the view that the major challenge cybernetics poses conventional organization theory rests in its epistemological implications. Systematically developed, these have fundamental consequences for the way we view organizations and their mode of operation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ACKOFF, R. L.Towards a behavioral theory of communication. Management Science, 1958, 4, 218-234.
2.
ARGYRIS, C., & SCHON, D. A.Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978.
3.
ASHBY, W. R.Design for a brain. New York: Wiley, 1952.
4.
ASHBY, W. R.An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman and Hall, 1956.
5.
BATESON, G.Steps to an ecology of mind. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972.
6.
BEER, S.Cybernetics and management (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley, 1959.
7.
BEER, S.Brain of the firm. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972.
8.
BLAU, P. M.Power and exchange in social life. New York: Wiley, 1964.
9.
BOLTZMAN, L. In Brian McGuiness (Ed.), Theoretical physics and philosophical problems: Selected writings. Boston: Reidel, 1974.
10.
BUCKLEY, W.Sociology and modern systems theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1967.
11.
BURNS, T., & STALKER, G. M.The management of innovation. London: Tavistock Publications, 1961.
12.
COHEN, M. D., MARCH, J. G., & OLSEN, J. P.A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1972, 17, 1-25.
13.
CYERT, R. M., & MARCH, J. G.A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.1963.
14.
DEUTSCH, K. W.The nerves of government. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1963.
15.
EMERY, F. E., & TRIST, E. L.The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations, 1965, 18, 21-321.
16.
EMERY, F. E., & TRIST, E. L.Towards a social ecology. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973.
17.
FRIEND, J., & JESSOP, N.Local government and strategic choice. London: Tavistock Publications, 1969.
18.
FRIEND, J., POWER, J. M., & YEWLETT, C. J. L.Public planning: The inter-corporate dimension. London: Tavistock Publications, 1974.
19.
GADALLA, I. E., & COOPER, R. C.Towards an epistemology of management. Social Science Information, 1978, 17(3), 349-383.
20.
GALBRAITH, J. R.Organization design. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1973.
21.
HANNAN, M. T., & FREEMAN, J. H.The population ecology view of organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 1977, 82, 929-961.
22.
HAWLEY, A. H.Human Ecology. In David Sills, (Ed.). International encyclopedia of the Social sciences, (Vol. 4). New York: The Free Press, 1968.
23.
LAWLER, E. E., & RHODE, J. G.Information and control in organizations. New York: Goodyear, 1976.
24.
LEWIN, K.Field theory in social science. New York: Harper and Row, 1951.
25.
MARCH, J. G., & OLSEN, J. P.Ambiguity and choice in organizations. Bergen, Norway: Universitiets forlaget, 1976.
26.
MARCH, J. G., & SIMON, H. A.Organizations. New York: Wiley, 1958.
27.
MARUYAMA, M.The second cybernetics. American Scientist, 1963, 51, 164-179.
28.
McKELVY, W.Towards a holistic morphology of organizations. Santa Monica, Calif.: The Rand Corporation, 1970.
29.
MEAD, G. H.Mind, self and society, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934.
30.
MORGAN, G.Paradigms, metaphors and puzzle Solving in organization theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1980, 25, 605-622.
31.
MORGAN, G.Rethinking corporate strategy: A cybernetic perspective. Paper presented to the Conference on Nontraditional Approaches to Corporate Strategy, Los Angeles, November 1981.
32.
NEWCOMB, T. M.An approach to the study of communicative acts. Psychological Review, 1953, 60, 393-404.
33.
NEWELL, A., & SIMON, H. A.Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.
34.
PONDY, L. R., & MITROFF, I. I.Beyond open systems models of organization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1979, 1, 3-39.
35.
SECORD, P. F., & BACKMAN, C. W.Personality theory and the problem of stability and change in individual behavior: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Review, 1961, 68, 21-33.
36.
SIMON, H. A.Administrative behavior. New York: Macmillan, 1947.
37.
SIMON, H. A.Models of man. New York: Wiley, 1957.
38.
SIMON, H. A.The shape of automation for men and management. New York: Harper and Row, 1965.
39.
SIMON, H. A.The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1969.
40.
SIMON, H. A., & SIKLOSSY, L. (Eds.). Representation and meaning, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.
41.
SIMON, H. A.Applying information technology to organization design. Public Administration Review, 1973, 33, 3, 268-278.
42.
STEWARD, J. H.Theory of culture change. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1955.
43.
SUSAN, G. R.Autonomy at work. New York: Praeger, 1976.
44.
TRIST, E.S.A concept of organizational ecology. Australian Journal of Management, 1976.
45.
VICKERS, G.The art ofjudgment. London: Chapman and Hall, 1965.
46.
VICKERS, G.Value systems and social processes. London: Tavistock Publications, 1968.
47.
WEICK, K. E.Middle-range theories of social systems. Behavioral Science, 1974, 19(6), 357-367, 1974.
48.
WHITEHEAD, A. N.Science and the modern world. New York: Macmillan Co., 1925.
49.
WEINER, N.Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the animal and the machine (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1961.
50.
WEINER, N.The human use of human beings. Boston: Avon Books, Houghton Mifflin, 1967.
