Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay

by Charles Perrow

This classic in organizational theory provides a succinct overview of the principal schools of thought as it presents a critical, sociopsychological, and historical orientation to the field of organizational analysis. Vividly written, with theories made concrete by specific, student-oriented examples, it takes a critical view toward organizations, analyzing their impact on individuals, groups, and society as a whole. New chapters on economic theories of organization and the conditional power theory are among the features of this revised edition.

Genres: Sociology, Business, Social Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Politics, Academic

307 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Dana]

This book is brilliant! The author puts all the major organizational theories into historical and cultural context. Plus, he adds some perspicacious editorializing along the way. This is perfect for a grad seminar in org theory.

[Kyle]

A bit pro bureaucracy/top down mentality, but still valuable for looking at such systems.

[Michelle]

Not fun too read! The book takes easy concepts and writes them in difficult, hard to read texts!

[Richard]

It's been a long time since I read this, but I recall that it really was an eye-opener into the nature and role of bureaucracies. I've never been able to go into the DMV since without thinking about these lessons.

But I really should re-read it, since I'm sure I've forgotten 95% of the thing.

I also recall it is one of the three books that drove me to grad school, along with Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Allison's Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[Dan]

Still in the middle of this, but one of the best, liveliest, and shortest books I've ever read on bureaucracy and organizations.