Perspective---Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor

Brayden G. King (), Teppo Felin () and David A. Whetten ()
Additional contact information
Brayden G. King: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois 60208
Teppo Felin: Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602
David A. Whetten: Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602

Organization Science, 2010, vol. 21, issue 1, 290-305

Abstract: Organization theory is a theory without a protagonist. Organizations are typically portrayed in organizational scholarship as aggregations of individuals, as instantiations of the environment, as nodes in a social network, as members of a population, or as a bundle of organizing processes. This paper hopes to highlight the need for understanding, explicating, and researching the enduring, noun-like qualities of the organization. We situate the organization in a broader social landscape by examining what is unique about the organization as a social actor. We propose two assumptions that underlie our conceptualization of organizations as social actors: external attribution and intentionality. We then highlight important questions and implications forming the core of a distinctively organizational analytical perspective.

Keywords: organization theory; social actors; sovereignty; responsibility; organizational identity; goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0443 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:21:y:2010:i:1:p:290-305

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().