Decisional Organization Theory: Towards an Integrated Framework of Organization

rumo a um quadro teórico integrado de Organização

Abstract

This paper develops the bases for a decisional organization theory. Important approaches, like sociological systems theory, partial and meta-organization, or organizationality, share the assumption that decisions are a central component of organizations. However, organization studies still fail to account fully for the role of decisions in the emergence and continuation of organization. Yet, while pre-modern societies could rely on institutionalized orders in the form of traditions and authorities, the contemporary world rests on a myriad of decisions to cope with societal complexities. We develop an integrated, decisional organization theory (decisional OT) in which we articulate several concepts of organization theory, thus presenting organization as both a system of decisions and a decided social order. Looking further at organization as continua, we distinguish between ‘entitative organizationality’, i.e., degrees of organizationality at the entity level, and ‘structural organizationality’, i.e., a combination of organizational elements. This approach constitutes an important development for OT because it helps us to analyze the complex layering and intertwining of social orders inside, outside, among, and as organization(s), and identifying future research on the nesting of organization and the maintenance of organizational boundaries.