Amendments to Organizational Theorizing
September 1974
in “
Academy of Management Journal
”
TLDR Karl E. Weick suggested focusing on everyday events and smaller groups to improve organizational theory and urged the inclusion of nonobvious aspects for better explanations.
In the 1974 article, Karl E. Weick called for a reevaluation of organizational theory, suggesting a shift in focus from large businesses to everyday events and micro-organizations to enhance hypothesis generation and theoretical development. He criticized the narrow focus on complex organizations and recommended using "portable probes" like vocal and monetary questions to uncover social regularities. Weick also highlighted the limitations of rational models and the need for organizations to balance stability and flexibility. He urged scholars to study nonobvious phenomena and incorporate unseen properties into their theories for stronger explanations and predictions. The paper emphasized the potential of naturalistic settings and alternative sources to reveal subtle features of social cohesion and structure, and to improve the generalizations in organizational theory.
