This dialectical analysis is guided by four basic principles--social construction, totality, contradiction, and praxis. The organization is seen as a concrete, multileveled phenomenon beset by contradictions that continuously undermine its existing features. (Author/IRT)

Building on Nagel's theory of social structure, this paper argues that the microsocial dynamics occasioned by new technologies systematically reverberate up levels of analysis. This theory is illustrated by ethnographic and sociometric data drawn from a study comparing usage of traditional and computerized imaging devices in two radiology…

The hypothesis that the effectiveness of an organization is determined by the consonance between its technology and its social structure is unsupported. (Author)

Comments on an earlier attempt to create a unified theoretical framework for the analysis of organizational structure. Discusses the nature of social structure and the problems involved with various conceptions of structure. (Author/RW)

Stern and Barley's article in this same "Administrative Science Quarterly" issue gives too much attention to work appearing in the core organization journals and not enough to findings reported in broader and more specialized social-science journals and the book literature. Surveying this broader domain suggests that organizational…

The social-systems perspective in organizational theory faded because the increasing complexity of social relations hindered determination of an appropriate unit of analysis. Also, the business-school environment in which organizational research occurred discouraged examination of broad social questions, promoted a particular approach to science,…

This study examined contextual and structural variables of 23 community, private, and agricultural colleges and technological institutes in Alberta and British Columbia. The Aston methodology employed discriminated structural differences in the four groups. (Author/WM)

The level of human support services provided by large manufacturing companies is not related to employee characteristics but to certain system variables, suggesting that services occur in response to system characteristics rather than to worker needs. (Author)

Closeness to the technological change, as rated by management, is used as a moderator variable, with the prediction that the technological change would affect the work and social structure, satisfaction, and absenteeism of the close group. (Author/IRT)