When organization fails: why authority matters

"When Organization Fails develops an entirely new field area of investigation, the study: of authority., which is only now beginning to be recognized as an area where a new generation of scholars can make their reputation as experts. The As a topic, of authority is has rarely rarelyif ever been addressed in depth in the literature on management and organizational communication, even though it is crucial to the maintenance of unity of purpose and action of the organization, and is a concept much freuently used cited by organizational members themselves. Utilizing two case studies, examined in depth and based on the accounts of those involved, this work book explores the pathology of authority, when it fails. It also offers a theoretical foundation that aims to illuminatinge the topic of authority by positioning it in communication theory. Theis volume, as well as being aimed at a general readership, is also intended for scholars and graduate students in organizational communication, leadershipdiscourse analysis, consultants and management experts worldwide"--

Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; CONTENTS; Acknowledgments; Introduction; The Literature; Widening the Search: Themes in Management Literature; This Book; Who Will Use the Book, and How?; PART I Organizational Adaptation to a Changing Social and Technological Environment: The Hazard of Dissonant Practitioner and Managerial Responses; 1 Thirdness as the Basis of Authority; Authority of Position Versus Authority of Expertise; Our Initial Hypotheses: The Chapter Plan; Peirce's Understanding of Thirdness; Greimas and Thirdness; 2 Entanglements of Authority; Simmel's Version of Thirdness.

Systemic ImplicationsWhy Authority Is Inherently Problematic; Why Organization Sometimes Fails: Our Hypothesis; A Word on Our Own Approach to Research; 3 "Paper Wraps Stones" (Management Kills Its Most Popular TV Program); Introduction; Seven Days; Watson's Account; LaPierre's Testimony; Mr. Walker's Account of the Same Events; Accounts and How they Construct Imbrication; 4 "Scissors Cut Paper" (The Producers Counter-attack); Introduction; Leiterman's Testimony; And the People in the Middle?; Haggan's Testimony; The "French Connection": The View from Montreal.

5 "Stones Break Scissors" (The Pres…