Key Concepts in Organization Theory

IntroductionAgency TheoryAlienationAuthorityBureaucracyBusiness StrategyComplexity ScienceContested Exchange TheoryControlCooperativism Corporate GovernanceDecision MakingDiscourse in OrganizationsEnvironmental UncertaintyEnvironment-Organization InteractionFlexibilityGlobalizationIndustrial DemocracyInstitutional TheoryLabor Process TheoryLife Cycle ModelsMaterialityOrganization Structure and DesignOrganizational ChangeOrganizational CultureOrganizational Learning and Knowledge ManagementOrganizational SpacePostmodern Turn and Organization StudiesPower and PoliticsScientific Management Stakeholder TheoryStorytelling and Narrative ResearchStructuration TheorySystems TheoryTechnology and Organization StructureTransaction Cost Economics

Ann Cunliffe is Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Leeds. She previously held positions at the University of New Mexico, California State University, the University of New Hampshire, USA and the University of Hull, UK. She is also a Visiting Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil and the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Ann's current research interests lie at the intersection of organizational studies, philosophy and communications, to examine how organizational life, identities and action are shaped in living conversations. In particular, she is interested in exploring how we can engage in collaborative, responsive and ethical ways of managing organizations. Other interests include: leadership; self-work; sensemaking; collaboration; developing reflexive approaches to management research, practice and learning; and expanding the reach and 'rigor' of non-positivist qualitative research. Her recent publications include the co-authored book Key Concepts in Organization Theory with John Luhman (2012), and articles in Organizational Research Methods, Human Relations, Management Learning, the Journal of Management Studies, and Organization Studies. In 2002 she was awarded the Breaking the Frame Award from the Journal of Management Inquiry for 'the article that best exemplifies a challenge to existing thought'. Ann is currently co Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Management Learning and Consulting Editor of Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. She is a member of 8 international editorial boards, was Division Chair of the Critical Management Studies Division of the Academy of Management (2010) and organizes the biennial Qualitative Research in Management and Organization Conference. She received her PhD. and M.Phil. from Lancaster University, UK.

'Luhman and Cunliffe have provided a glossary of organization theory terms from agency to storytelling to transaction cost economics. In doing so they provide an important resource to any course on organizations, so students can make their path through the terminological jungle. Each chapter is a rest stop on the journey, providing helpful hints, pointing out the dangers of the terrain and the safest paths to follow' - Professor David Boje New Mexico State University





'Luhman and Cunliffe perform a valuable service, helping to capture and make accessible the richness of current organizational theory and behaviour' - Richard J. Badham, Professor of ManagementMacquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Austrailia