Networks and Organizations

Book excerpt: Networks & Organizations debunks the myth that we are in the midst of an unprecedented era of change & refocuses attention on the timeless problem of management--mobilizing individual & collective action. The authors take a fresh look at what actually happens in organizations & reveal how rhetoric & the search for identity--not structure, systems, & strategies that characterize the design perspective of organizations--are the real motivators of action in organizations. They then offer an alternative view in which robust action (not equilibrium), fit, & alignment should serve as a positive guide for managerial action.