The Social Psychology of Organizing (Topics in Social Psychology Series) [Paperback]

Karl E Weick (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 2nd edition (January 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0075548089
• ISBN-13: 978-0075548089
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #775,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karl Weick is the Rensis Likert College Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan.

He is one of the leading figures in the American Academy of Management and he is seen by many as one of the most influential thinkers and writers in the field.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding how organizations really work, July 15, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Social Psychology of Organizing (Topics in Social Psychology Series) (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I've ever read about understanding how organizations really work. Since we spend most of our waking lives inside organizations, that's pretty useful. Weick is an academic and you'll have to work a bit to get his points, but no where near as much as the average in academia. Most of the stuff you'll find in the average business section on organizations is either wrong or a watered down version of Weick's thinking. Why not go to the source?

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do something. Now decide what have you done., November 6, 2000

By 

"dariusz_jemielniak" (Warsaw Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Social Psychology of Organizing (Topics in Social Psychology Series) (Paperback)

Weick in his brillant book shows how different is organizational practice from what we try to believe in. He suggests a completely different from traditional approach to organizations - he claims, that in organizations people attach sense to their actions AFTER they perform them, but afterwards try to reason they 'had decided' before. Unclear as it may seem, it is pretty easy to grasp from the book. Weick also develops a notion of 'organizing' rather than 'organizations' and shows how processes are important in describing actions performed by organizational actors. The book is old, but is worth studying for researchers, scholars and even the consultants.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A grammar for understanding, March 28, 2000

By 

Jan Lelie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Social Psychology of Organizing (Topics in Social Psychology Series) (Paperback)

Weick book is based on a few simple principles: organising is a kind or reiterated, continuous, evolutionary process of interaction. All kind of simple theories on processes are true, most of all the process of calling something "true". Its is true because it has been called so. Our goal: reduce equivocality, equivocality introduced by (external) changes. The book contains examples, case studies, facts, theories and cartoons on the way we organize organizations. It has even picture you may finish yourself! Somebody stole my edition years ago - or thought i had agreed on a long lease contract -, and that book was loaded with annotation, dirty and used. Need i say more?