Origin & Evolution of Organizational Science

Today’s Agenda:
 What are the origins of organizational science? By:
 What theoretical paradigm shifts have been observed in this field of study? Kishwar Sameen Gulzar
 What drivers have contributed to the evolution of organizational science? People and Organizations
 What are the barriers to the advances in this field?
Origins of Organizational Science

 Changes in society
 Migration to cities
 Reliance on electricity and gasoline
 Changes both on the farm and factories

 Work culture
 Owner, manager, sales, and front office
personnel had little direct contact with
production activity
 A superintendent was responsible for all
planning and staff functions
 Work methods were determined by
individual mechanics based on personal
experience
Origins of Organizational Science

Frederick Winslow Taylor

 1856 -1915
 1874 - passed the Harvard entrance
examinations but didn’t study
 1878 - became a machine-shop laborer at
Midvale Steel Works
 1883 – Mechanical Engineering from
Stevens Institute of Technology via
correspondence
 1898 - joined Bethlehem Steel in order to
solve an expensive machine shop
capacity problem
 Efficiency expert in U.S. Steel Industry
 Monograph in 1911
Midvale Steel
Bethlehem Steel
Origins of Organizational Science
 The monograph consists of three
sections.

 Introduction
 Argues that best management is a true
science, resting upon clearly defined laws,
rules, and principles.

 Chapter 1- Fundamentals of Scientific

Management
 Points out that the inefficient rule-of-thumb
methods waste a large part of the workers
effort .

 Chapter 2 - The Principles of Scientific

Management
 Explains his principles of scientific
management.
Origins of Organizational Science
Evolution of Organizational Behavior
Evolution of Organizational Theory
Evolution of Organizational Theory
Evolution of Organizational Science
Evolution of Theoretical Paradigms
Evolution of Theoretical Paradigms
Drivers of Evolution - Research

Interpretation and Reinterpretation of Research Leads to Evolution

Drivers of Evolution - Criticism

Criticism and Counter Criticism of Theory Leads to Evolution

Drivers of Evolution - New Organizational Forms

 Organizational Genetics View

 Genes – routines & competencies which make organizations survive
 Routines – operational, growth / decline, search
 Competencies
 Environmental Conditioning
 Creative destruction
 Environmental imprinting
 Organizations creating organization forms
 Emergent Social Systems
 Entrepreneurial activity
Barriers to Theoretical Evolution

 Paradigms:
 Argument for: Accumulation of knowledge can occur only during periods of
normal science which are characterized by the adherence of the scientific
community to a paradigm
 Argument against: Enforced dominant paradigm would lead to a stagnation in
knowledge evolution

 Consensus:
 Argument for: Divergent ideas within or from outside the field will lead to chaos
and confusion leading a non theoretical jigsaw
 Argument against: Consensus will lead to blind faith and unquestioning
adherence to a theory, decreed to be true by the elites of the field
Huxley versus Orwell
Huxley versus Orwell
Huxley versus Orwell
Q&A