Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Business Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Sociology

PDF

Selected Works

2015

Sociology

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Business

On Organizations And Oligarchies: Michels In The Twenty-First Century, Pamela S. Tolbert, Shon R. Hiatt Nov 2015

On Organizations And Oligarchies: Michels In The Twenty-First Century, Pamela S. Tolbert, Shon R. Hiatt

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] A central problem for those interested in studying and explaining the actions of organizations is how to conceptualize these social phenomena. In particular, because organizations are constituted by individuals, each of whom may seek to achieve his or her interests through the organization, questions of how decisions are made in organizations and whose preferences drive those decisions are critical to explaining organizational actions. Although early organizational scholars spent much time wrestling with these questions (e.g. Barnard 1938; Simon 1947; Parsons 1956; March and Simon 1958), more recent work in organizational studies has tended to elide them, adopting an implicit …


Deification Of Market; Homogenization Of Cultures: 'Free Trade' And Other Euphemisms For Global Capitalism, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis Dec 2014

Deification Of Market; Homogenization Of Cultures: 'Free Trade' And Other Euphemisms For Global Capitalism, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

In this book chapter, I argue that states and MNCs enter into extraterritorial pacts with global institutions like the WTO, UN, and IMF to derive economic benefit from international trade. Given that both entities are drawn to international trade by the quest for financial gain, there is no justification for attributing to either corporations or their countries of national origin malevolent intent such as colonization of the world under the banner of a particular culture. Economic actors direct their deliberate and intentional activities towards achieving economic goals; and this is done to such an extent that they are often willing …