Notes

For instance, the background of the researchers affects the way in which the research is done and the questions asked.

	Psychology:  How groups of people in organizations interact and behave. How they react to the organization and how they are shaped by it.   Methods include experiments and surveys.
	Economics: Mathematical models of organizations and people in them. Typically takes the organization as the unit of analysis . Use empirical data and statistical methods to study how organizations react to markets and how people in organizations react to incentives.
	Sociology: Organizations and people are embedded in complex networks and systems of organizations and other people. How these people/organizations are affected by their environment is important. Look at how behavior actually takes place in organizations (e.g., who talks to who, what do people actually do every day).
	Political science: Looks at primarily at government institutions. How do voters behave with respect to institutions? How are policymakers affected by institutions and voters' preferences? Use a lot of the same methods as economists and sociologists.

Research can also differ in it's focus

	Basic: We want to understand processes at the lowest level and then use broad theories to generalize to organizations as a whole. Goal is usually to improve scientific knowledge. Problem is it often results in theories that don't make predictions in specific cases.
	Applied: We want to address very specific questions in real organizations. Goal is usually to address a very specific, practical problem. Problem is that what we learn is usually hard to extend and apply elsewhere because it is too narrow in focus.

Research can also differ in the level of analysis we're interested in.

	Micro: Study people and small groups of people
	Mezzo: Study processes in or features of organizations
	Macro: Study organizations as entities in an environment

Classical organizational research (Henri Fayol, Max Weber

	How do we set up an organization to achieve it’s goals?
	Belief that there is an "optimal" organizational form. Typically hierarchical Unique chain of command Well defined roles (individual people don't matter as much) Well accepted and shared goals

Scientific management (Frederick Taylor):

	How can we make people in organizations more efficient?
	Attempt to break down tasks into decomposable units to attempt to make improvements, one adjustment at a time
	First to really study how work got done
	Strong impact on industrial psychologists

Human relations movement (Elton Mayo)

	Social factors matter People's perceptions of management's intentions How people feel towards other organizational members
	Informal communication between employees important
	Formal changes may have unintended consequences

Carnegie approach (Herb Simon, James March)

	Organizations are complicated
	People themselves differ Different goals Different levels of ability They perceive and react to the world differently
	Organizations do very different things
	"Ideal" organizational form depends on things like goals and environment