Session Summary

Session Number:260
Session ID:S198
Session Title:When Rationalistic Tools Meet Pluralistic Contexts
Short Title:Rationalism and Pluralism
Session Type:Division Joint Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:GndBall B
Time:Wednesday, August 11, 1999 10:40 AM - 12:00 PM

Sponsors

OMT  (Joseph Porac)j-porac@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 244-7969 
BPS  (Ming-Jer Chen)BPS99@wharton.upenn.edu (215) 898-0018 

General People

Chair Denis, Jean-Louis  U. de Montréal jean-louis.denis@umontreal.ca (514)-343-6031 
Chair Langley, Ann  U. of Quebec, Montreal langley.ann@uqam.ca (514) 987 3000 X4862 
Discussant Feldman, Martha  U. of Michigan msfeldma@umich.edu (734)-764-6134 

Submissions

Performance Measures and Organizational Lifeworlds: the Violence of Abstraction 
Presenter Townley, Barbara  U. of Alberta Barbara.Townley@UAlberta.CA (403)-492-5883 
Strategic Planning and Control in a Complex Organizational Field 
Presenter Denis, Jean-Louis  U. de Montréal jean-louis.denis@umontreal.ca (514)-343-6031 
Presenter Valette, Annick  U. of Grenoble Annick.Valette@upmf-grenoble.fr (33) 438 120542 
The social (re)construction of pricing: Organizational perspectives 
Presenter Zbaracki, Mark  U. of Chicago mark.zbaracki@gsbpop.uchicago.edu (773)-702-4787 
Presenter Ritson, Mark  U. of Minnesota Mark.B.Ritson-1@tc.umn.edu (612)-625-0585 
Presenter Bergen, Mark  U. of Minnesota Mark.E.Bergen-1@tc.umn.edu (612)-624-1821 
Presenter Dutta, Shantanu  U. of Southern California sdutta@sba2.usc.edu (213)-740-5038 
Presenter Levy, Daniel  Emory U. econdl@emory.edu (404)-727-2941 
The Corruption of Managerial Techniques by Organizations 
Presenter Lozeau, Daniel  Ecole Nationale D Administration Publique Daniel_Lozeau@enap.uquebec.ca (514)-529-2936 
Presenter Langley, Ann  U. of Quebec, Montreal langley.ann@uqam.ca (514) 987 3000 X4862 
Presenter Denis, Jean-Louis  U. de Montréal jean-louis.denis@umontreal.ca (514)-343-6031 

Abstract

This symposium looks at how formalized management tools (such as strategic planning, economic models, performance indicators, TQM tools, etc.) impact on and interact with complex pluralistic organizations. The initial premise is that tools implicitly represent theories about how organizations "should" work. These theories diverge to a greater or lesser extent from the operating principles and interpretive schemes of real organizations. For example, many rational tools tend to project a unified managerial control model of organizational behavior in which power lies at the top and organizational objectives and performance indicators can be made clear. So what happens when one tries to apply these tools in pluralistic and ambiguous contexts where power is widely dispersed and objectives are multi-faceted? All the contributions to this symposium are empirically based and examine this type of issue from a qualitative process perspective. However, they come to it from different theoretical angles. It is hoped that the symposium will encourage debate about the potential for "rational" tools to fundamentally change organizational dynamics either for better or for worse, about the feasibility and desirability of developing formal tools that can promote reconciliation among divergent perspectives in pluralistic contexts, and about the potential for a more reflective type of management that develops and institutionalizes its own tools to fit its own organizational context.