First published in 1977, Clergy, Ministers and Priests provides the first sociological analysis to have been undertaken in this country of the differences in value orientation between clergy in the Church of England, ministers in the Methodist Church and priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Five important areas of values are covered: theological outlook, views on the role of the religious functionary, attitudes towards ecumenism, views on institutional reform, and ideas about the organisational nature of the church. Going beyond the description, the authors examine various explanations for the existence of these differences. First, they consider the interplay of the values themselves. A second approach deals with structural factors related to the denomination such as the social role played by the clergy. Finally, non-denominational social experience is considered, including class origins and the educational background of the clergy. This study will be of interest to scholars and researchers of sociology of religion, religion, and Christianity.

This volume contains two Open Access chapters. Digital transformation is permeating all domains of business and society. Digital Transformation and Institutional Theory explores how manifestations of digital transformation requires rethinking of our understanding and theorization of institutional processes. Showcasing a collaborative forum of organization and management theory scholars and information systems researchers, the authors enrich institutional theory approaches in understanding digital transformation. Advancing institutional perspectives with an agenda for future research and methodological reflections, the chapters delve into digital transformations in relation to institutional logics and technological affordances, professional projects and new institutional agents, institutional infrastructure, and field governance. This volume deepens our understanding of the pervasive and increasingly important relationship between technology and institutions and the response of existing professions to the emergence of digital technologies. Moreover, the authors offer a cutting-edge analysis of how new digital organizational forms affect institutional fields, their infrastructure, and thus their governance.

This is a new release of the original 1946 edition.

This Element reviews the first 120 years of organization theory, examining its development from the sociology of organizations and management theory. It is initially organized around two streams of thought. The first is found in political economy and the sociology of organizations, with an emphasis on understanding the new organizations that arose in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The second derives from practitioner-scholars, whose aim was to provide theories and approaches to managing these new organizations. The Element then shows how each of the streams of understanding and managing came together to produce organization theory. In doing this, it also describes how the institutional frameworks in academic associations, academic centres and journals came out of these approaches and how they strengthened the development of organization theory.

Over the past three decades the Professional Service Firm (PSF) sector has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing, profitable, and significant in the global economy. In 2013 the accountancy, management consulting, legal, and architectural sectors alone generated revenues of US$ 1.6 trillion and employed 14 million people. PSFs play an important role in developing human capital, creating innovative business services, reshaping government institutions, establishing and interpreting the rules of financial markets, and setting legal, accounting and other professional standards. The study of PSFs can offer insights into the contemporary challenges facing organizations within the knowledge economy, and deepen understanding of more conventional organizations. Despite their significance, however, PSFs have until recently remained very much in the shadows of organizational and management research. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms marks the coming of age of PSF scholarship with a comprehensive and integrative exploration of current research and thinking on PSFs, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars in the fields of organizational and management studies. It is divided into three distinct sections - the professions, the firms, and the professionals that work within them - and covers subjects from governance and leadership to regulation, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Bringing together a broad range of empirical and theoretical perspectives, the Handbook offers many potentially important insights into the contemporary challenges of organizations in the knowledge economy and suggests new lines of inquiry that may shed further light on the activities and performance of PSFs and the professionals who work within them.