Organizations Evolving offers a unique theoretical framework for understanding organizational emergence, persistence, change, and decline. Synthesizing and integrating six paradigmatic approaches to organization theory, this updated and revised third edition presents an evolutionary view that provides a unified understanding of modern organizations and organization theory. Key features of the third edition include: A sophisticated analytic comparison of six major approaches to understanding modern organizations and their evolution An interdisciplinary focus, drawing extensively from sociology, social psychology, economics, history, management and entrepreneurship research Supplementary materials from academic journals and the popular press, and multi-media resources in an online companion Extensive case examples that illustrate key evolutionary processes Study questions designed for extended and reflective learning. Offering key insights and critical learning opportunities, this book is crucial reading for classes covering macro-organizational behaviour and the sociology of organizations. Students of management studies and entrepreneurship, particularly those with a focus on organization theory, will also benefit from its interdisciplinary approach.

Organizations Evolving offers a unique theoretical framework for understanding organizational emergence, persistence, change, and decline. Synthesizing and integrating six paradigmatic approaches to organization theory, this updated and revised third edition presents an evolutionary view that provides a unified understanding of modern organizations and organization theory. Key features of the third edition include: A sophisticated analytic comparison of six major approaches to understanding modern organizations and their evolution An interdisciplinary focus, drawing extensively from sociology, social psychology, economics, history, management and entrepreneurship research Supplementary materials from academic journals and the popular press, and multi-media resources in an online companion Extensive case examples that illustrate key evolutionary processes Study questions designed for extended and reflective learning. Offering key insights and critical learning opportunities, this book is crucial reading for classes covering macro-organizational behaviour and the sociology of organizations. Students of management studies and entrepreneurship, particularly those with a focus on organization theory, will also benefit from its interdisciplinary approach.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, uncertainty was a pervasive feature of life in the South, affecting the economic behavior and social status of former slaves, Freedmen Bureau agents, planters, merchants, and politicians, among others. Emancipation brought fundamental questions: How should emancipated slaves be reimbursed in wage contracts? What occupations and class positions would be open to blacks and whites? What forms of agricultural tenure could persist? And what paths to economic growth would be viable? To understand the escalating uncertainty of the postbellum era, Ruef draws on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, including several thousand interviews with former slaves, letters, labor contracts, memoirs, survey responses, Census records, and credit reports.

At the center of the upheavals brought by emancipation in the American South was the economic and social transition from slavery to modern capitalism. In "Between Slavery and Capitalism," Martin Ruef examines how this institutional change affected individuals, organizations, and communities in the late nineteenth century, as blacks and whites alike learned to navigate the shoals between two different economic worlds. Analyzing trajectories among average Southerners, this is perhaps the most extensive sociological treatment of the transition from slavery since W.E.B. DuBois's "Black Reconstruction in America."

Through a resolutely comparative approach, Between Slavery and Capitalism identifies profound changes between the economic institutions of the Old and New South and sheds new light on how the legacy of emancipation continues to affect political discourse and race and class relations today.

Recent surveys show that more than half of American entrepreneurs share ownership in their business startups rather than going it alone. Yet the media and many scholars continue to perpetuate the myth of the lone visionary who single-handedly revolutionizes the marketplace. In "The Entrepreneurial Group," Martin Ruef shatters this myth, demonstrating that teams, not individuals, are the leading force behind entrepreneurial startups. This is the first book to provide an in-depth sociological analysis of entrepreneurial groups, and to put forward a theoretical framework for understanding activities and outcomes within them.

At the center of the upheavals brought by emancipation in the American South was the economic and social transition from slavery to modern capitalism. In Between Slavery and Capitalism, Martin Ruef examines how this institutional change affected individuals, organizations, and communities in the late nineteenth century, as blacks and whites alike learned to navigate the shoals between two different economic worlds. Analyzing trajectories among average Southerners, this is perhaps the most extensive sociological treatment of the transition from slavery since W.E.B. Du Bois's Black Reconstruction in America. In the aftermath of the Civil War, uncertainty was a pervasive feature of life in the South, affecting the economic behavior and social status of former slaves, Freedmen's Bureau agents, planters, merchants, and politicians, among others. Emancipation brought fundamental questions: How should emancipated slaves be reimbursed in wage contracts? What occupations and class positions would be open to blacks and whites? What forms of agricultural tenure could persist? And what paths to economic growth would be viable? To understand the escalating uncertainty of the postbellum era, Ruef draws on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, including several thousand interviews with former slaves, letters, labor contracts, memoirs, survey responses, census records, and credit reports. Through a resolutely comparative approach, Between Slavery and Capitalism identifies profound changes between the economic institutions of the Old and New South and sheds new light on how the legacy of emancipation continues to affect political discourse and race and class relations today.

This volume takes stock of entrepreneurship research within organizational sociology, critically examining the theoretical presuppositions of the field and situating extant research within the sociological canon. The contributors to this volume exemplify how the disciplinary lens of sociology provides a systematic foundation to understand the context, process, and effects of entrepreneurial activity. Topics explored include entry into entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurship and enclaves, academic entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurialism related to new organizational forms. The breadth and depth of the research offered by the esteemed scholars that have contributed to this volume highlight the progressive nature of sociological research on entrepreneurship. Taken as a whole, the volume points the way towards a more comprehensive framework for the development of the sociology of entrepreneurship. "Research in the Sociology of Organizations" is an international series. It is especially concerned with specifying the unique contributions of sociological theories and research techniques to the analysis of organizations. Each volume aims to foster debate and dialogue about the value of new theories and research to the field of organizational sociology as well as the growing international community of organizational scholars.

"Howard Aldrich and Martin Ruef s tour de force shows us how the evolutionary approach can explain change not only in organizational populations, but within sectors and within organizations. Aldrich and Ruef display an astonishing command of the management literature, using vivid illustrations from cutting edge research to show how the processes of variation, selection, retention, and struggle operate within organizations and across them. A lucid and engaging book that should appeal both to the newcomer to organization theory and to the old pro."- Frank Dobbin, Harvard UniversityA keenly anticipated Second Edition of an award winning classic, Organizations Evolving presents a sophisticated evolutionary view of key organizational paradigms that will give readers a unified understanding of modern organizations.

This Second Edition is up-to-date in its survey of the literature, as well as an overview of the new developments across organization studies. It contains new sections on organizational forms, community evolution and methods for studying organizations at multiple levels.

The field of organization studies contains many contending paradigms that often puzzle and perplex students. This book is a stunning synthesis of the major organizational paradigms under the umbrella of organizational theory. Scholars and students will find it an excellent guide to the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches, as well as an outstanding review of the best recent empirical research on organizations.

The book includes many helpful features, such as:

" Review questions and exercises that will consolidate reader's learning

" A methodological appendix that assesses common research methods

" Engaging cases that bring principles and concepts to life

This Second Edition is a rich resource for study, discussion and debate amongst organizational scholars and postgraduate students of organizations. "