Organizational Anthropology, Organization Theory, and Management Practice
Abstrakti
How has the study of organizations as cultures
increased our capacity to design and manage
organizations? The author examines this question,
noting first the growing use of the cultural
approach in both the academic and the
managerial communities, and discusses the
reasons for the split between theory and practice,
warning that this split will continue to widen. To
bridge this gap the author believes antifunctionalist prejudice must be renounced. This
will move practitioners and academics closer to
the goal of the cultural approach which is to
employ greater wisdom in organizing rather than
to create a new science of organization. To this
end, the author makes a plea for more applied research.
