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Since the introduction of organisational behaviour as a discipline, there has been an enormous shift in working patterns and conditions. The organisational world in which conventional OB was established - high employment, first world economic domination - is very different to contemporary organisational settings characterised by recession, globalisation and a different moral climate. What is offered here is an
interpretation of OB that reflects contemporary conditions and contemporary social thinking.
The aim is to situate OB within the theoretical developments of recent times, the sources of which, like semiotics or poststructuralism, often lie outside the traditional informing disciplines of OB. Starting with the most basic concepts, but developing toward higher level concepts, the implications for thinking about organisational behaviour are all the time drawn out in clear and accessible language. The text is therefore ideal for those taking an advanced course in OB, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
- takes a fundamentally different view of organisational behaviour
- new concepts are clearly explained and illustrated
- shows interlinkages between different theoretical issues
- takes reader from basic concepts and develops a higher level of knowledge authors are leading figures in the field.
Chapter 1 Introduction

General; OB as knowledge, knowledge as science; what constitutes a good explanation; organisation as a
process; OB and problem solving; guide to text; overview.

Chapter 2 Semiotics

The science of symbols; characteristics of symbols; signifiers and signified; meaning and ambiguity;
functions of symbols; textuality; limitations of interpretation; applications in OB; OB and semiotics.

Chapter 3 Structure

Structure as a real phenomenon; structure as a human construct; chaos/complexity/order; change;
implications.

Chapter 4 Knowledge

Conventional view of knowledge; paradigmatic views of knowledge; knowledge as discourse; roots of
incommensurability; implications.

Chapter 5 Power

Authority vs power; the discourse of organisation and management; competing explanations of work;
discipline; power and OB; implications.

Chapter 6 Rationality

Objective vs subjective rationality; uses of rationality in managing behaviour; problems of authority;
problems of legitimacy; implications.

Chapter 7 Ideology

Ideology and knowledge; the impossibility of being non-ideological; the role of ideology in understanding; the
masking of ideology; organisation as ideology; implications.

Chapter 8 Self

The significance of identity; the creation of identity; conflicting definitions of identity; motivation and desire;
employment of the self; implications.

Chapter 9 Boundary

Conventional views of boundary; information and communication; variety attenuation and model building;
boundary as cognitive and moral limits; criteria for bounding; bounding and problem solving; implications.

Chapter 10 Efficiency

The meaning of efficiency; the measurement of efficiency; efficiency as rationality or as ideology; efficiency
as power; implications.

Chapter 11 Decision making

Decision making as a rational objective function; decision making as the semiotics of self; decision making
as influenced by semiotics, structure, knowledge, power, rationality; ideology; self, boundary, efficiency;
decision making and risk; decision making and morality; implications.

Chapter 12 Conclusions