76: Comparative Analysis of Organizations – Charles Perrow

76: Comparative Analysis of Organizations – Charles Perrow – Talking About Organizations Podcast

Talking About Organizations is a very nice podcast where a mixed, international group of organisation scholars discuss classic works.

This is a classic and a half – and mindboggling that Perrow died only in 2019 – and links to very contemporary discussions about the ‘drift’ of organisations and elements in organisations.

“

The structure of an organization depends
upon the kind of task it typically performs.
Routine tasks suggest specialization,
formal-ization, hierarchy, and centralized
power; nonroutine tasks are better
performed under the opposite conditions.
Tasks are defined cognitively as search
procedures and excep-tions encountered.

“

Original paper: https://www.tarjomefa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/5481-English.pdf

Review of it as a classic paper, with critical comments from Perrow himself in 1981:

Click to access A1981LH21200001.pdf