The book by Gareth Morgan "Images of Organization: An Introduction to Organization Theory" is perhaps the best handbook ever written in the corresponding scientific field. Its originality lies not so much in its extensive content, but in its approach.
The author, a professor at York University in Canada, believes that the modern organization (in the form of either a business or public administration in its broadest sense, or voluntary and non-profit organizations) is not a monolithic phenomenon, but that its essential features depend on the perspective from which we approach it.
For this purpose, the author distinguishes 8 different perspectives, each of which constitutes a metaphorical way of approaching the organization. Organization, says Morgan, is many things at once. We can perceive it as a machine, a biological organism, a brain, a culture, a political system, a mental prison, a flow and transformation, and as a tool of domination.
Consequently, in order to understand organizational phenomena (e.g., an industrial accident, the failure of changes and reforms, employee motivation, power struggles, etc.), we must practice "reading" them – that is, we need to develop the ability to use all of the above perspectives simultaneously and to synthesize the different interpretations we acquire.
[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]
