Human Nature and Organization Theory On the Economic Approach to Institutional Organization

'Human Nature and Organization Theory is a groundbreaking book which has a tradition that extends back to the early days of the Human Relations movement. I can recommend this book to anyone interested in the interface between the individual and the organization. It is a scholarly, thoughtful book.' - Cary L. Cooper, CBE, Lancaster University Management School, UK 'One of the most important developments in the social sciences in the last 20 years is the increasing recognition of the importance of institutional structures. This understanding is vital, for matters ranging from economic development to business efficiency. The more perceptive commentators recognise that the understanding of institutions and organisations also involves an appraisal of human nature, as situated in and moulded by these structures. Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto is one of this group. In a fresh and stimulating institutional analysis, he focuses on the key works of Frederick W. Taylor, Herbert A. Simon and Oliver E. Williamson. These important but contrasting approaches create a vital zone of enquiry, within which the author brings an engaging and interdisciplinary perspective. The result is a book that should be of interest for all social scientists wishing to understand the interactions between individuals and organisations.' - Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire Business School, UK In Human Nature and Organization Theory, Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto challenges the conventional wisdom that (organizational) economics is an amoral and empirically incorrect science. He treads new ground regarding the behavioural portrayal of human nature in organization theory. The book focuses on the works of Taylor, Simon and Williamson, reconstructing methods and variables of their organization theories in non-behavioural, institutional economic terms. Implications for institutional economic theory building and practical intervention are outlined. The book suggests that the image of human nature in organizational economics has to be deduced from theoretical and practical outcomes of economic analysis rather than from methods of economic analysis. If this is considered, organizational economics can make considerable moral claims, since it can generate socially desirable interaction outcomes even in the face of pluralism. This volume will appeal to a wide cross-section of organizational researchers, and also deserves to be widely read by economists, business ethics researchers and business historians.