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A Future for Organization Theory: Living in and Living with Changing Organizations

Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1234
Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1208
Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697
jpwalsh{at}umich.edu
ameyer{at}lcbmail.uoregon.edu
kschoonh{at}uci.edu

We believe that the field of organization theory is adrift. In sailing jargon, we are "in irons"—stalled and making little headway toward understanding organizations and their place in our lives. We first attempt to diagnose our maladies and then, in this light, offer three broad research questions that just might reinvigorate our work: First, how can we understand today’s changing organizations? Second, how can we live in these organizations? And third, how can we best live with them? We close by calling attention to how our familiar approaches to building and testing theory might hamper any attempt to revitalize our field.

Key Words: organization theory; twenty-first century organizations; theory-building agenda

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