The Org

The Underlying Logic of the Office - Updated Edition

Ray Fisman, Tim Sullivan

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780691166513
• eBook ISBN: 9781400866069
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Commerce Général

We create organizations because we need to get a job done—something we couldn't do alone—and join them because we're inspired by their missions (and our paycheck). But once we're inside, these organizations rarely feel inspirational. So where did it all go wrong?

In The Org, Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan explain the tradeoffs that every organization faces, arguing that this everyday dysfunction is actually inherent to the very nature of orgs. The Org diagnoses the root causes of that malfunction, beginning with the economic logic of why organizations exist in the first place, then working its way up through the org's structure from the lowly cubicle to the CEO's office.

You'll learn:

• The purpose of meetings and why they will never go away
• Why even members of al Qaeda are required to submit travel and expense reports
• What managers are good for
• How the army and other orgs balance marching in lockstep with fostering innovation
• Why the hospital administration—not the heart surgeon—is more likely to save your life
• Why CEOs often spend more than 80 percent of their time in meetings—and why that's exactly where they should be (and why they get paid so much)

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Preface to the Paperback Edition
• Introduction: A Machine for Getting Stuff Done
• Chapter 1: The Outsider
• Chapter 2: Designing the Job
• Chapter 3: Putting Together the Organizational Puzzle
• Chapter 4: In Praise of Squelching Innovation
• Chapter 5: What Management Is Good For
• Chapter 6: The View from the Corner Office
• Chapter 7: The Economics of Org Culture
• Chapter 8: Disaster and Change
• Conclusion: The Future Org
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Authors