Communication and Control in Organizations: Applying the Work of James Thompson and Gregory Bateson to Interpretive Research

摘要

This thesis presents an interpretive approach to organizational research. It is a report and analysis of ethnographic data collected during a one year field study of a private sector business organization in the United Kingdom. The primary theoretical bases are derived from an intensive and critical examination of the works of James Thompson and Gregory Bateson. The thesis addresses 'problems' at three interrelated levels: (1) It is an ethnographic monograph about a private sector business venture into the British defence market. (2) It is an explication, expansion, and application of the work of James Thompson and Gregory Bateson. (3) It is a treatise about the application of interpretive methods and theory to organizational research.