Organizing on the Edge: Appreciation and Critique

摘要

The author is part of a team of researchers that is collaborating with a number of scholars affiliated with the Center for Edge Power, headquartered at the Naval Postgraduate School. Their project stems from an effort stimulated by the recent work of David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes, 'Power to the Edge: Command, Control in the Information Age' (2003). The author places the 'edge' perspective in the broader context of organizational studies, noting both its strengths and limitations. After briefly describing and commenting on the concept of edge organizations, he raises a number of questions and concerns which he believes need to be addressed to render the approach more usable for military organizations. Specifically, the critique discusses the following issues: (1) lack of attention to human/social issues, (2) inadequate attention to nonmilitary organizations, (3) insufficient attention to the wider environment in which military organizations operate, and (4) lack of consideration of the problems associated with organizational change.