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The limits of organizational change
Book Reviews
145
at their own individual rate. In “truth”, the Carnegie Reports emphasize cooperative learning, community health programs, and to Fernandez-Morera’s horror, schools combined with day care facilities. Read these reports on Carnegie’s web page on the Internet; they are hardly the stuff of Marxism or even educational affirmative action. In his final chapters, Femandez-Morera argues that Marxists/liberal/leftists need government intervention to “eliminate justice (which) entails the acceptance of not only the inequality of talents, but also of the inequality of results” (p. 72). Wandering far afield from literary theory, he argues for conservative political icons: the “flat tax” as the only “just tax”; the “misguided” efforts by citizens to use government to regulate pollution. The author concludes that these demonstrate collectivist tenets such as “misery” (when individuals are forced to subsume self-interest to the collective in any form), notorious bureaucratization, and a naive “hope” (that “springs eternal”) that some form of socialism will effect positive social change. The citizen action he most supports is the earning of tangible incentives. Here, the author uses an anecdote of a worker from Vilnius, forced by a “parasitic work ethic” to support “bad workers” through taxes. “(One) should not be mandated to exist for the sake of another ... to be his unremunerated servant; and that doing otherwise is both immoral and socially corrupting” (p. 99). Odd that Femandez-Morera finds no room in his discussion for women’s unwaged labor in the home or in child care. Perhaps he should consult with functionalist scholars who are women. Femandez-Morera adopts a dichotomous paradigm of the academy, disallowing “middle of the road” politics and theories, because all activist interventions “necessitate further statist inroads and eventual de facto socialization” (p. 132). He classifies scholarship without accounting for real world varieties in empirical research and theory. This dichotomous approach probably works no better in the humanities, though others can assess this better. He asserts that any progressive impulse places academics in the political camp of Marxism and an inevitable slide toward repression. As a result, the book is an unlikely candidate for classroom use. It might be appropriate for graduate students to untangle his review of Marxist theory from the political agenda of broadly painting a hegemonic academy. It is a poor model of developing “proof’ in the social sciences; his illustrations of social “facts” are weak and are not linked to any research protocol that gives confidence in his conclusions. His citation of pro- and anti-Marxists in eastern Europe provides some new material for graduate student analysis. Assigning this book, or portions of it, along side John K. Wilson’s The Myth ofPolitical Correctness (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995) would provide hefty contrasts in seminars on the sociology of knowledge, social stratification, political economy or educational policy. The Limits of Organizational Change by Herbert Kaufman New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1995 (second edition), 124 pages Reviewed by Berton Lee Lamb, United States Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado Herbert Kaufman observes in the new Introduction to this well-known book that “[tlhe organizational world does not yield up its secrets easily” (p. xviii). The book will be
146
THE
SOCIAL
SCIENCE
JOURNAL
Vol. 35/No. l/1998
familiar to students of public administration, business administration, and organizational theory as an extended essay on why organizations behave as they do. Aside from the Introduction, the book offers nothing new. As Kaufman points out the “obstacles to organizational change have not altered much” (p. ix). The real purpose of this reissue is that the book is a “foundation stone” to Kaufman’s later work and the author wanted to make sure that the underpinnings of his arguments remained available. Apparently, the organizational world has not yielded up many new secrets. The material in the main body of this essay is, by now (and may have been even in 1971), very familiar to students of organizations. Even so, in rereading the text I was encouraged to recall the history of the public agencies for which I have worked. My reflections on the history of those bureaus and programs was enlightened by Kaufman’s cogent and thoughtful discussion of organizational life. His observations seem as relevant today as they did 25 years ago. In that context, the book remains a useful beginning for students and a good reminder for managers. I cannot recall how often I have heard some bureaucrat, consultant, or scholar say about this or that new trend, “This innovation is not like the old . ..” This was said of the Program, Planning, and Budgeting System, Zero-Based Budgeting, Management by Objectives, Matrix Management, Total Quality Management and lots of other innovations. Yet, with a few notable exceptions, those processes did not revolutionize or even revitalize organizations. Kaufman’s discussion reminds us, once again, why change is so hard to achieve, why stability is not always a bad thing, and how organizations do adapt to changes in their environment. Students new to the study of public administration will find this book helpful. The only new insights Kaufman provides are found in his Introduction. In that section, he recounts a few examples of how his views have changed. The first-time reader would be well served to review the whole book before turning to the Introduction. Otherwise, Kaufman’s revised ideas are out of context and difficult to interpret. On balance, the Introduction is too brief and cursory. Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women’s Resistance by Simona Sharoni Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995, 199 pages Reviewed by: Awad Eddie Halabi, University of Toronto Since the Zntijkda in 1987, feminist peace groups in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza have become increasingly aware of the complex dynamics which bind gender issues with the larger trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Simona Sharoni has compiled an account of the Israeli-Jewish and the Palestinian feminist peace groups for a six year period between 1987 to September 1993 as one volume of the Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution. She shows that though the organization, objectives, and strategies of these feminist groups have changed over time, both Israeli and Palestinian women have struggled to learn that their liberation must address the link between gender and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both women’s movements, particularly the Israeli Jewish side, have had to become more sensitive to the unequal conditions of women-that of an occupier and an occupied. In Sharoni’s opinion, the
145
at their own individual rate. In “truth”, the Carnegie Reports emphasize cooperative learning, community health programs, and to Fernandez-Morera’s horror, schools combined with day care facilities. Read these reports on Carnegie’s web page on the Internet; they are hardly the stuff of Marxism or even educational affirmative action. In his final chapters, Femandez-Morera argues that Marxists/liberal/leftists need government intervention to “eliminate justice (which) entails the acceptance of not only the inequality of talents, but also of the inequality of results” (p. 72). Wandering far afield from literary theory, he argues for conservative political icons: the “flat tax” as the only “just tax”; the “misguided” efforts by citizens to use government to regulate pollution. The author concludes that these demonstrate collectivist tenets such as “misery” (when individuals are forced to subsume self-interest to the collective in any form), notorious bureaucratization, and a naive “hope” (that “springs eternal”) that some form of socialism will effect positive social change. The citizen action he most supports is the earning of tangible incentives. Here, the author uses an anecdote of a worker from Vilnius, forced by a “parasitic work ethic” to support “bad workers” through taxes. “(One) should not be mandated to exist for the sake of another ... to be his unremunerated servant; and that doing otherwise is both immoral and socially corrupting” (p. 99). Odd that Femandez-Morera finds no room in his discussion for women’s unwaged labor in the home or in child care. Perhaps he should consult with functionalist scholars who are women. Femandez-Morera adopts a dichotomous paradigm of the academy, disallowing “middle of the road” politics and theories, because all activist interventions “necessitate further statist inroads and eventual de facto socialization” (p. 132). He classifies scholarship without accounting for real world varieties in empirical research and theory. This dichotomous approach probably works no better in the humanities, though others can assess this better. He asserts that any progressive impulse places academics in the political camp of Marxism and an inevitable slide toward repression. As a result, the book is an unlikely candidate for classroom use. It might be appropriate for graduate students to untangle his review of Marxist theory from the political agenda of broadly painting a hegemonic academy. It is a poor model of developing “proof’ in the social sciences; his illustrations of social “facts” are weak and are not linked to any research protocol that gives confidence in his conclusions. His citation of pro- and anti-Marxists in eastern Europe provides some new material for graduate student analysis. Assigning this book, or portions of it, along side John K. Wilson’s The Myth ofPolitical Correctness (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995) would provide hefty contrasts in seminars on the sociology of knowledge, social stratification, political economy or educational policy. The Limits of Organizational Change by Herbert Kaufman New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1995 (second edition), 124 pages Reviewed by Berton Lee Lamb, United States Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado Herbert Kaufman observes in the new Introduction to this well-known book that “[tlhe organizational world does not yield up its secrets easily” (p. xviii). The book will be
146
THE
SOCIAL
SCIENCE
JOURNAL
Vol. 35/No. l/1998
familiar to students of public administration, business administration, and organizational theory as an extended essay on why organizations behave as they do. Aside from the Introduction, the book offers nothing new. As Kaufman points out the “obstacles to organizational change have not altered much” (p. ix). The real purpose of this reissue is that the book is a “foundation stone” to Kaufman’s later work and the author wanted to make sure that the underpinnings of his arguments remained available. Apparently, the organizational world has not yielded up many new secrets. The material in the main body of this essay is, by now (and may have been even in 1971), very familiar to students of organizations. Even so, in rereading the text I was encouraged to recall the history of the public agencies for which I have worked. My reflections on the history of those bureaus and programs was enlightened by Kaufman’s cogent and thoughtful discussion of organizational life. His observations seem as relevant today as they did 25 years ago. In that context, the book remains a useful beginning for students and a good reminder for managers. I cannot recall how often I have heard some bureaucrat, consultant, or scholar say about this or that new trend, “This innovation is not like the old . ..” This was said of the Program, Planning, and Budgeting System, Zero-Based Budgeting, Management by Objectives, Matrix Management, Total Quality Management and lots of other innovations. Yet, with a few notable exceptions, those processes did not revolutionize or even revitalize organizations. Kaufman’s discussion reminds us, once again, why change is so hard to achieve, why stability is not always a bad thing, and how organizations do adapt to changes in their environment. Students new to the study of public administration will find this book helpful. The only new insights Kaufman provides are found in his Introduction. In that section, he recounts a few examples of how his views have changed. The first-time reader would be well served to review the whole book before turning to the Introduction. Otherwise, Kaufman’s revised ideas are out of context and difficult to interpret. On balance, the Introduction is too brief and cursory. Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women’s Resistance by Simona Sharoni Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995, 199 pages Reviewed by: Awad Eddie Halabi, University of Toronto Since the Zntijkda in 1987, feminist peace groups in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza have become increasingly aware of the complex dynamics which bind gender issues with the larger trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Simona Sharoni has compiled an account of the Israeli-Jewish and the Palestinian feminist peace groups for a six year period between 1987 to September 1993 as one volume of the Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution. She shows that though the organization, objectives, and strategies of these feminist groups have changed over time, both Israeli and Palestinian women have struggled to learn that their liberation must address the link between gender and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both women’s movements, particularly the Israeli Jewish side, have had to become more sensitive to the unequal conditions of women-that of an occupier and an occupied. In Sharoni’s opinion, the