The document discusses modern and postmodern perspectives in organization theory. It outlines key differences between the two views. The modern perspective sees organizations as real entities that can be rationally managed to achieve objectives, while the postmodern view sees organizations as social constructs that are sites of power relations without objective truths or universal principles. The document also summarizes the ideas of several theorists like Lyotard, Nietzsche, Derrida and Foucault that influenced the development of postmodern thought.

1. ORGANIZATION THEORY
Modern and Post Modern Perspectives
A Seminar Lecture Delivered
By
Nadeem Ahmad Qureshi
PhD. Scholar
April 28, 2015
At the Department of Management Sciences, Hazara
University, Mansehra, Pakistan

2. What is a theory?
A set of concepts whose proposed
relationship offers explanation and
understanding of a phenomena of
interest.

3. Theory in physical and social domains:
 In the domain of physical sciences, a theory
always entail a well defined relationship
between the concepts clearly stated.
 For instance, the linear equation E=mc²,
derived by Einstein illustrates the one-to-one
relationship between matter and energy.
 In the social context, a theory does not
always entail a straightforward relationship
between the concepts which are quite often
vaguely defined.

4. Multiplicity of perspectives:
Inter-related theories form bigger chunks called theoretical
perspectives. Examples are numerous in the realm of
organizational theory:
 Normative perspective: Assessing a phenomena on the
basis of an ideal, a standard or a model of how things
should be.
 Modern perspective: Based on direct observation,
modernism aims at the causal explanation of a given
phenomena.
 Symbolic perspective: Prefers studying a phenomena
embedded in subjective experience and self-interpretation.
 Postmodern perspective: Offers a critique of the
modernist theories based on emotional empathy and
aesthetic appreciation,

5. Modernism v/s Postmodernism: What the
debate is all about?
Cooper and Burrell sum up the debate:
“The debate is polarized around two
apparently conflicting epistemological
positions: modernism with its belief in
the essential capacity of humanity to perfect
itself through the power of rational
thought and postmodernism with its critical
questioning, and often outright
rejection, of the ethnocentric rationalism
championed by modernism.”

6. Anatomy of the debate:
 The debate is rooted in two distinct epistemological
viewpoints.
 Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned
with how we know and what counts as knowledge.
 Modernism flourished during the age of European
enlightenment.
 The modernist concept of reality is therefore
essentially ethnocentric i.e. centered typically around
European ethos.
 The postmodernists offer critical appreciation of the
modernist theories.
 The foremost difference lies in the appreciation of
the nature of reality and the concept of knowledge.

7. Modernism: its origins and implications
 Historical source of modernism lies in the
eighteenth-century philosophy of the Enlightenment
which chose Reason as the highest of human
attributes.
 The age of reason heralded a shift of human
intellect from transcendental to immanent sources.
 Modernism therefore implies man’s increased
knowledge and his rational mastery over environment.
 Leisure and luxury followed at the heels of rabid
industrialization, which itself was the product of
technological advancement and sophistication.
 Rise of instrumental rationality aiming at
instrumentalization and operationalization of reason
for material pursuits and sensual pleasures.

8. Modernist Methodology:
 Modernism from the very outset aims at
evolving a unified society based on the principal
of scientific rationalism.
 It is positive in outlook being based on direct
observation and the causal explanation of a
given phenomena.
 Exclusive reliance on statistical probabilities
and correlation analysis to investigate the
causal relationship.
 Being aware of the dangers of spurious
correlation, the modernists keep evolving
mathematical models to explain causality.

9. Metaphoric explanation of Modernism:
 A metaphor is a thing regarded as representative or
symbolic of something else.
 The modernists use the organic metaphor wherein
an organization is depicted as a living organism relying
extensively on its environment.
 Organizations respond differently to their
respective environments.
 The modernists have been instrumental in
promoting contingency thinking among the
organization theorists.
 Varied response to environment defies universal
principles of organizing – a duality that conflicts with
the modernist notion of abstract reality.

10. Moving on from modernism to postmodernism:
 Postmodernism is based on the concept of
difference which entails paradoxical nature of
reality.
 Difference is a form of self-reference in
which terms contain their own opposites
and thus refuse any singular grasp of their
meanings, e.g., the paradox of the ’global
village’ in which the enlargement of the world
through modern communication techniques
actually makes it smaller.
 Difference is therefore the starting point of
human discourse, since human agent is ever
faced with the condition of irreducible
indeterminacy.

11. Lyotard on postmodernism:
 Lyotard defines the postmodernist discourse
as the search for instabilities.
 Modern science, particularly the discoveries
of quantum theory and microphysics defy our
notions of determinate and stable systems.
 It is, for instance, found that far from
uncertainty decreasing with more precise
knowledge (i.e., greater control), the reverse is
the case: uncertainty increases with precision.
 The modernist drive toward determinacy
being a drive toward consensus is not tenable.
 Lyotard concludes that consensus is a horizon
that is never reached.

12. Nietzsche’s genealogy:
 Fredrick Nietzsche, in the words of Burrell, is
the greatest influence on postmodernism.
 Nietzsche amalgamates action and the
resultant reaction into his elaborate concept of
genealogy.
 According to Nietzsche, reaction is indicative
of the difference which, in turn, reduces all
knowledge to mere representation and
ultimately negation.
 As such, Nietzsche offers a critique of
modern morality by supposing that it developed
into its current form through power relations.

13. Derrida’s de-constructivism:
 Building on Nietzsche's argument, Jacques
Derrida states that difference is the beginning
point of human discourse.
 Meaning and understanding are not
essentially intrinsic to the world and that they
have to be constructed of the perpetual clash
between action and reaction.
 De-construction is the opposite of
construction and the former reveals the
inherent flaws in the established knowledge.
 Rationality and rationalization are really
processes that seek to hide the contradictions
at the heart of human existence.

14. Foucault on postmodernism:
 In the late 20th century, Foucault expanded
Nietzsche's philosophy by recognizing that
genealogy is the exact reverse of tracing a
pedigree.
 History is not a linear evolution of events.
Genealogy, therefore, seeks to show the plural
and sometimes contradictory past that reveals
traces of the influence that power has had on
truth.
 Foucault’s biggest contribution is that he
expanded the concept of genealogy into a
counter-history of the position of the subject
which traces the development of people and
societies through history.
 Deconstructionist view of history.

15. Postmodernist methodology:
 The post modernist methodology is based on
emotional empathy and aesthetic appreciation.
 Empathy is our ability to share peoples’
feelings in a dispassionate manner; it is not
synonymous with sympathy.
 Postmodernists offer critical appreciation of
the modernist concepts. Their attempts at
reformulating the concepts provoke reflexivity
and greater awareness of the ethical
implications of managing and organizing.
 For instance, assessing the concept of power
and its uses and misuses can inspire
emancipation from the modernist organizing
practices based on hierarchy – the formal line of
authority from top to bottom.

16. Using the college metaphor:
 Postmodernists use the college metaphor being
based on the following points:
1- Reality consists not in "being”, but in the ideal
of “becoming”.
2- knowledge creation is an unbroken and
continuous activity.
3- A new piece of knowledge is created from
previously existing bits of knowledge.
4- It is previous knowledge and understanding
which is stretched further to form new
perspectives.
5- Every new perspective has reference to the
past.
 Postmodernists assert that an organization is an
art object and a manager is a theorist or an artist

17. Organization and organization theory: a comparison of
modern and postmodern perspective:
1- The modernist view:
 Organization is a real entity which reflects an
objective reality of our day to day life.
 Decision and subsequent action taken in an
organization are based exclusively on reason.
 An organization needs to be managed
efficiently; it acts like a system with its unique
inputs, processes and outputs.
 All its efficiency and effectiveness is directed
toward formally stated objectives.
 As such OT is concerned solely with
discovering universal principles governing an
organization – again a duality.

18. 2- The postmodernist view:
 An organization is akin to a stage where its
activities are appearing like a drama. It is a swift
turn of events, an enactment and a playful
irony.
 Mostly a site for enacting power relations,
oppression and irrationality.
 Since an organization is a text, it can always
be rewritten to emancipate mankind from
human folly and degradation.
 OT is all about organizational nihilism i.e.
destabilizing and shaking the foundation of
established managerial dogmas engendered by
modernism.

19. Conclusions:
“Modern” and “post-modern” were terms that were developed
in the 20th century. “Modern” is the term that describes
the period from the 1890s to 1945, and “post-modern” refers to
the period after the Second World War, mainly after 1968.
 Modern is related to logical and rational thinking whereas post-
modern has denied this logical thinking. While the modern
approach was theoretical, objective and analytical, the post-
modern approach was subjective.
The modernist was in search of an abstract truth of life whereas
the post-modernist did not believe in abstract truth or in universal
truth.
A modernist thinker has much trust in the text that tells about
the past. On the contrary, a post-modern thinker does not have
such beliefs. The post-modernist thinks that the text that tells
about the past is of no use in the present times.
When modern philosophy is based on effect and cause, post-
modern philosophy is based on chance only. When modern
thinkers consider truth as objective, the post-modern thinkers
consider truth as relative and socially based.