The Legalistic Organization

In this volume, a multidisciplinary group of scholars investigate the changing attitudes towards management decisions in today′s workplace. Across a variety of areas traditionally reserved for managerial authority - employee hiring and firing, corporate takeovers and plant closings - managers face an increased likelihood of public and legal scrutiny of their decisions and decision-making processes. Formal procedures, decision-making criteria and the use of legal rhetoric within organizations are all addressed in the book.

Introduction and Theoretical Context S. B Sitkin & R. J. Bies / Preface M. G. Yudof // I. Introduction and Theoretical Context // 1. Law and Organizations W. R. Scott / 2. The Legalization of Organizations: A Multi-Theoretical Perspective S. B Sitkin & R. J. Bies // II. Legalistic Procedures // 3. Cops and Auditors: The Rhetoric of Records J. Van Maanen & B. T. Pentland / 4. Contracting Without Contracts: How the Japanese Manage Organizational Transactions M. J. Smitka / 5. Effects of Legal Context on Decision Making Under Ambiguity M. S. Feldman & A. J. Levy // III. Legalistic Criteria in Decision Making // 6. Stigma as a Determinant of Legalization N. L. Roth, S. B Sitkin & A. House / 7. The Threat of Legal Liability and Managerial Decision Making: Regulation of Reproductive Health in the Workplace D. M. Randall & D. D. Baker / 8. Law, Privacy, and Organizations: The Corporate Obsession to Know Versus the Individual Right Not to Be Known M. J. Culnan, H. J. Smith & R. J. Bies / 9. The Changing Legal Environment: A Review and Recommendations for Today′s Corporate Directors I. F. Kesner & J. B. Kaufman // IV. Legalistic Rhetoric // 10. Communication Under Conditions of Litigation Risk: A Grounded Theory of Plausible Deniability in the Iran-Contra Affair L. D. Browning & R. Folger / 11. The Consequences of Language: A Metaphorical Look at the Legalization of Organizations R. K. Stutman & L. L. Putnam / 12. Reducing the Litigious Mentality by Increasing Employees′ Desire to Communicate Grievances D. L. Shapiro & D. M. Kolb // V. Reflections on the Legalistic Organization // 13. The Costs of Legalization: The Hidden Dangers of Increasingly Formalized Control J. Pfeffer / 14. Litigation Mentality and Organizational Learning C. Argyris / Index ABRIDGED CONTENTS: I. Introduction and Theoretical Context / II. Legalistic Procedures / III. Legalistic Criteria in Decision Making / IV. Legalistic Rhetoric / V. Reflections on the Legalistic Organization CONTRIBUTORS: M. G. Yudof, W. R. Scott, S. B Sitkin, R. J. Bies, J. Van Maanen, B. T. Pentland, M. J. Smitka, M. S. Feldman, A. J. Levy, N. L. Roth, A. House, D. M. Randall, D. D. Baker, M. J. Culnan, H. J. Smith, I. F. Kesner, J. B. Kaufman, L. D. Browning, R. Folger, R. K. Stutman, L. L. Putnam, D. L. Shapiro, D. M. Kolb, J. Pfeffer, C. Argyris