Carolina QuotesAs an organizational sociologist, I was interested in the system characteristics of large accidents, but the discipline also made me aware of the organizational genesis of male-made disasters.
Charles Perrow Connected to the Carolinas
Source
p. 4
- work
- Normal Accidents, 1984
- year
- 1984
- locator
- p. 4
Cite this record
“As an organizational sociologist, I was interested in the sy…” Charles Perrow. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-EC43AE3DAB. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/ec43ae3dab
More from Charles Perrow
Unambiguous pursuit of official goals is not likely to be common.
From the beginning, the forces of light and the forces of darkness have polarized the field of organizational analysis, and the struggle has been protracted and inconclusive. The forces of darkness have been represented by the mechanical school of organizational theory — those who treat the organization as a machine. This school characterizes organizations in terms o£ such things as:
It is surprising how much discipline is imposed upon theory by requiring that it ‘make a difference’ and provide guidance or useful illumination. I learned long ago from students in professional schools that questions of ‘so what’ or ‘what relevance does this have’ do not signify impatience with theory per se, much less anti-intellectualism, but only impatience with the obvious, general, remote, and vague statements that often parade as social science theory. One test of good theory is that it have practical implications.