The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective

“Two of the best minds in the business, Pfeffer and Salancik crafted this powerful argument that remains timely and timeless. That’s the true test of a classic. The External Control of Organizations is a trusted, durable, evocative work.” —Karl E. Weick,Rensis Likert Distinguished University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, University of Michigan Business School
“Launching the resource dependence theory of organizations, this influential work was the first to recognize the power of the wider social-political environment as a force shaping organizational structure and behavior. Recognizing that all organizations must acquire resources from the environment as a condition of their survival, Pfeffer and Salancik demonstrate how resource dependence gives rise to power problems and, potentially, to political solutions.” —W. Richard Scott,Stanford University

Republished for its 25th anniversary, this book established the resource dependence approach that influenced many organization theories, and has long been required reading for students of organization studies. Pfeffer (business, Stanford) offers an extensive new preface examining the book's influence on current research and its relationship to other theories. Chapters include organization and social context defined, the negotiated environment, and executive succession a mechanism for environmental effects. Co-author Salancik (industrial administration, Carnegie Mellon U.) died in 1996. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His recent publications include The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action and Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People. Gerald R. Salancik was the D. B. Kirr Professor of Organization at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University.