Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Organizational Intelligence: Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry
    Organizational Intelligence: Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry
    Organizational Intelligence: Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry
    Ebook375 pages8 hours

    Organizational Intelligence: Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry

    By Harold L. Wilensky

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This prize-winning, foundational book — now in its new ebook edition featuring a 2015 Foreword by Neil Smelser — focuses on the structural and ideological roots of intelligence failures (both informational and analytical) found in government, industry, and other institutions. It provides groundbreaking theory and structure to the analysis of decision-making processes and their breakdowns, as well as the interactions among experts and the organizations they inform.

    In this book, both "organization" and "intelligence" are taken to their larger meanings, not just focused on the military meaning of intelligence or on one set of institutions in society. Astute illustrations of intelligence failures abound from real-world cases, such as foreign policy (the Bay of Pigs, Soviet predictions in the Cuban missile crisis), military (civilian bombing of Germany), financial (AmEx's investment in a vegetable oil guru), economics (the Council of Economic Advisers) and industrial production (Ford's Edsel), as well as many other telling arenas and disciplines. Economic, cultural, legal, and political contexts are considered, as well as the more known institutions of government and commerce.

    The new Classics of the Social Sciences edition from Quid Pro Books adds a new introduction by Neil J. Smelser, University Professor Emeritus at Berkeley and former chair of its sociology department. He writes that the book remains "one of the classics in organizational studies, and ... it is still directly relevant to current and future problems of organizational life. ... What makes this book a classic? It is a disciplined, intelligent, and elegant model of applied social science. ... The text itself, richly documented empirically, yields an informed and balanced account of the decision-making process as this is shaped by the quality of information available (and unavailable) to and used (and not used) by organizational leaders."

    Reviews of the book at the time it was written similarly attest to the originality and breadth of its interdisciplinary analysis. Amitai Etzioni wrote in the American Sociological Review: "This book opens a whole new field — the macrosociology of knowledge. It is as different from the traditional sociology of knowledge as the study of interaction is from that of the structure of total societies." He adds, "The power of Wilensky's contribution is further magnified by his historical perspective. He studies structures and processes, but not in a vacuum." Gordon Craig wrote in The Reporter that the book's examples from organizations "show a similar tendency to believe what they want to believe, to become the victims of their own slogans and propaganda, and to resist or to silence warning voices that challenge their assumptions.... In his fascinating analysis of intelligence failures and their causes ... in the public and private sectors, Wilensky finds that the most disastrous miscalculations are those which have occurred in the field of governmental operations, especially foreign policy and national security." The book explains how such highly institutionalized actors are vulnerable to informational pathologies.

    The new digital edition features active Contents, a fully linked Index, linked notes, and proper ebook formatting. It is a modern, quality, and authorized re-presentation of a classic work in social science and organizational studies.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherQuid Pro, LLC
    Release dateFeb 14, 2015
    ISBN9781610272889
    Organizational Intelligence: Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry
    Author

    Harold L. Wilensky

    Late Professor of Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of 75 articles and 13 books on sociology, political science, unions, and the welfare state.

    Related to Organizational Intelligence

    Related ebooks

    American Government For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography

      Mar 15, 2022

      By Michele Alacevich New York: Columbia University Press, 2021. Pp. xvi, 332. $35 hardcover. Albert Hirschman (1915–2012) was the noneconomists’ favorite economist. That title might have gone to John Kenneth Galbraith for intellectuals in the 1950s a

      9 min read

    • Article

      Right Thinking

      Jul 31, 2022

      Right Thinking
      3 min read

    • Article

      Steven G. Horwitz: A Tribute

      Jan 4, 2022

      In June 2021, classical liberal economics lost one of its most able and prolific voices. Scholar, teacher, and public communicator Steven G. Horwitz died of multiple myeloma at the far too young age of fifty-seven. A native of the Detroit area, he gr

      9 min read

    • Article

      ‘Public Intellectuals’ Challenge Dogma

      Mar 20, 2021

      THIS is an extract from The Fabric of Dissent: Public Intellectuals in South Africa, which focuses on how key figures throughout South Africa’s history have shaped our approaches to matters, including poverty, religious conflict and war. HOW WE rela

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Ideological Commissar And The Institutionalization Of Indoctrination

      Jul 18, 2022

      The social organization of indoctrination and propaganda is a well-known and yet a very little understood phenomenon. It is a commonplace to note that political systems have embedded into their structures distinctive organizational arrangements whose

      36 min read

    • Article

      The Idioms of Non-Argument

      Oct 16, 2018

      The Idioms of Non-Argument
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Personality Crisis

      Nov 1, 2018

      The Personality Crisis
      6 min read

    • Article

      Neoliberalalism, We Hardly Knew Ye

      Jan 21, 2022

      IT WOULDN’T BE entirely accurate to say that no one knows what the hell neoliberal means. Plenty of people are quite sure they know what it means. It’s just that they can’t agree on a common definition. Consider two articles published in two differen

      15 min read

    • Article

      The Last Victorian Sage

      Jan 2, 2020

      The Last Victorian Sage
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Organizational Intelligence

    5/5

    3 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This book really helps the industry

    Book preview

    Organizational Intelligence - Harold L. Wilensky

    E9m̞CWnC}ry0B}^:|5rʇGr\fƩx W|^u U^f;d+-YePV35lv5UkB)2oϷvX&mۡ!(e B ?ǧM{ʆ?:~h;g+8l绺L}ARxݺkka>v|7RROYr3?%Lk /,PU!!B AU,sE& WcmKmS3Uߏ2=3& &}ݐMZ=;*/O|~_˓;M_vgSfMs1<ٗ=)nU1೧'>/>w,W=%^rÏV~_Ϟ8h5ߜ͉B/˷Gwn MƊ*7tj_g3S=uuM-&w뛡?rtG%}I)c)|nt̏܈oG|KNm|d$G"4;BrE(4R^.JAr3'{r k+ _ZIVUz*y)Bh9+WEjG#S'}!(A\T`C_Nn]K(\7 +i|Hˠj m(-|E1Gr1!^Vv%Ҧ)Zl| uPYVB ;uY| qqp^Ub(=U9^aT[eZGWÁOp<Jc$,>hjXo*`zR?xG\9ÅN+g>[ 7oF>ʄQ fQOc  |"| Fеq)ӻxrA'ܶp{P| ؝!"(u Ib-Pv!md$@x QSoj(3A>ܙ[~IkuA|foUv fX#n1P/}vfQNy][`W1?D ߑc8y[ Y;o.BxŒzY`M[y̦X=}CvO}#pA2 ZQoqOL7um뵈M=\$SeYԪ3 RQ W7v00@ěudWU)FdK />ˠ1lBR@2wuyU1cS]XJWkxG ~q)+h͡U!Q}!Ǖ\y;6TݪL/)-\OsW]\1ڴ.=*vbA<'DkiBU(8j+ 7 qʓƿk;`wXc&uK|1|ޠbvmݏIk?;wu^EPP9N*'~@Á, `&xaߒF)[(I[_D9(||ZRڱ/#>.3>FSS8G0v v%ꓰ(&JDwe | PRG(tzzBX?;BR_C,Eg붂܈8{`1!dݡ_SYSZmKe b!C'+n#ÙKܖI:]-27:¤CrX0Fi E) f" s++_~8*1iƏ ˪YVHg*5;b#3:I"h;Jp1RE;W2C7ODKg}m{K9k٧YF6|s918eWpz(\k/=*㕍c?:^%<!?qZ.yQ,[|ӷy>tR],(}Pn֜5~N#\[2C@?|Ee_UbF" DD5Clڬ!{FaZͣJ6Y3RcmBsX"'+W^fIG>dΔI)CmT?o!w֘fԬ$-\״SɀI, %iX}ÉJv5搙)XNrڶ-8. &)X1jAr 0!$8*kb Bc4 3 5)"ڳ} bI4"#zaM#F+*xV =!|,UWېb \p^ͫM|+'nADI,8) K;q$YGRtJeRxi&nux4IUh/ߠ^@RIn"Jme/pU<h3MǠ'zU% Th[̦VkTFڱ3ǟ&_{2G`2ZvЗ 7\• H<.JL]H5=z3+|$DU Wc9֌=mU('f#!A]4x1t&w ~e%oY̾,J7!wY:,['삅ZQVv"?W `.oa ZƤUc(PԪ$!Jۭ+2*U[r-a|k²5t%*|S@d zMU!d#ᾤHGSJ]= }#U]LNjEZp9Z<!@2?k%Ii{RJaTBr]<܀APٰڈđQQ*'/;dS@ؚ8i<]1KHkׅIeS2<-sX_|Z85dD; xS#4Cbap-CXe+ -}BbU>$oB^0}ZRnhmWHYvx-` –RE9Bjs|c|R1ȧ*s#|4PM*Wªu4GkWvCfmeY_)k$5`&T;9"nӪodRp ЕvinU*p8cq޳ⴁ"ȶ]+Lo.ν[G3i(Y-& x]3#6:v(VG{fO d6l.-WQrC;f{4`oHb |o m*Ls"(Yf I&Ei%?p872uf`.ya֦ޅ_ `Ps%|&YBI8$'j[ ;ta"צ.V)WZe\*(_#&e :I[?ű4·WE~+4) 3ek;yMM'ʯeLz izr?( .͔chMphtt`JFJ]e|(o2@yRzqjVM0 K!p]CW!}ycA]QB7VҎ/dc9rXmVa%>}WrZɎlGrojKtHXEݳsUhHaG1 lOq&'Gi0/' t,](2cr&֒kɍ$yb=pY^[%6^fO I4FuT^mu!BRԕ1o 7'-)ƄgS$tݶ "1vxD⑞}]j5ɕ7d&aB'.47$B691Xdە,teQfp_ٕA rދ{CLR6? ^Rp,{gDxM͚VDVdNݥꧺk:o-$w;'ńضKq:4[~7PB8\$֩Hy;y5\ &?V+vI$.٨vGU ;s`'u_vVm/ Cy5] {+]hO R/ʆ4/7~biW8M2ن~4xy069=cU]4egmn1 a|bJ^Ⱥ Aj{j籬M+)nٌHIYCk80׹/Xn8a+9D">-;;(% ,n3[ܒlhmߖUƛkR6mx!2ԇi ;+AB`Eg.*2O=l'#[|A6shxPk0Tr!?UbS244:!W%$(;B{%l1i$'jE2Z6L*@*sn*V=@H_iXyx>aI0U?i4D{`Œ>1MBn/ ^ˆǝV`X=t%U1()[RQF0L%Y9~hKeي tmD;jnJ@zaN6dY7tAka:Mg!Yp>|@^EAW5rԗ2o(Îw7/(ttqM|nAiG`XRvbUR#˞Q- [>hag4m$cAO1=ñ`"w;*tՄَ'=/<dˆ|聴501g5퉬ucهv9GL{mR@tA1,6d {}h{2Q =3oFuMn2 BYƱp5Fy=0n'Tt!6M-vVҍ*' 8FJ&wlv]7 F@H` ı_ypè#PZfM$i1}S ,eArXe` !PFxXFՕٗOv5 69{#UPk$ TAM1ekwL0i G;(~M2YGu-B" VLj쓓o;d>6I\+O?QBa&nNn0Rr iQ5Zan="> Gpqc>(BM 81>0;Dwu}`0Ũ9ɼs1ZzAmZ7clX7nB^2bqtlWz$x?&܈,onFGֺFqnΤ].VD.)p3l,ܴ5!DiAEZ=?GjYܵ RY7ót;K@o{ɝNX2`dHmXԹvТf,'gM~eGz`'AI,Q/*>-r熈$*B#/FJLˮא@1Y3$=עBCh#ws%嵚竝곮XX +!! X) Q/c~ZdF[/@4=w4"v}E%:wX;Ǽr/HJWb]i_AN=4ȗl[.'6doyÚǤrNwJT|5"KAj"tm~Y9l CƲ=@,v(7k(_@ˇ,rڧ,ҒzXk}[2;/5/r<:Y֜'0ߜ}⩜Hw٫wv8=)`[_iܤmmJTFY=% L3$}~OVԡSi*yr3R\x'|./_髏?RާT1h񥯠KX:{[nzfg]g8_a_|"dGId'|{^8z>Yd1^Z_%ƏpFc7aG Z5Q[(4Q c(X4<јS 1^*gg;ξe Icx6DGiȕ(̱btosBer;ȗΊjV'.$-(H@xa5>lcaIVd9;CYqH7 V d[ĦЪq2ltP2Ж\JꙐ.vo7" Dz\+G%'+yk\Jx ˒Kp#=qG%G*Lzɴ\ xg,M7} 칦ʌ کa۲Ml7uVwUlxHt0hhЖROMm v7rdyrK99ѠbWIV@DIN嚥ې. E',i(_r|l 3of |,DŽHONk&7Z'Sd8qʭ|+r]9GNtߔ=2I<=0fz6CgDTDt/l: ! IӨe|K+jBe<쌗<4kI#)4maZ҄u-@\x`mYݚNcfF 4&"qVד{urmUEPæ Cr&S5-'NGd-66M*j+⁹Gp۲o_!m)sv '{ǂEkK>m1Ɲ3(}lb4K Ʒ⾴mp#tTT.!HeNݜqmtZ4 Y[أd<ǬTڃC'ÉCdsx*VnH4O:@Q)|/{?/Ѡ!%`w,?Ӕ7,l0U. ::{mmkvƓ1>G"60D{ObRϧmiȤ$-I )`lt?~omfuL>d:6aN@> q!Lam]=[I$K {t91DeL):jj,\\ Ӿ'b=:_O:`. k xIXہerF,> \Nvyڔ 9Xݣ|\wdm2n5~~fK n
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1