Organizational behavior and the reified organization pitfall

Abstract

In this essay, we argue against the reifying tendency of considering the organization as a thing-in-itself, shadowing the real people and the social relations that lays on it. At the same time, given the necessity of organizing and the increasing mediation role accomplished by organizations in society, we recognize that understanding the organizational phenomena is an important part of the effort to understand society itself. In this knowledge and interest context, we claim that the Organizational Behavior discipline is well positioned to this task and has the resources to counter the tendency to reify the organization. But this does not mean that the discipline is not prone to encounter some pitfalls. For this reason, we question the centrality of the organization in these same studies both in terms of value and concept. In the evaluative aspect, we discuss the privileged position that the organization enjoys vis-à-vis individuals, particularly workers. In the conceptual aspect, we problematize the question of the being of organization, or at least the idea of it. Finally, we propose the use of work as the central analytical category of organizational phenomena to overcome the threat of a reifying theoretical conception.