The Organizational Context

Mullins (1996) makes the important point that: We live in an organisational world. Organisations of one form or another are a necessary part of our society and serve many important needs … Organisations play a major and continuing role in the lives of us all, especially with the growth of large-scale business organisations and the divorce of ownership from management. It is important, therefore, to understand how organisations function and the pervasive influences which they exercise over the behaviour of people. (p. 4)