Comparing fourth and fifth editions of Organizations by Richard Scott (And Gerry Davis for fifth)

So, a new edition of Organizations:Rational, Natural, and Open Systems by W. Richard Scott is out. Its co-authored by Gerry Davis (Who was a student of Scott’s at Stanford, apparently) and has a newer, more active title (stamp out nouns!). This book was an absolute classic for me doing my PhD at IESE. It also helped me bridge sociology and management. So, like the priests we are, it is good to turn back to the canon and see what is there.

Organizations and Organizing: rational, natural, and open systems perspectives.

I wanted to see if it is worth reading/buying the new version. A quick comparison of the two tables of contents reveals that some major changes were made. After Break for table.

Oil and Politics Visualization

Just started playing with this nifty tool that allows one to visualize relational patterns of oil sector employees’ contributions to federal politicians.

Price for oil.

I didn’t notice a difference between PAC money and individual contribution.  It seems a stretch to me to say that because an employee of Chevron gave $1,500 to Obama, Obama is in the pocket of big oil the way Bush or Cheney are.   One interesting thing to look at is how many people max out to all candidates.  That would seem a prxoy for people buying access versus supporting the politician they actually prefer (for better or for worse).