Causal Texture of Organizational Environments

Next in our Papers in Systems discussion series: “The Causal Texture of Organizational Environments” by Fred Emery and Eric Trist

The discussion will be led by Trond Hjorteland. Trond has been bringing many of these classics in sociotechnical systems to broader attention in our field. We are very excited that Trond will lead this!

When: Monday, April 6th, 2025, 1PM - 2PM Eastern Time (US/Canada) (19:00 CET). The Zoom room will remain open until 2:30PM for informal discussion. (Check time in your timezone: WorldTimeBuddy )

The paper is available at: https://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/64/04702605/0470260564.pdf

Some quotes to tease the appetite for reading this 1965 paper:

"A main problem in the study of organizational change is that the environmental contexts in which organizations exist are themselves changing—at an increasing rate, under the impact of technological change. This means that they demand consideration for their own sake."

"This requires an extension of systems theory. The first steps in systems theory were taken in connection with the analysis of internal processes in organisms, or organizations, which involved relating parts to the whole."

'Organizational environments differ in their causal texture, both as regards degree of uncertainty and in many other important respects. A typology is suggested that identifies four ‘‘ideal types"'