When Organization Fails ─ Why Authority Matters

When Organization Fails develops an entirely new field area of investigation, the study: of authority., which is only now beginning to be recognized as an area where a new generation of scholars can make their reputation as experts. The As a topic, of authority is has rarely rarelyif ever been addressed in depth in the literature on management and organizational communication, even though it is crucial to the maintenance of unity of purpose and action of the organization, and is a concept much freuently used cited by organizational members themselves.

Utilizing two case studies, examined in depth and based on the accounts of those involved, this work book explores the pathology of authority, when it fails. It also offers a theoretical foundation that aims to illuminatinge the topic of authority by positioning it in communication theory. Theis volume, as well as being aimed at a general readership, is also intended for scholars and graduate students in organizational communication, leadershipdiscourse analysis, consultants and management experts worldwide.

James R. Taylor is an Emeritus Professor of Communication at the Universite de Montreal, and is the founder of the Communication program there. Author of some 100 published papers, he has also authored or coauthored eight books. The Emergent Organization (Routledge), coauthored with Elizabeth J. Vvan Every, received the 2013 ICA Fellows Book Award.

Elizabeth J. Van Every, a sociologist by training, has coauthored five books, including The Situated Organization (Routledge). She is also an active member of the research group Language, Organization, and Governance at the Universite de Montreal.