ABSTRACT
Classical organization theory was formed during and as a consequence of a social and technological period of massive industrialization. Mass production created entirely different challenges and possibilities that, alongside the development of nation states in need of rational government, shaped the foundations of what we now know as classical organization theory. The main pillar of classical organization theory is the bureaucracy model. A bureaucratic organization is difficult to change and the transformation process has to come from higher echelons in the organization. Scientific management and the theory of bureaucracy established the important principle of a clear division between intellectual activity in planning and control of production and the actual concrete practices. In an organizational change perspective, Karl Weick's sensemaking is important because it actually depicts dynamic knowledge processes. Understanding what it means to work in an organization is developed precisely through reasoning about the performance of work, which then describes a dynamic and continuous process.
