ABSTRACT
The conventional concept of organization suggests an independent, integrated structure of people and activities, floating like a balloon in a vague area of space. Organizations possess relatively permanent and relatively temporary resources. The ‘permanent’ resource is more lasting and more essential to the survival of the whole organization. In addition to a temporary-permanent continuum, the organization of the firm has an essential-superficial continuum. Distinctiveness may be due to the personal skill of one or more managers or a peculiar technological advantage, or the special service provided by the organization, or it may be a function of geographical location. The most obvious and pressing function of management is to ensure that the organization operates efficiently and that it will continue to be effective into the distant future. The intrusion of the outsider challenges the organization’s domestic stability and its potential complacency.
