ABSTRACT
Frames of reference provide a structure for analysing the balance between structural requirements and substantive normative choice as the antecedents of action at work. To grasp a system as meaningless means that resisting system requirements is as inappropriate a response as positive and active cooperation. From the perspective of the objective effectiveness of coordinated action, a negative evaluation means that although the values the system is intended to pursue may be recognised as legitimate, the structural means of pursuing those values is technically questionable. Where an economic system is evaluated negatively, actors will recognise that the organization cannot have a single overarching goal or set of goals arising solely from the market. A positive evaluation of an economic or organizational system implies that, conformity with the role behaviour required by the system is a valid end in itself rather than simply a means to avoid sanctions or seek rewards.
