The organizational Imperative Paradigm or Rationalization

This paper is a response to an essay by Hart and Scott (1975) on the "organizational imperative." It critically evaluates the a priori propositions and rules of admmistrative behavior identified by Hart and Scott as being fundamental to this concept. It con cludes that: (1) the a priori propositions supporting the organizational imperative are invalid; (2) the rules of administrative behavior defined as essential to organizational health may, in fact, be deleterious to it; and (3) the assumption that U.S cultural values parallel those of the organizational imperative is an unwarranted oversimplifi cation of cultural trends.