The orthodox view in organization theory has been based
predominantly on the metaphors of machine and organism.
The metaphor of a machine underwrites the work of the
classical management theorists (Taylor, 191 1; Fayol, 1949)
and Weber's specification of bureaucracy as an ideal type
(Weber, 1946). Although the conceptions underlying the
work of these very different theorists were intended to
serve different ends, that is, the improvement of efficiency
in classical management theory, and our understanding of
society in Weber's theory, the two lines of thought have
fused to provide the foundations of modern organization
theory.