Synthetic Models of Organization: Towards a Preliminary Synthesis of the Literature.

The similarities between major organizational typologies have been noted in recent years, but thus far no one has shown how these typologies can be interpreted within a single theoretical framework. This paper aims to remedy this problem by illustrating how four major organizational typologies can be interpreted within a composite, four-fold, polythetic typology. The result of this theoretical scheme is the identification of four synthetic types of organizations (utilitarian, political, ideational, and solidary). This second stage typology -- a typology of typologies -- is further extended by using additional typologies drawn from the relevant organizational literature for defining salient characteristics of these four synthetic organizational types. The potential utilization of the synthetic organizational types for interorganizational analysis is then outlined. (Author)