Why do members of Al Qaeda have to submit travel and expense reports?

How do you create incentives for policemen, or priests?

What are managers good for?


We create organizations because they are an efficient way of doing something we couldn't do alone. We join organizations because we are inspired by their mission, or their payslip. But once we're inside, these organizations rarely feel efficient or inspiring.

In The Org, Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan explain the trade-offs that every organization makes, arguing that this everyday dysfunction is in fact actually inherent in the very nature of orgs. Woven throughout The Org are fascinating stories of organizations ranging from Google and McDonald's, to Al Qaeda and the island nation of Samoa.

The Org tells us how the office really works. As such it is required reading for anyone who wants to come to terms with the frustrations of their workplace, or to work their way up the org.

The writing is compelling, the research is rigorous and the topic could hardly be more relevant to us all - The Org is a must-read. - Tim Harford, author of THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST STRIKES BACK

If you despair at endless meetings and interfering managers - you need to read The Org ... a charming and deeply researched field guide to what makes organisations tick, and why they sometimes drive us crazy. - Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist and author of THE ANTIDOTE

a compelling new book....The book offers telling insight on a topic that has ebbed and flowed across the world over the last 30 years, as governments of all stripes have set out to privatize state-owned enterprises and outsource services - what does the private sector do better than government, and what does it do worse? - The New York Times

A voice of reasoned analysis amid the airport bookstore barkers . . . breezy and approachable . . . the conclusions and insights presented in THE ORG are ones you can actually use. Less Hollywood blockbuster and more a moody independent film, THE ORG is incisive on how things actually are, while leaving readers to find the answers. - Bloomberg Business Week

Ray Fisman is Lambert Family Professor of Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. Tim Sullivan is the editorial director of Harvard Business Review Press.