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Balancing Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian Contradictions Within Organizations

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, anair{at}odu.edu

David Ahlstrom

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories

This article describes how institutions get infused with competing logics and analyzes how such competing logics might aid the design of contemporary organizations. It does so by exploring the contrasting views of American founders Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson on the issues they confronted in the years leading up to and after the United States' independence from the British. Their views have had a lasting influence on the character and efficacy of the U.S. government. Although Hamilton and Jefferson contemplated issues related to the governance of the United States, the authors argue that their writings offer insights that can be useful to students of organizational design. They identify four influential ideas from the writings of Hamilton and Jefferson and discuss their implications for organizational design.

Key Words: Hamilton • Jefferson • organizations • design • institutions • U.S. history

This version was published on December 1, 2008

Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 17, No. 4, 306-317 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1056492608316118


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