The first section reviews and evaluates the most significant theoretical developments of the last two decades, focusing in particular on the various ways in which `organization' has been conceptualized as the basis for organizational analyses. The second section examines a range of issues related to the major transformations in organizational forms currently occurring throughout advanced industrial societies. Final contributions outline a range of emergent new perspectives which not only present challenges both to the `old' and `new' orthodoxies of the field but also herald important new directions for its future development.