Organizations as Semilattices

and second, toward rigorously defining their interrelationships. The second problem is the statement of a formal theory of interaction in terms of communication, consensus, and coordination. In the discussion above, it was shown how a set of propositions could be generated from the proposition that the degree of consensus is reciprocally related to the degree of coordination, with degree of communication held constant, by introducing sub-dimensions in the variable of coordination. Using similar techniques, two further sets of propositions could be generated, by partialling the relationship between communication and consensus with coordination held constant, on the one hand, and the relationship between communication and coordination with consensus held constant, on the other. Finally, a fourth set of propositions could be generated by stating the dynamic interrelation of all three variables. These four sets would offer a series of propositions that could lead to empirical testing, and would at the same time be directly articulated with sociological theory. More generally, the investigation of higher-order co-orientations promises a procedure for unraveling some of the more intricate puzzles in human relationships. For example, it is possible that much of the moral ambiguity facing actors in modern large-scale societies is a product of the multigroup, multi-faceted consensual structures depicted here. Exploration of these patterns could lead, in the long run, to an understanding of the processes which create and terminate consensus, and the consequences of these processes for the actors and their society.