Current knowledge about universities is such that approaches to their study should be both more frequently and more carefully made through organizational theory. While observers tend to agree about universities' general characteristics, important questions about their nature and viability are as yet unsettled. Michael Crozier's framework is discussed in particular as a device through which to pursue this study. While his views on organization seem to be empirically close to the university situation, reservations are offered about their wholesale adoption. An operational definition of the Crozenian approach is offered based on the author's own empirical work. (Author/MSE)