Organizational Theory

Organization Greek Organon:

meaning a tool or instrument.

So, organizations are tools or instruments to meet goals, objectives, to carry out tasks.

Theories as Frames:Frames or Windows

filter order the world

Structural FrameHuman Resource FramePolitical FrameCultural Systems

Structural ParadigmImage: A machine

PyramidWords: Efficient

ImpersonalGoal-driven

Phrase: The One Best Way

Structural Assumptions:

Exist to accomplish its goalsProblems usually reflect an inappropriate structure Specialization permits higher levels of individual performance.Coordination and control are accomplished best through the exercise of authority and impersonal rules.

Structural ParadigmControl

Control

Control

Truth or Fiction?

“Bureaucracy is the single best form of

organization for providing consistency,

predictability, stability, efficient

performance, rationalism and

professionalism.”

Which is True? Rules promote fairness and

accountability in the conduct of public business.

Rules are also the enemy of progress and dispatch.

Human Relations FrameImage: FamilyWords: Caring, Nurturing,

SupportiveSpirit

Concepts: motivation, empowerment, development, communication

Human Relations Assumptions

Organizations exist to serve human

needs

Organizations need the ideas, energy,

and talent that people provide

Incentives

To get them to cooperate you must

induce them to join the organization

and then induce them to contribute.

IncentivesMaterial: money, compensation, bonusesPersonal: prestige, distinction, powerValues: loyaltyOpportunity: participation, efficacySecurity: job security, support

Follett:

“We cannot put the individual on one side

and society on the other, we must

understand the complete interrelation of

the two. Each has no value, no

existence without the other… There is no

such thing as a self-made man.”

Where is your organization?Does it value people?Does it treat people like adults?Does it develop people?Do managers treat employees as customers?

Political ParadigmThe political frame views organizations as alive political arenas that house a complex variety of individuals and interest groups. This is not about elections and elected positions.

Political ParadigmImage: smoke-filled room battleWords: wheeling and dealing

My way or no way.

Political Paradigm“It is a world where men speak of

moral principles but act on power principles; a world where we are always moral and our enemies always immoral.”

Political Paradigm

Morgan: "Power is the medium through

which conflicts of interest are ultimately

resolved."

Dahl: "Power involves an ability to get

another person to do something that he

or she would not otherwise have done."

Power Paradigm Assumptions

Important decisions: allocation of scarce resources.

Organizations are coalitions composed of a number of

individuals and interest groups

Individuals and interest groups differ in their values,

preferences, beliefs, information, and perceptions of

reality.

Goals and decisions emerge from ongoing processes

of bargaining and negotiation among individuals and

groups.

Human Side of PowerPower Over

power is scarce and limitedgiving orderspunish non-compliancenegative beliefs about people

Power Withpower increases when sharedorders are determined by the situationparticipatory problem-solvingpositive beliefs about people

Sources of PowerAuthorityExpertiseControl of ResourcesControl of ProcessInformation Personal

Exercise:Who has power in your organization?

What are your sources of power?

Cultural Paradigm

“A pattern of basic assumptions, invented, discovered, or developed by a given groups as the correct way to perceived, think and feel”

Cultural Paradigm

Words: norms, values“The way it is done here”“We don’t do that”“our way.”

Image: village, anthropologist

Seidman: Agency culture and

personality

“Attempts to change organizations

without understanding its culture—

norms, beliefs, and values—are bound

to fail.

Open Systems

Organizations can be seen as open systems, like organisms which constantly adapt to their internal and external environment

Image: organismWords: flexible, fluid, changing

Systems ParadigmWhat endures is process:

dynamicadaptivecreative

Wheatley:

Life is an open system: “Open

systems that engage with their

environment and continue to grow

and evolve.”

Assumptions

External conditions influence the flow of

inputs, outputs and can affect the internal

operations.

Organizations use many of their products,

services, and ideals as inputs to

organizational maintenance or growth

Assumptions

Subsystems are all interrelated and influence each other; Organizations are constantly changing. An organization's success depends on its ability to adapt to its environmentAny level or unit within an organization can be viewed as a system.

Colleges/UniversitiesInputs?Outputs?Technology?Goals and Strategies?Behavior and Processes?Culture?Human Resources?Structure?