PREPARATION FOR THE ORGANIZATION
THEORY EXAM
This exam includes 80 multiple choice questions.
The grade will be calculated as follows: grade= 1 + (number of questions correct – 20) x 0,15.
Correctly answering 50 questions will result a sufficient grade (5,5)
During the exam it is allowed to use a dictionary.
What you should study:
Robbins & Barnwell – Organization Theory book chapters: 1 t/m 9.
This summary has been made by combining important topics discussed in the tutorials and lectures,
summarizing important points form the book and including parts of other summarizes.
Source:
Organisation Theory concepts and cases 5th edition by Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell
,WEEK 1 – EVOLUTION OF ORGANISATION THEORY
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATION THEORY
What is an organisation?
An organisation is a consciously managed and coordinated social entity, with an identifiable
boundary, which functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set
of goals.
Consciously managed and coordinated: management hierarchy involved in decision
making in the organisation.
Social entity: a unit that is composed of people or groups of people who interact
with each other.
A definable boundary must exist in order to distinguish members from non-
members. Such boundaries are created through explicit or implicit contracts
between members their organisation.
People in an organisation have some continuing bond.
What is organisation structure?
Organisation structure: the degree of complexity, formalization, and centralisation in an
organisation.
Complexity considers the extent of differentiation within the organisation. This
includes the degree of specialization or division of labour.
Formalisation: the degree to which an organisation relies on rules and procedures to
direct the behaviour of employees.
Centralisation considers where the responsibility for decision-making authority lies.
Centralised decision making: decisions made by the strategic top
Decentralised decision making: greater number of people are involved in decision
making.
What is organisation design?
Organisation design: the construction and change of organisation’s structure to achieve the
organisation’s goals.
What is organisation theory?
Organisation theory: the discipline that studies the structure and design of organisations.
Contrasting organisation theory and organizational behaviour
A comparison of the subject matter of organisation theory and that of organisational
behaviour should help you understand their different emphases as well as their areas of
overlap.
Organisational behaviour is the study of the way in which individuals and teams
behave in the workplace (employee productivity, absenteeism, turnover and job
satisfaction are those most often looked at).
Topics relating to the individual: perception, values, learning, motivation, and the
personality-task interface.
, Group topics: roles, status, leadership, power, communication, and conflict.
In contrast, organisation theory takes a macro-perspective. Its unit of analysis is the
organisation itself or its primary subunits, such as departments or divisions.
Uses a broader definition of organisational effectiveness.
It is not only concerned with employee performance and attitudes but also with the
overall organisation’s ability to achieve its goals and adapt to its environment.
The systems perspective
There is a wide agreement that a systems perspective offers important insights into the
workings of an organisation.
Definition of a system
A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts which interact to produce a
unified output.
Types of system
Systems are classified typically as either closed or open.
Closed-system thinking views the system as self-contained – Ignores the effect of the
environment on the system – A closed system would be one that received no energy
from an outside source and from which no energy was released into its
surroundings.
An open system recognizes the interaction of a system with its environment and its
dependence upon it.
An open system may become more closed if contact with the environment is reduced over
time and the reverse would also be true.
Characteristics of an open system
Environment awareness: the organisation consistently interacts with its
environment.
Feedback: open systems continually receive information from their environment – a
process that allows a portion of the output to be returned to the system as input.
Cyclical character: open systems consist repetitive cycles of events.
Tendency towards growth: open systems have the ability to import more energy
than it puts out. Consequently, it can repair itself, maintain its structure, avoid
death, and even grow.
Steady state: a balance between inputs from the environment and those expended
to counteract the winding down of the system.
Movement towards growth and expansion: the more sophisticated the system, the
more it is likely to grow and expand – to avoid winding down open systems tend to
import more energy from the environment than is required for the systems output.
Balance of maintenance and adaptive activities:
, Maintenance activities ensure that the various subsystems are in balance and
that the total system conforms to its environment.
Adaptive activities are necessary so that the system can adjust over time to
variations in internal and external demands.
Equifinality: a system can reach the same final state from differing initial conditions
and by a variety of paths.
Importance of the systems perspective
The systems perspective makes it possible to see the organisation as inter
dependent subsystems which need to be interrogated to form a complete and
effective system.
Limitations of the systems perspective
Abstract concept – difficult to isolate specific problems because of the tendency to
consider that everything depends on everything else.
How and why organisations change over time – what brings them into existence
and why do they fail?
The life cycle perspective
The organisational life cycle refers to the pattern of predictable change through which the
organisation moves from start-up to dissolution.
Life-cycle stages (five stage model)
1- Entrepreneurial stage – goals are fluid or ambiguous – creativity and managerial
input is high – acquiring and maintaining steady supply of resources are demanded
to progress to the next stage.
2- Collectivity stage – mission is clarified, and the chances of survival have increased –
intensive, hardworking employees with hands on management – small organisation.
3- Formalization-and-control stage – the operation of the organisation stabilizes –
efficiency and stability take on greater importance – decision making=conservative –
roles have been clarified and defined.
4- Elaboration-of-structure stage – large size with characteristics of a bureaucracy –
decision making is complex and decentralized – managers search for growing
opportunities.
5- Decline stage – organisation ceases to exist.
Importance of the life-cycle perspective
Benefit 1: encourages us to view organisations as dynamic entities.
Benefit 2: valuable when considering what management can do to make an
organization more efficient. Actions that are appropriate for a given problem when
the organisation when the company is growing is different from the actions of a
company that is mature.
THEORY EXAM
This exam includes 80 multiple choice questions.
The grade will be calculated as follows: grade= 1 + (number of questions correct – 20) x 0,15.
Correctly answering 50 questions will result a sufficient grade (5,5)
During the exam it is allowed to use a dictionary.
What you should study:
Robbins & Barnwell – Organization Theory book chapters: 1 t/m 9.
This summary has been made by combining important topics discussed in the tutorials and lectures,
summarizing important points form the book and including parts of other summarizes.
Source:
Organisation Theory concepts and cases 5th edition by Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell
,WEEK 1 – EVOLUTION OF ORGANISATION THEORY
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATION THEORY
What is an organisation?
An organisation is a consciously managed and coordinated social entity, with an identifiable
boundary, which functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set
of goals.
Consciously managed and coordinated: management hierarchy involved in decision
making in the organisation.
Social entity: a unit that is composed of people or groups of people who interact
with each other.
A definable boundary must exist in order to distinguish members from non-
members. Such boundaries are created through explicit or implicit contracts
between members their organisation.
People in an organisation have some continuing bond.
What is organisation structure?
Organisation structure: the degree of complexity, formalization, and centralisation in an
organisation.
Complexity considers the extent of differentiation within the organisation. This
includes the degree of specialization or division of labour.
Formalisation: the degree to which an organisation relies on rules and procedures to
direct the behaviour of employees.
Centralisation considers where the responsibility for decision-making authority lies.
Centralised decision making: decisions made by the strategic top
Decentralised decision making: greater number of people are involved in decision
making.
What is organisation design?
Organisation design: the construction and change of organisation’s structure to achieve the
organisation’s goals.
What is organisation theory?
Organisation theory: the discipline that studies the structure and design of organisations.
Contrasting organisation theory and organizational behaviour
A comparison of the subject matter of organisation theory and that of organisational
behaviour should help you understand their different emphases as well as their areas of
overlap.
Organisational behaviour is the study of the way in which individuals and teams
behave in the workplace (employee productivity, absenteeism, turnover and job
satisfaction are those most often looked at).
Topics relating to the individual: perception, values, learning, motivation, and the
personality-task interface.
, Group topics: roles, status, leadership, power, communication, and conflict.
In contrast, organisation theory takes a macro-perspective. Its unit of analysis is the
organisation itself or its primary subunits, such as departments or divisions.
Uses a broader definition of organisational effectiveness.
It is not only concerned with employee performance and attitudes but also with the
overall organisation’s ability to achieve its goals and adapt to its environment.
The systems perspective
There is a wide agreement that a systems perspective offers important insights into the
workings of an organisation.
Definition of a system
A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts which interact to produce a
unified output.
Types of system
Systems are classified typically as either closed or open.
Closed-system thinking views the system as self-contained – Ignores the effect of the
environment on the system – A closed system would be one that received no energy
from an outside source and from which no energy was released into its
surroundings.
An open system recognizes the interaction of a system with its environment and its
dependence upon it.
An open system may become more closed if contact with the environment is reduced over
time and the reverse would also be true.
Characteristics of an open system
Environment awareness: the organisation consistently interacts with its
environment.
Feedback: open systems continually receive information from their environment – a
process that allows a portion of the output to be returned to the system as input.
Cyclical character: open systems consist repetitive cycles of events.
Tendency towards growth: open systems have the ability to import more energy
than it puts out. Consequently, it can repair itself, maintain its structure, avoid
death, and even grow.
Steady state: a balance between inputs from the environment and those expended
to counteract the winding down of the system.
Movement towards growth and expansion: the more sophisticated the system, the
more it is likely to grow and expand – to avoid winding down open systems tend to
import more energy from the environment than is required for the systems output.
Balance of maintenance and adaptive activities:
, Maintenance activities ensure that the various subsystems are in balance and
that the total system conforms to its environment.
Adaptive activities are necessary so that the system can adjust over time to
variations in internal and external demands.
Equifinality: a system can reach the same final state from differing initial conditions
and by a variety of paths.
Importance of the systems perspective
The systems perspective makes it possible to see the organisation as inter
dependent subsystems which need to be interrogated to form a complete and
effective system.
Limitations of the systems perspective
Abstract concept – difficult to isolate specific problems because of the tendency to
consider that everything depends on everything else.
How and why organisations change over time – what brings them into existence
and why do they fail?
The life cycle perspective
The organisational life cycle refers to the pattern of predictable change through which the
organisation moves from start-up to dissolution.
Life-cycle stages (five stage model)
1- Entrepreneurial stage – goals are fluid or ambiguous – creativity and managerial
input is high – acquiring and maintaining steady supply of resources are demanded
to progress to the next stage.
2- Collectivity stage – mission is clarified, and the chances of survival have increased –
intensive, hardworking employees with hands on management – small organisation.
3- Formalization-and-control stage – the operation of the organisation stabilizes –
efficiency and stability take on greater importance – decision making=conservative –
roles have been clarified and defined.
4- Elaboration-of-structure stage – large size with characteristics of a bureaucracy –
decision making is complex and decentralized – managers search for growing
opportunities.
5- Decline stage – organisation ceases to exist.
Importance of the life-cycle perspective
Benefit 1: encourages us to view organisations as dynamic entities.
Benefit 2: valuable when considering what management can do to make an
organization more efficient. Actions that are appropriate for a given problem when
the organisation when the company is growing is different from the actions of a
company that is mature.
