At the simplest level, we can think of organizations as the physical spaces that we
work in and interact with.
Tony Watson summarized definitions of organizations and noted that a common
factor is the idea that organizations have goals which act as glue holding together
the various systems used to produce things. Also, he noted that management
actions come after the goals that have been set.
So, organizations can be seen as people interacting in some kind of structured or
organized way to achieve some defined purpose or goal
Above all, there is a requirement for decision-taking about the processes (the
means) by which the goals (the ends) are achieved.
A typical definition of an organization (Daft): A social entity that has a purpose,
has a boundary, so that some participants are considered inside while others are
considered outside and patterns the activities of participants into a recognizable
structure.
Another view: the organization as a system of interacting subsystems and
components set within wider systems and environments that provide inputs into
the system and receive its outputs.
p. 5
,Child(1973) drew attention to intangible elements of organizational life such as
political behavior of organizational members
Nadler(1988) included patterns of communication, power and influence, values
and norms)
Stacey (2003) used 'shadow system' to describe less predictable and more
intangible aspects of organizational life.
Informal subsystem this includes:
- Hidden elements of organizational culture
- Politics
- Less hidden element of leadership - including those who are led
Outputs relevant to the informal subsystem are:
• Employee behavior
• Job Satisfaction
Edward and Sisson (1997) say: Given that technology and finance are increasingly
internationally mobile and that innovations can be copied rapidly, it is the unique
use of human resources, which is especially critical to long-term organizational
success.
Silverman (1970) challenged the idea of organizations as systems, since the notion
rests on the assumption that defining an organization's goals is uncontentious and
that, within the organization, there is consensus as to what its goals are.
Social Action approach to understanding organizations: Organizations are
composed of individuals and groups with multiple different interests - who
construe their actions in many different ways
Stacey's (2003) ideas of organizations as complex systems emphasize the notion
of unpredictability by emphasizing the multitude of interactions in and between
individual, social, organizational and environmental domains.
He also stresses the difficulties of trying to understand an organization as an
objective outsider
,Open system: Organizations transform inputs into outputs and the strategies
employed are influenced by both historical and contemporary environmental
demands, opportunities and constraints.
Mechanistic structures (Burns and Stalker): Systems of strict hierarchical
structures and lines of control.
Organization's started off in a product/services task-oriented / supplie-led
favorable market described by henry ford as "Any customer can have a car
painted any colour so long as it is black"
This position changed as people became more discriminating in the goods and
services they wanted and production technology led to supply overtaking
demand
p.8
In the neo-industrial age - Goodman calls it the value-oriented time - the
emphasis moved towards adding value to goods and services. Indicatives of
moving into this time are:
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Working in teams to solve complex problems
The impact of the information age - starting around 1970 - is the age where
knowledge is the key resource. Organizations try to structure so that people can
contribute:
- Creativity
- Energy
- Foresight
, In return for being nurtured, developed and enthused.
Organizations as symphony orchestras: Drucker observed that instead of having a
dozen division VP conductors, there is only one conductor - the CEO - and every
musician/employee/ plays/works/ directly to that person without an intermediary.
Each is a high-grade specialist/artist
Clarke, Dawson, Nadler and Tushman all agreed that the 1980s were a time when
change was an 'accelerating constant', resulting in the fundamentally reshaping of
the scope, strategiesand structures of large, multi-business enterprises.
Change is triggered by large and momentous events and by events touching a
single individual that are so unacceptable that something has to be done - or at
least appear to be done.
Soft systems model: an approach designed specifically for analyzing and
designing change in what Checkland terms 'human activity systems', most
frequently, organizational systems.
Brooks (2004) sees the environment as: a general concept which embraces the
totality of external environmental forces which may influence any aspect of
organizational activity.
Although some environmental changes are objective, even measurable, it is the
ways that people interpret events that determine how an organization responds.
Thus, to some extent the environment is a construction of reality. Different
constructions arise from the following:
• The characteristics and experiences of the people filtering information from
the environment
• Organizational culture - what recipes does the culture have for interpreting
the events?
• Organizational politics and structures
• How the organization has developed in the past
• How the business sector as a whole interprets the information.
work in and interact with.
Tony Watson summarized definitions of organizations and noted that a common
factor is the idea that organizations have goals which act as glue holding together
the various systems used to produce things. Also, he noted that management
actions come after the goals that have been set.
So, organizations can be seen as people interacting in some kind of structured or
organized way to achieve some defined purpose or goal
Above all, there is a requirement for decision-taking about the processes (the
means) by which the goals (the ends) are achieved.
A typical definition of an organization (Daft): A social entity that has a purpose,
has a boundary, so that some participants are considered inside while others are
considered outside and patterns the activities of participants into a recognizable
structure.
Another view: the organization as a system of interacting subsystems and
components set within wider systems and environments that provide inputs into
the system and receive its outputs.
p. 5
,Child(1973) drew attention to intangible elements of organizational life such as
political behavior of organizational members
Nadler(1988) included patterns of communication, power and influence, values
and norms)
Stacey (2003) used 'shadow system' to describe less predictable and more
intangible aspects of organizational life.
Informal subsystem this includes:
- Hidden elements of organizational culture
- Politics
- Less hidden element of leadership - including those who are led
Outputs relevant to the informal subsystem are:
• Employee behavior
• Job Satisfaction
Edward and Sisson (1997) say: Given that technology and finance are increasingly
internationally mobile and that innovations can be copied rapidly, it is the unique
use of human resources, which is especially critical to long-term organizational
success.
Silverman (1970) challenged the idea of organizations as systems, since the notion
rests on the assumption that defining an organization's goals is uncontentious and
that, within the organization, there is consensus as to what its goals are.
Social Action approach to understanding organizations: Organizations are
composed of individuals and groups with multiple different interests - who
construe their actions in many different ways
Stacey's (2003) ideas of organizations as complex systems emphasize the notion
of unpredictability by emphasizing the multitude of interactions in and between
individual, social, organizational and environmental domains.
He also stresses the difficulties of trying to understand an organization as an
objective outsider
,Open system: Organizations transform inputs into outputs and the strategies
employed are influenced by both historical and contemporary environmental
demands, opportunities and constraints.
Mechanistic structures (Burns and Stalker): Systems of strict hierarchical
structures and lines of control.
Organization's started off in a product/services task-oriented / supplie-led
favorable market described by henry ford as "Any customer can have a car
painted any colour so long as it is black"
This position changed as people became more discriminating in the goods and
services they wanted and production technology led to supply overtaking
demand
p.8
In the neo-industrial age - Goodman calls it the value-oriented time - the
emphasis moved towards adding value to goods and services. Indicatives of
moving into this time are:
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Working in teams to solve complex problems
The impact of the information age - starting around 1970 - is the age where
knowledge is the key resource. Organizations try to structure so that people can
contribute:
- Creativity
- Energy
- Foresight
, In return for being nurtured, developed and enthused.
Organizations as symphony orchestras: Drucker observed that instead of having a
dozen division VP conductors, there is only one conductor - the CEO - and every
musician/employee/ plays/works/ directly to that person without an intermediary.
Each is a high-grade specialist/artist
Clarke, Dawson, Nadler and Tushman all agreed that the 1980s were a time when
change was an 'accelerating constant', resulting in the fundamentally reshaping of
the scope, strategiesand structures of large, multi-business enterprises.
Change is triggered by large and momentous events and by events touching a
single individual that are so unacceptable that something has to be done - or at
least appear to be done.
Soft systems model: an approach designed specifically for analyzing and
designing change in what Checkland terms 'human activity systems', most
frequently, organizational systems.
Brooks (2004) sees the environment as: a general concept which embraces the
totality of external environmental forces which may influence any aspect of
organizational activity.
Although some environmental changes are objective, even measurable, it is the
ways that people interpret events that determine how an organization responds.
Thus, to some extent the environment is a construction of reality. Different
constructions arise from the following:
• The characteristics and experiences of the people filtering information from
the environment
• Organizational culture - what recipes does the culture have for interpreting
the events?
• Organizational politics and structures
• How the organization has developed in the past
• How the business sector as a whole interprets the information.
