Org Theory Core

7/31/2019 Org Theory Core

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Organizational Theory

Winter 2003

Gail Johnson


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OrganizationGreek Organon:

meaning a tool or instrument.

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


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Theory and ParadigmsTheory:

A coherent group of general propositions

used as principles of explanation orA proposed explanation whose status isstill conjectural

Paradigm: an example or pattern


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Theory and ParadigmsTo help us understand how organizationswork

To help us think about how we understandorganizations

To help us think about we approach otherswithin the organization based on our

theory.To help us determine more effective ways oforganizing to get work done.


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Organizational Theology?

Each offers scripture and preaches its

own version of the gospel to modernmanagers. Each has a vision of howorganizations are and should be.

Boleman and Deal, p.3


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Theories as Frames:Frames or Windows

filter

order the worldStructural Frame

Human Resource Frame

Political FrameCultural

Systems


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Structural ParadigmImage: A machine

Pyramid

Words: Efficient

Impersonal

Goal-drivenPhrase: The One Best Way


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Structural ParadigmMax Weber:

Structure strives to achieve:

calculability of rational results,

precision, stability, discipline, and

reliability.


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Structural Assumptions:

Exist to accomplish its goals

Problems usually reflect an inappropriatestructure

Work effectively when the norms ofrationality prevail.

Specialization permits higher levels ofindividual performance.

Coordination and control are accomplishedbest through the exercise of authority andimpersonal rules, and centralized oversight.


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Structural ParadigmControl

Control

Control


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Margaret WheatleyIf organizations are machines, then

control makes sense. If organizations

are process structures, then seeking toimpose control through permanentstructure is suicide.

Wheatley, p. 23


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Truth or Fiction?Bureaucracy is the single best form oforganization of organization yet devised

for providing consistency, continuity,predictability, stability, deliberateness,efficient performance of repetitive

tasks, equity, rationalism andprofessionalism. (Cooper, p. 201)


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Which is True?Rules promote fairness andaccountability in the conduct of public

business.Rules are also the enemy of progressand dispatch.


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Human Relations FrameImage: Family

Words: Caring, Nurturing, Supportive

Spirit

Concepts: motivation, empowerment,development, communication


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Human RelationsChester Barnard:

The key limiting factor to

organizational success is in gettingpeople to cooperate in accomplishingthe organization's purpose.


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IncentivesTo get them to cooperate you must

induce them to join the organization

and then induce them to contribute.The organization depends upon the

motives of individuals and the

inducements that satisfy them.


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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Self-

Actualization

Belonging Love

Safety

Esteem

Physiological


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Follett: Different VisionCircle, Not Pyramid

Belonging and Relatedness would be

the top.

Self-esteem and self-actualization wouldbe lower-order needs

Mary was not big on individualism.


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Follett: Different VisionWe cannot put the individual on one side

and society on the other, we mustunderstand the complete interrelation ofthe two. Each has no value, no existencewithout the otherThere is no such thingas a self-made man. (p. 257)

Of what then does the individuality of aman consist? Of his relation to the whole,not (1) of his apartness nor (2) of hisdifference alone.


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Follett: Different VisionI am an individual not as far as I am apart

from, but as far as I am part of others.

Non-relation is death. (257)


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Where is your organization?Does it value people?

Does it treat people like adults?

Does it develop people?

Do managers treat employees ascustomers?

Should it?


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Mary Says:Even if it is true that people want to be told

what to do--and I dont think it is true but

even if it is--I dont think there is any reason to encourage

that desire. As a parent, you teach yourchildren to make decisions, even if they

would, at least initially, prefer you to makethe decisions for them.


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Mary Says:We all have to learn to take our share of

responsibilityand leaders should make

us feel our responsibility, not take itfrom us. (p. 214)

We are all part of the evolving situation.

We all must make our contribution.


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Peter Blockthe mindset that there is a population

waiting to be told what norms and

values they are to live by expresses aloss of faith in human capacity.


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Political ParadigmThe political frame views organizationsas 'alive and screaming' political arenas

that house a complex variety ofindividuals and interest groups.

This is not about elections and elected

positions.


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Political ParadigmImage: smoke-filled room

battle

Words: wheeling and dealing

My way or no way.


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Political ParadigmIt is a world not of angels but of angles,

where men speak of moral principles

but act on power principles; a worldwhere we are always moral and ourenemies always immoral.

Saul Alinsky, 1971


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Political ParadigmMorgan: "Power is the medium through which

conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved.Power influences who gets what, when, and

how."Dahl: "Power involves an ability to get another

person to do something that he or she wouldnot otherwise have done."

Follett: "Power might be defined as simply theability to make things happen, to be a causal

agent, to initiate change. "


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Power Paradigm AssumptionsImportant decisions: allocation of scarce resources.

Organizations are coalitions composed of a numberof individuals and interest groups

Individuals and interest groups differ in their values,

preferences, beliefs, information, and perceptions ofreality.

Goals and decisions emerge from ongoing processesof bargaining, negotiation, and jockeying for positionamong individuals and groups.

Because of scarce resources, narrow self-interest andenduring differences, power and conflict are centralfeatures of organizational life."


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Power AssumptionsIts all a game.

Who ever has the most toys wins.


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Human Side of PowerThe decision as to whether an order has

authority or not lies with the persons towhom it is addressed, and does not reside in

'persons of authority' or those who issuethese orders. Chester Barnard

Our job is not how to get people to obeyorders, but how to devise methods by whichwe can best discover the order integral to aparticular situation. Mary Parker Follett


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Human Side of PowerPower Over

power is scarceand limited

giving orders

punish non-compliance

negative beliefsabout people

Power With

power increaseswhen shared

orders aredetermined by thesituation

participatoryproblem-solving

positive beliefsabout people


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Forms of politickingPad budgets to get more resources

Pick easy tasks and build them into

mountainsImage management

Appear busy

Manage to stay until after the "boss"leaves, so you appear to be hardworking.


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Ways to handle conflictAvoidance--denial: moose on the table

Compromise: deals, temporary

Competition: win/lose

Accommodation: giving way,submission

Collaboration: win/win, integrative


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Follett: Dealing with ConflictBring the conflict into the open

denial is dsyfunctional

Make agendas visible:dont pretend you dont havepersonal motives

Lay your cards on the tableListen to the issues and concerns of allparties.


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Follett: Dealing with ConflictBreak issues and concerns into theirconstituent parts:

Seek areas of agreementSeek solutions on the smaller issues.

Understand the symbolic value of the

issues.Respect and trust are essential.


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Follett: Dealing with ConflictNot all problems will have win-winsolutions.

But all parties should feel they havebeen heard and that their views wereseriously considered.


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Obstacles to IntegrationLack of intelligence and inventiveness

Unwillingness to take responsibility

Enjoyment of domination

Fight addict


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Obstacles to IntegrationTendency to theorize rather take action

Language of "war"

The manipulation by the unscrupulousleaders

Our lack of training in the "art" of

cooperative thinking and action


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Kritek: Masks of ManipulationPraise and Flattery

Lying and Deception

Helpfulness and Generosity

Trickery and Secret Deals

Attacking and Threatening


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Covey: Personal InfluenceRefrain from saying the unkind ornegative thing

Exercise patience with others (and self)Distinguish between the person and thebehavior

Perform anonymous service

Keep your promises

Assume the best of others


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Covey: Personal InfluenceSeek first to understand

Reward open, honest expressions

Give an understanding responseAdmit your mistakes, apologize,

Let arguments fly out open windows

Go one on oneRenew your commitment to things youhave in common


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Sources of PowerAuthority

Expertise

Control of ResourcesControl of Process

Control of decision

processes

Information

Personal

AssociationalCoercive


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Exercise:Who has power in your

organization?

What are your sources of

power?


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Cultural Paradigm

A pattern of basic assumptions,

invented, discovered, or developed by agiven groups as the correct way toperceived, think and feel


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Cultural Paradigm

Words: norms, values

The way it is done here

We dont do that

our way.

Image: village, anthropologist


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Cultural Paradigm:

AssumptionsCulture affects how each member thinks, feels andacts.

Much of what happens is ambiguous and uncertain,

and undermines rational approaches

When faced with uncertainty and ambiguity, peoplecreate symbols to reduce ambiguity and to resolveconflict


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Seidman:

Agency culture and personality

Attempts to change organizationswithout understanding its culturenorms, beliefs, and valuesare boundto fail.

Reorganizations should not be prescribed

as a cure for personality problems.


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Seidman:

Agency culture and personalityAgencies have "distinct and

multidimensional personalities and

deeply ingrained cultures andsubcultures, reflecting institutionalhistory, ideology, values, symbols,

folklore, professional biases, behaviorpatterns, heroes, and enemies.


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Seidman:

Agency culture and personalityIt would be as unthinkable for a secretary

of agriculture to question the innate

goodness of the rural way of life andthe inherent virtues of the family farmas it would be for an OMB director to be

against economy and efficiency


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Seidman:

Agency culture and personalityAs the leader of a rugged 'outdoors-type'

department, a secretary of the interior

is not out of character when he climbsmountains, shoots the Colorado Riverrapids, or organizes well-publicized

hiking and jogging expeditions.


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Seidman:

Agency culture and personalityIdentical conduct by the secretary of the

treasury would shake the financial

community to its core." {pp. 166-167}


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Cultural ParadigmMyths

provide explanations

maintain group cohesion

anchor the present in the past


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Cultural ParadigmSome rituals and ceremonies:

presidential conventions

performance appraisals

award ceremonies

committee meetings (with nooutcomes expected)

management training programs

Twelve Lessons for Leaders


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Twelve Lessons for Leadersof Culture Transformations

Winning minds, changing habits,touching hearts

1. Dont control employees--involve them.2. Model the behavior you want.

3. Make yourself visible

4. Make a clear break with the past.

5. Unleash--but harness the pioneers.

.


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of Culture TransformationsWinning Minds, Changing Habits,

Touching Hearts

6. Get a quick shot of new blood--and a slowtransfusion

7.Drive out fear--but dont tolerate resistance.

8. Sell success.9. Communicate, communicate, communicate.


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of Culture TransformationsWinning Minds, Changing Habits,

Touching Hearts

10. Bridge the fault lines in theorganization.

11. Change administrative systems that

reinforce bureaucratic culture.12. Commit for the long haul.Osborne and Plasterik, Banishing Bureaucracy


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Open Systems

Organizations can be seen as opensystems, like organisms which

constantly adapt to their internal andexternal environment

Image: organism

Words: flexible, responsive, fluid,changing


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Wheatley:I have observed that the search fororganizational equilibrium is a sure pathto institutional death, a road to zerotrafficked by fearful people. (P. 76).

Life is an open system: Open systemsthat engage with their environment andcontinue to grow and evolve. (P.77)


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AssumptionsExternal conditions influence the flow ofinputs, outputs and can affect the internaloperations.

Organizations use many of their products,services, and ideals as inputs toorganizational maintenance or growth

Organizations are influenced by theirmembers as well as their environments.


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AssumptionsSubsystems are all interrelated andinfluence each other;

Organizations are constantly changing.An organization's success depends onits ability to adapt to its environment

Any level or unit within an organizationcan be viewed as a system.


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Environment

OutputsInputs

Environment

Goals Culture

Behaviors

Processes

Technology

Structure


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Open SystemsInputs

Outputs

TechnologyEnvironment

Goals andstrategies

Behavior andprocesses

CultureHuman resources

Structure


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GAO:Inputs: People and money; some

technology; knowledge

Outputs: reports and testimonyTechnology: brains, analyticthought, rational model,

computers, printingEnvironment: political


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GAO:Goals and

Strategies: vision statement but

no strategic plan toget there.

Behavior and

processes: command and control,accounting model


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Colleges/UniversitiesInputs?

Outputs?

Technology?Goals and Strategies?

Behavior and Processes?

Culture?Human Resources?

Structure?

l


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Application: Senges Learning

OrganizationsSystems Thinking

big picture,interconnections

Personal Mastery

personal vision,patience, reality

Shared Visionpicture of the future

Team Learning

Group IQ

dialogue

greater than sum ofthe parts

Mental Models

questionassumptions, internalimages


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Wheatley:Wheatley asks: Why are we afraid of

what happens if our boat gets rocked?

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