ORGANIZATIONAL PARADIGMS
Organizational Paradigms: Rational, Natural and Open Systems
University of Phoenix
Organizational Paradigms: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems What are organizations? How do we construct successful organizations? What is the most effective organizational structure or culture? Jones (2007) defines an organization as a tool individuals use to coordinate actions in an effort to achieve goals. “Organizational culture is a by-product of the interaction between employer and employee” (Baker, 2009, p.28). The culture, values and objectives of the organization are established by organizational leaders. According to Ohm (2006), “it is the set of unspoken interactions, relationships and expectations
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Wal-Marts’ supply chain management system decreased time and excess costs causing it to be the envy of the industry.
Natural Systems Contributions to the natural perspective of organizations came from various schools of thought. Theorist viewed organizations as social systems, in which individuals within the organization were viewed as effective contributors. The Cooperative System concept developed by Chester Barnard suggested that the contributions of individuals were integrated within organizations (Scott & Davis, 2007). The belief was that motivated individuals worked collectively to achieve the defined goals of the organization. Selznick’s institutional approach, which characterized organizations as adaptive organisms, believed that environmental changes impacted organizational structure and design. Parson’s AGIL Schema was designed to be applied to social systems. The basic needs outlined in the model are adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency. “Parsons’s framework emphasizes a set of functional needs that all social systems must satisfy in order to survive” (Scott et al, 2007, p.79).
Organizational leaders develop specific goals and objectives, but the overall behavior of the individuals within the organization are not guided by them. “Similarly, formal role definitions and written rules may have been developed, but all too frequently they exhibit little or no influence on the behavior of members” (Scott & Davis, 2007, p. 29).
One key responsibility of working as a manager is to recognize the best way to organize and run an organization. A manager who can work with and put into motion the structure and plans of a company is very important to the life of the organization. Chief Executive Officer of Chick-fil-A Dan T. Cathy is an example of such a manager and business owner. Chick-fil-A began its journey in 1960 in Hapeville, Ga. Since then the second
An organization, in its simplest form, is comprised of people brought together to achieve a common goal whether it be solving a problem, selling a product or providing a service. The existence of the organization is wholly dependent on the collective body of individuals involved and it is these individuals that are the driving force behind the success or failure of a company. The relationships that connect the people within the organization dictate how the culture is developed and perceived.
Open system: the perspective views organizations as complex organisms that “live” within an external environment.
The theory is the same as the open system theory because it describes the processes of inputs, outputs, and throughputs of the organization. The model makes the assumption that organizations are open social systems that exist within
The General Systems Theory (GST) came about as an effort to describe the systems approach, born from the biological concept of the organism developed in the first part of the 20th century (Von Bertalanffy, 1972). In contrast to the mechanistic systems which are closed and have a direct relationship between a cause and its effect, a biological or social system is open, operating on a principle of equifinality, where regardless of the starting point, the objective can be achieved (Kast & Rosenzweig, 1972). Any system will achieve equilibrium, but an open system can reach a steady state by accessing resources from outside itself (Kast & Rosenzweig, 1972). The underlying assumptions of GST rely on the organization of a company resembling the inner workings of an organism. However, subgroups within organizations can act independently of the the whole, in
Describe how alignment between the values of an organization and the values of the nurse impact nurse engagement and patient outcomes.
However, they tend to have a focus on certain organizational aspects making the modern organization system be a blend of the three major perspectives. Based on organizational science that was formulated in the early 20th century there has been an emergence of rational, open and natural system theorists that explain the functioning of the organizations.
Organizations are social entities that are driven by goals that are designed intentionally, and coordinated activity systems and they are linked to the external environment. It means that the organization should have a way of linking the internal and external environments. Organizations are made of people and the relationship between the people is essential. There is a deliberate move by organization management to come up with structures that ensure coordination of
An organization is a structural process in which persons interact for objectives. This view of organization contains several important points:
To organize and prioritize the current and future projects in the pipeline in a way that fits into the PMB budget of $5B, and ensures projects that increase sales, growth, and stockholder value are of top priority, whereas projects that are not beneficial are either put on hold or discarded.
The A-Team was forced to disband because from the very first tasking, there was conflict between the group members. The group never actually came together to complete their first tasking of defining roles. The arguments between the group members got so bad that one of their team members walked out for the group and threatened to quit the program.
An organizational analysis is an important tool to become familiar with how medical businesses and organizations are able to meet standards of care, provide services for the community and provide employment to health care providers. There are many different aspects to evaluate in an organizational analysis. This paper will describe these many aspects and apply the categories to the University Medical Center (UMC) as the organization being analyzed.
According to traditional theorists such as Fayol, Weber, and Taylor, a school of thought identifies a level of agreement in their view of organizational system implementation. These classical theorists indicate in their readings that there is
Organizational structure has been set up to facilitate all goal achievements. It is a way to motivate their employees and get them to work together. It also helps its employees to follow the organizations goals, and work together as a team. In order to do this, they need to have an organized structure to be able to run the company smoothly. A main foundation of every organization is to post their mission statement and goals everywhere so that their employees can see them. An organizational culture can consist of common shared beliefs and values that are established by the organization’s leader, and then communicated and reinforce through various methods, this helps shape employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding. Overall, organizational structure and culture can effect progress of many organizations in a positive and negative way.
Lastly, social systems are systems whose parts and whole have a purpose. Specifically, social systems have purpose/goals of their own, but also comprise of parts (e.g., other social systems or animated organisms) that have purposes of their own. Additionally, these parts are usually part of larger social systems that include other social systems (Ackoff & Gharajedaghi, 1996). Accordingly, social systems, such as corporations, are intricate systems influenced by their very components.