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organizational theory Essay

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Question #1

“Despite the economic progress brought about in part by scientific management, critics were calling attention to the ‘seamy side of progress’ which included severe labor management conflict, apathy, boredom, and wasted human resources to examine the discrepancy between how an organization was supposed to work versus how the workers actually behaved. In addition, factors like World War I, developments in psychology and later the depression, all bought into question, some of the basic assumptions of Scientific Management.” (Internet) This is where the Human Relations School steps in. Its primary focus is the importance of attitudes and feelings of workers, while informal roles and norms influence performance. “At the most …show more content…

To Mayo, this was not only the key to organizational success, but also the goal to achieving social stability. He also viewed informal group processes as the promoting tool for social integration, as well as stopping absenteeism, turnover, and discontent among employees.
Another important person at this time was Chester Barnard, who combined practical experience in management and corporate affairs with a complex and sophisticated theory of organization and human behavior. His focus projected from an emphasis on the organization to an analysis of the nature of an individual. He placed priority on tension between the organization and the individual noting that “…organizations are constructed for particular purposes, but they employ individuals who may have widely divergent objectives and desires.” (Jaffe, 74) Barnard noted that cooperation was needed for the organization to work effectively and efficiently. He discussed in his book, The Functions of the Executive, the relationship between incentives and contributions, and the need to join these together to meet an equilibrium of some sort. He claimed that this system would satisfy individuals and obtain contributions from them while at the same time making everyone happy. To do this, he used distribution hoping to gain cooperative activity from the employees. The executive needs to note that distribution can be good in one situation but

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