Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, And Postmodern Perspectives

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Rules are stable and can be learned. Knowledge of these rules can be viewed as expertise within the bureaucracy (these allow for the management of society). Structure: The people who believe in structure describe how our structures exist first and how they determine what we do.

Mass Production is associated with mechanistic structures because these structures usually support routine tasks (i.e. mass production is highly repetitive). However, sometimes it is difficult to measure centralization in an organization because some activities are centralized whilst others are decentralized. Some locations have specific reputations and theorists from the symbolic interpretive perspective describe this in terms of place versus space. Positivist Epistemology: This area says that an organization can be understood through the means of measurement, such as statistics, or scientific experimentation.The management attempts to improve interpersonal skills through motivations, leading, communication and counseling. Culture: this can be seen in the form of norms, laws and values and occurs through normative pressures. Jones, Gareth R. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change: Text and Cases. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010. In the contingency theory of leadership, the success of the leader is a function of various factors in the form of subordinate, task, and/ or group variables. The following theories stress using different styles of leadership appropriate to the needs created by different organizational situations. Some of these theories are:

Mechanistic Organizations: Operate like machinery - they are formalized, standardized and specialized (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2006), and usually run with supervision. They are most efficient in stable and unchanging environments. Orthogonal: these cultures have their own values that do not get in the way of, or celebrate the dominant culture.Encouragement of managers to acquire minimal knowledge of behavioral sciences to be able to understand and improve the interactions between employees

Tolbert, Pamela S., and Richard H. Hall. Organizations: Structures, Processes, and Outcomes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. As people implemented organizations over time, many researchers have experimented as to which organizational theory fits them best. The theories of organizations include bureaucracy, rationalization (scientific management), and the division of labor. Each theory provides distinct advantages and disadvantages when applied. [9] Chunking: Abstraction also allows the “chunking” of information. This is the process that enables us to think of many different things at the same time. This is evident in concepts as they are made up of large or big “chunks” of information. Developed by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Gerald Salancik, this theory proposes that the organization is controlled by the environment due to its dependencies on it. It depends on the environment for: Ontology: Area of study that focuses on what we think is real. It also asks questions such as whether or not we believe if our lives are already planned out for us, or if we control it ourselves.The hierarchical nature of bureaucracies allows employees to demonstrate achieved social status. [14] When an officeholder is elected instead of appointed, that person is no longer a purely bureaucratic figure. He derives his power "from below" instead of "from above." When a high-ranking officer selects officials, they are more likely to be chosen for reasons related to the benefit of the superior than the competency of the new hire. When high-skilled employees are necessary for the bureaucracy and public opinion shapes decision-making, competent officers are more likely to be selected. [14] Managers now focus on motivating employees, but if they fail to do this a crisis of renewal will occur. After this crisis occurs, either the organization does not recover, or the organization develops a new form.