College notes Key questions Organizational Sciences Organization Theory & Design, ISBN: 9781473765900
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Kernvragen Organisatiewetenschappen
Institution
Tilburg University (UVT)
Book
Organization Theory & Design
This document contains notes from the lectures of the course Key Questions Organizational Sciences where the book Organization Theory & Design is discussed. This can also be used as a summary of the book.
New summary 2024 - Organization Theory & Design - An International Perspective - 4th edition Richard L. Daft - Chapters 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11, 12
Summary entire book Richard L. Daft, Organization Theory & Design
Summary - Introduction to Organization Studies
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Kernvragen Organisatiewetenschappen
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Kernvragen organisatiewetenschappen
Hoorcollege 1. Introductie artikelen
Chapter 1. introduction
Organizations are congeries of interdependent flows and activates. Linking shifting coalitions
of participants embedded and institutional environments,
Chapter 2. the field of organization studies
Organizational diamond combines four interdependent elements:
- Task, the production of goods and services
- Structure, the systems of communication, systems of authority and systems of
workflow
- Technology, direct problem-solving inventions
- Actors, people and their acts
Hoorcollege 2. Daft. Hoofdstuk 1. What are organizations?
The definition used in this book to describe organizations is as follows: organizations
are
(1) social entities that
(2) are goal-directed,
(3) are designed as deliberately structured and coordi- nated activity systems, and
(4) are linked to the external environment
The key element of an organization is not a building or a set of policies and procedures;
organizations are made up of people and their relationships with one another. An
organization exists when people interact with one another.
A further important distinction is between for-profit businesses and nonprofit
organizations. The primary one is that the activities of managers in for-profit
organizations are directed primarily at producing goods and services in a way that retains
the confidence of shareholders. Managers in nonprofits do not face this particular
constraint. They may, however, encounter many other challenges. These include the
difficulty of securing funding or raising capital or competing with profit-making
businesses.
Profit business: earning money
Non-profit business: generating social impact
Summary
The primary focus of analysis for organization theory is not the psychology of individual
employ- ees but, rather, their activities as organizational members. That is why this book
is less directly concerned with topics such as supervision or the motivation of employees
which are the main- stay of courses on organizational behaviour. Greater attention is paid
here to how behaviour in organizations, which includes the supervision and motivation of
employees, is shaped within the structure of social relations in which it occurs.
Accordingly, our focus is upon the characteristics and dynamics of this structure – how
they are influenced by the wider environment, and how key decision-makers attempt to
manage their environment by designing effective structures. Students of this structure
have conceived of its aspects and dimensions in terms of degrees of formaliza- tion,
specialization, hierarchy of authority, centralization, professionalism, personnel ratios,
size, organizational technology, environment, goals and strategy, and culture. All of them
,have been invoked to offer conceptual handles for analyzing organizations and informing
actions within them.
Many types of organizations exist. One important distinction is between for-profit
businesses, in which managers direct their activities towards earning money for the
company, and nonprofit organizations, in which managers direct their efforts towards
generating some kind of social impact. It is commonplace to conceive of managers as
striving to design organizations to achieve what they deem to be effective or efficient.
But the meaning of what is ‘effective and efficient’, let alone the purpose of their pursuit,
is often contested because different stakeholders have dif- ferent priorities that they want
the organization to satisfy. In the end, the priorities that are pur- sued will reflect the
outcomes of negotiations between stakeholders, with the most privileged and well
resourced of these – owners and creditors in corporations – being able to exert the
greatest influence upon how organizational goals are defined and pursued. There is
nothing natural or inevitable about this, but a significant change – for example, in the
direction of social enterprise, mutuality and sustainability – would require a shift in the
balance of power accompanying organ- ized resistance to entrenched forms of
organization.
Kernvragen organisatiewetenschappen
- Functie interne processen
- Betrekking op omgevingsfactoren
- Invloed op sociale systemen
- Groei tot organisatorische maatschappij
Daft. Hoofdstuk 2. Perspectives on organizations
Organizations:
- Many types
- Face many challenges
- Have many benefits
Organizations as social systems:
A closed systems perspective
- focuses exclusively upon the organization.
- Minimal consideration is given to its dependencies upon, or capacities to influence,
elements that lie beyond it (‘the environment’).
- Managerial attention on improving the internal design
Open systems thinking
- pays attention to the (open) boundary between the organization and its context.
- Environment keeps changing
- Developing a design that effectively manages the exchanges – of raw materials, peo-
ple, products, etc. –across this boundary is, in an open systems perspective, key to
survival and prosperity.
The main difference is how they look at things.
Rational systems:
- Focusses on formal structures
- Organization is seen as a group who works together to pursue specific goals
Natural sytems:
- Focusses on informal and interpersonal structures
- Multiple interests, consensus-building or conflictual processes drive organizational
action.
,The main difference how they behave.
In systems thinking, each system is understood to comprise several subsystems. These
subsystems are identified in relation to the specific functions they are conceived to perform
for organizational survival – such as production, boundary spanning, maintenance, adaptation
and management.
Organizational configurations = a collection of elements or components of an organization
that can combine in various ways to achieve outcomes.
Parts:
- Technical core, the basis core, from inputs to outputs
- Technical support, scan the environment, responsible for innovation
- Administrative support, smooth operation and maintenance of the organization
- Top management
- Middle management
Organizational dimensions can be categorized in two types: structural and contextual.
Structural dimensions provide labels to distinguish some key, central internal characteristics
of an organization, such as the degree of formalization. They provide a basis for comparing
the composition of organizations. Contextual dimensions characterize both the organization
as a whole, including its size, technology, etc. and the broader organizational setting. Central
organizational elements, elements of the setting which the organization finds itself.
Structural Dimensions
1. Formalization refers to the reliance upon written documentation in the organization.
2. Specialization is the degree to which organizational tasks are subdivided into separate
jobs.
3. Hierarchy of authority describes who reports to whom and the span of control for each
manager.
4. Centralization refers to the hierarchical level that has authority to make a decision.
5. Professionalism is the term used to describe the level of formal education and training
of employees.
6. Personnel ratios refer to the deployment of people to various functions and
departments.
Contextual Dimensions
1. Size can be measured for the organization as a whole or for specific components, such
as a plant or division.
2. Organizational technology refers to the tools, techniques and actions used to transform
inputs into outputs.
3. The environment includes all elements outside the boundary of the organization
4. The organization’s goals and strategy define the purpose and competitive techniques
that set it apart from other organizations.
5. An organization’s culture is the underlying set of key values, beliefs, understandings
and norms shared by employees.
Efficiency refers to the amount of resources used to achieve the organization’s goals.
Effectiveness is a broader term, meaning the degree to which an organization achieves its
goals.
The idea of balancing the preferences of different groups has been characterized as a
stakeholder approach. Its claim is to integrate diverse organizational activities by taking
account of the various organizational stakeholders and considering what they want from the
, organization. A stakeholder is any group within or outside of the organization that has a
stake in the organization. The satisfaction level of each group can be assessed as an indication
of the organization’s performance and effectiveness.
The so-called classical perspective
- sought to apply rational calculations to turn organizations into efficient, well-oiled
machines.
- associated with the development of extended hierarchies and bureaucratic procedures
of control.
Pioneered by Frederick Winslow Taylor, his principles of scientific management
- postulate that decisions about organizations and job design should be based on a
precise, ‘scientific’ study of individual situations to determine which method of doing
a job delivers the greatest output, efficiency and productivity (closed system thinking).
Whereas scientific management focused primarily on the technical core and its immediate
support functions – on the organization of work performed on the shop floor – a focus on
administrative principles, Henry Fayol
- considered the design and functioning of the organization as a whole.
Administrative principles in particular contributed to the development of bureaucratic
organizations, Max Weber
- which emphasized designing and managing organizations on an impersonal, ostensibly
rational basis by establishing clearly defined authority and responsibility, formal
record keeping and uniform application of standard rules.
A major breakthrough occurred with a series of experiments at a Chicago electricity company,
which came to be known as the Hawthorne Studies, Elton Mayo.
- that positive treatment of employees, even by simply acknowledging their presence
and contribution, improved their motivation and productivity.
Contingencies
- what structure or system is viable depends upon the particular circumstances or
context of its design.
- For organizations to be effective, there must be a ‘goodness of fit’ between the
‘structural’ and ‘contextual’ dimensions.
Environment are getting more turbulent and complex-> organization designs are les
mechanical and more organic.
In order to make quick decisions, many organizations are being redesigned and/or developed
to become so-called learning organizations. The principle of the learning organization is for
communication and collaboration to be actively promoted so that everyone is engaged in
identifying and solving problems, enabling the organization to continuously experiment,
improve and increase its capability.
- Equality
- Adaption and participation
- Outcome
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