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Knowledge and Theories About Organizations
I.Defining Organizations
A.Social entities—organizations are made up of people with all their strengths and failings
B.Goal-directed—organizations exist for some specified purpose
C.Deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems—activity systems are clusters of work activities performed by designated units or departments within an organization
D.Linkage to the external environment—an organization is in constant interaction with other systems in the social environment
II.Organizations Providing Social Services
A.Highlight 4.1: Common Terms
B.Social agencies
1.Public social agencies are run by some designated unit of government and are usually regulated by laws impacting policy
2.Private social agencies are privately owned and run by people not employed by government
3.Proprietary or for-profit social agencies are similar to private agencies; however, a major purpose for their existence is to make a profit for its owners
III.Organizational Theories
A.Classical scientific management theories
1.Emphasize that specifically designed, formal structure and a consistent, rigid organizational network of employees are most important in having an organization run well and achieve its goals
2.Scientific management was developed in the early 20th century when there was often great hostility between management and employees
3.Administrative theory of management was developed in the early 20th century and focused on the administrative side of management rather than the workers’ performance including the following six basic principles for managers
a.Division of labor
b.Authority and responsibility
c.Centralization
d.Delegation of authority
e.Unity of command
f.Unity of direction
4.Bureaucracy: An administrative structure with well-defined offices or functions and hierarchical relationships among the functions
B.Neoclassical organizational theories
1.Originated during the mid-twentieth century, they represented a transition in the theoretical movement from the overly simplistic, mechanistic perspectives of the classical theorists to more contemporary thinking about complex organizations
2.In order to achieve coordination and cooperation, organizations offer inducements in exchange for contributions
3.Motivation to participate is the motivation of an individual to join and stay with the organization and perform at a minimally acceptable level
4.Motivation to perform involves inducements to produce contributions that are greater than minimal performance expectations
C.Human relations theories
1.Theories emphasize the role of the informal, psychosocial components of organizational functioning
2.Theory X and Theory Y
a.Theory X reflects aspects of classical scientific management in its focus on hierarchical structure
b.Theory Y focuses on human relations
D.Feminist theories and organizations
1.Using a gender lens: Focuses on the rampant sexism existing in the macro social environment
2.Empowerment: Power should be distributed and equalized to whatever extent possible within an organization
3.The personal is political: Workers should strive to improve conditions and combat sexism wherever it occurs in an organization, not just on their own personal behalf
4.Importance of process: Management should involve workers in decision making and planning to the greatest extent possible
5.Diversity is strength: Diversity should not only be appreciated but actively sought out and encouraged
E.Cultural perspective
1.Organizational culture: The constellation of values, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations that underlie and organize the organization’s behavior as a group
2.Ideological structure: Established with an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” perspective
F.Economics theory: Emphasizes how organizations should proceed in whatever way necessary to maximize profits or output
G.Chaos theory: Focuses on the much broader complexity of all variables affecting an organization’s ability to function
H.Contingency theory: Maintains that each element involved in an organization depends on other elements; therefore, there is no one generally best way to accomplish tasks or goals (a strength of this theory is its flexibility)
I.Culture-quality theories: Focus on how to build a strong set of shared positive values and norms within a corporation while emphasizing quality, service, high performance, and flexibility
1.Total quality management
2.Highlight 4.2: Theory Z
a.Views workers as lifetime employees instead of people having a series of short-term jobs in different organizations over a career’s time
b.Employees undergo long periods of evaluation and are not promoted quickly
c.Workers progress down career paths that aren’t specialized
d.Groups of workers collectively address issues and arrive at some consensus regarding how to proceed
e.Emphasizes the importance of all workers being responsible for the successful functioning of the organization
J.Ecosystems theories
1.Focus on how organizations take resources and process them into some kind of product or service, and emphasize how all parts of the organization are interrelated and function together to produce output
2.Highlight 4.3: Applying Ecosystems Concepts to Organizations and Social Service Agencies
K.Which organizational theory is best?
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