This is a summary of the material for organizational sciences (ow) at the USBO, administrative & organizational science course. The summary includes the literature:
*Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (2017), Reframing organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership, 6th Revised edition, San Francisco: Jo...
Samenvatting OW
Chapter 1: introduction, the power of reframing
-reframing requires an ability to think about situations from more than one angle so that you
can develop alternative diagnoses and strategies
*lenses
>structural
>human resource
>political
>symbolic
-a frame is a mental model that you carry in your head to help you understand and negotiate
a particular territory
-a good lens makes it easier to know what you are up against and what to do about it
Virtues and drawbacks of organized activity
-there are new forms of management needed, because the world has changed these past
few years
-the primary source of cluelessness is a failure to make sense of complex circumstances
-managers often hire consultants
Framing
-a frame is a mental model (a set of ideas and assumptions) that you carry in your head to
help you understand and negotiate a particular ‘territory’
-characteristics of human thinking
*type 1: intuitive
*type 2: deliberate
-asking the right questions helps to break frames
-frame bound vs. reality bound
-factories
*treating organizations as factories
*structural frame
*sociology, economics, management science
*rationality and organizational architecture
*problems: when structure doesn’t line up with the circumstances
-families
*focus on people and relationships
*human resource
*psychology
*an organization is an extended family
*the needs of employees are important
*problems: when needs for security and trust go unfulfilled
-jungles
*political frame
, *political science
*organizations are arenas/jungles where people compete for power and resources
*problems: when power is concentrated in the wrong places
-temples/carnivals
*focus on culture, symbols and spirit
*symbolic frame
*social and cultural anthropology
*problems: when symbols lose meaning
-Exhibit 1.2. Overview of the Four-Frame Model (page 20)
-modern organizations often rely too much on engineering and too little on art
Chapter 2: simple ideas, complex organizations
-make things as simple as possible, but not simpler
-misleading and distorted explanations:
*blaming people
*blame the bureaucracy
*blame thirst for power
-organizations are complex
-organizations are surprising
-organizations are deceptive
-organizations are ambiguous
-bounded rationality:
*processing capacity
>the brain can only process a fraction of the information that might be relevant in each
situation
*cognitive economizing
>cognitive limits force human decision makers to use short-cuts in order to trim
complexity and messiness down to manageable size
*cognitive biases
>humans welcome confirming information while ignoring disconfirming signals
-reality is what each of us believes it to be
Common fallacies in explaining organizational problems
-people often make things simpler than they are by relying on one of three misleading
explanations:
*blaming people (find someone to blame)
*blaming the bureaucracy (blame institutions, red tape etc.)
*thirsting for power (stating that executives were more interested in getting rich)
Peculiarities of organizations
-managerial wisdom requires an understanding of 4 characteristics of organizations:
*organizations are complex (lots of people, strategies, goals etc.)
*organizations are surprising
*organizations are deceptive (they camouflage mistakes)
, *organizations are ambiguous (not clear)
^sources of ambiguity (exhibit 2.1. sources of ambiguity, page 35)
Organizational learning
-top managers are dissatisfied with subordinates’ lack of initiative
-middle managers feel trapped between contradictory signals and pressures (stuck between
the top and the bottom)
-at the bottom, workers feel powerless
Making sense of ambiguity and complexity
-human are often in over their heads, at best managers can hope to achieve bounded
rationality:
*processing capacity: limits of time, memory, attention etc. means the brain can only
process a fraction of the information relevant
*cognitive economizing: cognitive limits force human decision makers to use short-cuts to
trim complexity down to manageable size
*cognitive biases: humans tend to interpret incoming information to confirm their existing
beliefs
-when people believe they will get better, they will
-the ability to reframe is one of the most powerful capacities of great artists
Chapter 3: getting organized
-two issues central to structural design:
*how to allocate work (differentiation)
*how to coordinate diverse efforts after parcelling out responsibilities (integration)
Structural assumptions
-6 assumptions:
*organizations exist to achieve established goals and objectives and devise strategies to
reach those goals
*organizations increase efficiency and enhance performance through specialization and
appropriate division of labour
*suitable forms of coordination and control ensure that diverse efforts of individuals and
units mesh
*organizations work best when rationality prevails over personal agendas and extraneous
pressures
*effective structure fits an organization’s current circumstances
*when performance suffers from structural flaws, the preferred remedy is problem solving
and restructuring
-scientific Method (Taylor/Fayol)
*breaking tasks into minute parts
*specialization
*span of control
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