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Samenvatting Organizational theory and design
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Summary of all organizational theory and design lessons and guest lessons given by steffi weil.
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Organizational theory & designChapter 1: Organization theory as a field of study
o = Wide range of diff kind of theories/perspectives/thoughts, clustered to organization theory
o Many diverse concerns:
• How to ensure that managers act in the best interests of a firm’s owners?
• How to achieve goals by managing environmental demands & maximizing core
competencies?
- Environmental demand: not only environment but also demands from
outside, e.g. expanding a sector and how increase revenue → org theory
helps you before you do the action.
- Look from perspective from the organization and broader society
- Vb. Thomas cook wanted to expand the golf sector of holidays → how can you
still increase your revenue when building golf courses?
• When should certain operations of a firm be outsourced?
• How to move an organization from its present condition to a desired state as it
struggles to create value and survive (Endgame)?
- Apply organization theory to solve the ‘’endgame’’ problem, vb. stempels op
brieven maar brieven verdwijnen in LT
- Endgame: final stage of the organization
o There are concerns about theories and models:
• How does the environment influences organization strategy, structure and design?
• How does the organization influence the environment,
• How can the actions of individual members of society be linked with the broader
social structures of society?
o Abstract concerns: ethical dimensions
• Why do people in contemporary society feel so separated from themselves, their
actions and their surroundings?
- When do people rise up and when do you can create a common sense of
how change something together?
• What are the power relations behind theories about organizations?
- All about power games… Political skills on individual level in organization can
influence the whole organization. Look at power from diff perspectives, look
at what power can do
• How do organizational scholars might become more reflective within their empirical
or theoretical writings?
- Different aspects of org theory and the games that you will link with it, not
everything is black and white
o There are concerns about theories and models:
• How does the environment influences organization strategy, structure and design?
- Ex. University dean wanted accreditation but went overboard with control.
They got the accreditation, but a lot of people got burned-out.
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, • How does the organization influence the environment
- Ex. The strict rules of the dean didn’t change, even when he left
• How can the actions of individual members of society be linked with the broader social
structures of society?
• There are different organisations and thus different influences depending on the
organisation
1.1 What is organization (OT) and why study it?
o OT is a range of theories and models that aim to explain how organizations function and
relate to the environment
• If you only look at the figures and numbers, it is not going to work → Holistic approach,
influence on people, etc.
• A company has more responsibilities than revenue
• Think beyond the implementation of change
o The driving force behind OT is the idea that we can design organizations they operate:
• Efficiently – utilizing their resources in a cost-effective way
- Not only look at figures, more aspects behind it
• Effectively – achieving their goals
- Big question! Use the strategy, org theory helps to actually achieve the goals
and not only do the strategy
• Responsibly – in a way that respects the community, society and the environment
- Now much more responsibility, org theory is thinking of this
o Many of the theories are based on studies of what happens in organizations
• Division of labour: Managers use organization theory every day as they think about
ways of organizing the work in their department
• Integration: OT helps us to think about how the work needs to be coordinated with
work in other departments
• Culture: how to create a work environment that encourages organizational members
to work together towards goals
o Term organization foes beyond company
• The term ‘organization’ implies that there is some sort of structure and order to the
way things are done
• Definitions center around the idea that organizations are entities in which individuals
coordinate their actions to achieve specific goals
o Definitions of organizations:
• Organizations can be:
- Small family-owned businesses
- Multinational corporations,
- For-profit or non-profit,
- Private or public,
- Service or product oriented,
- Government agencies
- Etc.
o We experience organizations on a daily basis as we go to college, buy a house, travel on
holiday, eat in a restaurant, or visit a hospital.
o We experience different parts of an organization (customer service, administration,
accounting, etc.)
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,o We probably don’t think about how these parts work together, unless we have a problem:
• If we don’t receive the expected service, or the product we’ve purchased is faulty –
which means something in the organization isn’t functioning the way it should be
o Why study OT?
• OT is NOT a theoretical and abstract discipline – it’s fun
• Many of the theories are based on studies of what happens in organizations
• Managers use organization theory every day as they think about ways of organizing
the work in their department (division of labour: marxism)
• OT helps us to think about how the work needs to be coordinated with work in other
departments (integration) & how to create a work environment that encourages
organizational members to work together towards goals (culture)
o Organization theory as a managerial guide
• To study OT will sharpen your explicit and systematic knowledge to steer a company
• OT gives managers a range of theories, concepts, models and tools that they can use
to diagnose problems and help their department and organization function more
effectively
o Effective/ineffective organization structure
• Ineffective organization structure reduces productivity and competitiveness
- It can lead to low morale as employees struggle to achieve their goals
• Effective organization structure and design allows organizational members to:
- Deal with contingencies such as changing technology, markets and
competition
- Gain a competitive advantage by developing the core competencies and
strategies to enable them to outperform other companies
- Work in an effective, supportive and responsive environment
- Increase efficiency and innovation
o Example meets practice:
• You own and manage a restaurant in your local town, which can seat up to 80
people, and is open for lunch and dinner
• You serve an international cuisine, the price range of an entrée is moderate to high,
and you offer elegant décor and a romantic atmosphere
• You employ a staff of 30 people, which includes an Assistant Manager, chef and
cooks, bar staff, waitpersons, cleaner and a cashier
• There is currently no real competition, with only a McDonald’s and a Chinese
restaurant in the town, but you hear rumors that there may be a new chain
restaurant opening soon…
o You are already using organization theory in considering:
• What’s going on in terms of legal requirements, the national and local economy,
competition, the availability of a skilled labour pool, etc., that might af fect your
restaurant (i.e., the environment)
- Variables you need to think about
• How to best organize the work and coordinate the activities of your employees to
make sure your customers enjoy their dining experience and return again and again
(structure and design)
3
, • What equipment you need, and how to design your restaurant layout so that you are
using the space you have most efficiently and aesthetically. In other words, waitstaff
have easy access to customers and the kitchen, and customers find the dining
atmosphere and experience a pleasant one (technology)
• How you want staff to interact with each other and the customers (culture)
• How you are going to manage the organization (power, control, decision making,
making changes)
o We will use this example throughout the book to illustrate the concepts in each chapter and
to show how you can apply them in organizations
Studying Organization Theory
o When studying OT, three issues you might be find helpful:
• We are studying individual topics, but everything is interrelated
• No theory is complete, no one theory applies in every situation, nor is it an accurate
description of the way organizations really are – theory is a lens or framework for
viewing the world
• When reading about theories, think about how they apply to organizations with
which you are familiar – either as an employee, a customer, a student or a volunteer
o Theories as a lens
• Many of the theories are based on actual studies of organizations, they offer a lens,
or way of thinking about organizations, rather than describing the way organizations
really function
- Theories: researcher’s (or a group of researchers’) way of analyzing what
they see
- Your perspective on a company changes with the theory you apply → that
doesn’t mean that one is wrong
▪ Marx perspective on capitalism = bad
▪ Smith perspective on capitalism = great
• You will find that different theories will offer different ways of thinking about the
same issue, some are contradictory, and some might be more helpful than others
when trying to understand an organization you are studying or are working in
• Each organization operates under its own unique set of circumstances. Theories are
most useful if you use different ones to give you different perspectives on what
might be happening in your organization
• This is the value of OT – by using different lenses you will broaden your
understanding about how organizations can be designed and managed in more
effective ways
o Aspects of OT:
• Environment
• Organizational culture
• Technology
• Decision making
• Organization structure and design
• Strategy
• Power
• Control
• Conflict
• Learning
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