Organization Theory - 5th edition (Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell)
Summary Organization theory: concepts and cases - chapters 11 and 12 - Organizational Structure
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Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RuG)
International Business
Organizational Structure
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Organisational Structure Nino Heijnen
Group 7 Joel Hägg
Team 2 Eline Timmer
Saskia Hendriksen
Chapter 3 – Organisational efeetiieness
Introduction
Organisational efeetiieness has proven difcultl some even say impossiblel
to defnee But as a central theme in organisational theoryl the issue cannot be
ignored just because of measurement difcultiese
Four approaehes will be ofered as guides to assist in arriving at an
understanding of organisational efectivenessl and the question “What is an
efective organisation?” will be answered as the chapter progressese
Importance of organisational efectiveness
Organisation theory presents an answer to the question of what makes an
organisation efectivee an appropriate organisation strueturee Organisation
theory clarifes which organisation structure will lead to/improve organisational
efeetiienesse
In search of a defnition
A defnition for organisational efeetiieness is difcult to arrive atl but you do
need one to assist in understanding the materiale The following defnition is
proposede organisational efeetiieness is the degree to which an organisation
attains its short-term (ends) and long-term (means) goalsl the selection of which
reflects strategic constituencies in the organisationss environmentl the self-
interest of the evaluator and the life stage of the organisatione
The goal-attainment approach
The goal-attainment approaeh states that an organisationss efectiveness
should be judged by whether it has aehieied what it sets out to achievee
Efectiveness is assessed on whether the organisation accomplishes its ends
while tending to downplay the means of getting theree
Assumptions
- Organisations are deliberatel rationall goal-seeking entities;
- Organisations must have goals;
- Goals must be explicitl sufciently clear to be understoodl and widely
known;
- Goals should be of a manageable number and should reflect areas
important to the organisation;
- There must be general consensus or agreement on these goals;
- Progress towards goals must be measurable and there should be a time
limit attached to theme
Making goals operative
The key decision makers would be the group from which the goals were obtainede
This group would be asked to identify the organisationss goalsl then develop
measures to determine the extent to which they were being mete
, Organisational Structure Nino Heijnen
Group 7 Joel Hägg
Team 2 Eline Timmer
Saskia Hendriksen
Problems
- Whose goals do you apply?
- Ofcial goals actual goals
- Short-term goals long-term goals
- Incompatible goals
- When is a goal achieved?
- Prioritizing goals
Value to managers
Some goals are clearly measurable and releiant to an organisatione
Organisations exist to achieve goals – the problems lie in their identifcation and
measuremente The validity of those goals identifed can probably be increased
signifcantly by a number of thingsl eege reducing the degree of incompatibility
between goalse
If managers are willing to accept the complexities inherent to this approachl they
can obtain reasonably valid information for assessing an organisationss
efectivenessl but there are other dimensions to efectiveness than identifying
and measuring specifc endse
The systems approach
In a systems approaeh end goals are not ignored but are only one element in a
more complex set of criteria that will increase the long-term survival of the
organisatione The system approach focuses not so much on specifc end or goals
but more on how those end or goals are achievede Itss better measuring the
efciency of the system rather than the efectiveness of the organizatione
Assumptions
A system approach to efectiveness implies that the organizations are made up of
interrelated subpartse The subparts canst perform poorly because that will afect
the whole system in a negative waye The resources of the system include
intangiblesl which should be replenished as they decaye
Making systems operative
The systems approach focuses on the means necessary to ensure the
organizationss continued survivale The importance of end goals are not neglected
by advocatesl the validity of the goals are questioned and the measures are used
for assessing the progress towards these goalse
Problems
There are two shortcomings of the systems approach relate to
- Measuremente rates of variables necessary for organizational strength
(innovationl quality of management) are hard to measuree Environments
may change also very quickly which make measures superfluouse
- Whether means really mattere the system approach emphasis on
processes rather than end goalse There is more focus on the means
necessary to achieve efectiveness than on organizational efectiveness
itselfl which can be useless if a product or servicel isnst needede
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