Organizations as rational systems:
How does the rational system perspective define Organizations?
Rationalization is a thought process in which people use reason and practicality. Rationalization within Organization focuses on goal attainment and the process in which organization implement their goals. According to the text entitled Organizations and Organizing, Rational, Natural, and Open System Perspectives by, W. Richard Scott, and Gerald F. Davis, “Organizations are instruments designed to attain specified goals…. The term rationality in this context is used in the narrow sense of technical or functional rationality and refers to the extent to which a series of actions is organized in such way as to lead to predetermined goals with maximum
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Weber believed that a bureaucracy is the best way of running an optimal and efficient organization. “For Weber, differences of authority were based on differences in the beliefs by which legitimacy is attributed to an authority.” (Scott & Davis, 2007, pg.47) Webers came up with three types of authority, traditional, rational-legal, and charismatic. According to the text “traditional authority - resting on an established belief in the sanctity of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of those exercising authority under them. The text goes on to compare traditional authority to Patrimonialism which means the leader assumes all power and delegates it. Traditional authority is consistent it usually does not evolve and the authority is usually passed down through heritage. According to the text “Rational-legal authority- resting on a belief in the “legality” of patterns of normative rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue commands.” (Scott & Davis, 2007, pg.47) An example of rational-legal authority would be the power we give a presidential candidate like Donald Trump, by voting for them. Finally, the last type of authority that Weber discusses is Charismatic, according to the text “charismatic authority – resting on devotion to the specific and exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patters or order revealed or …show more content…
"For Selznick, the most important thing about organizations is that, though they are tools, each nevertheless has a life of its own." (Scott & Davis, 2007, pg. 73) One very important Idea to this approach is that individuals do not only follow formal roles as well as organizations do not always follow formal structures. According to the text, "these formal structures can never succeed in conquering the nonrational dimensions of organizational behavior." (Scott & Davis, 2007, pg. 73) The reason behind this is that individuals within the organization usually have too many other commitments that inhibit rational
When enjoying the benefits being brought, it is also vital that people should not be distracted away from the dangers behind the progressive rationality. Ritzer (2005) noted that, 'We are ultimately concerned with the irrational consequences flow from rational systems. And this can be termed as 'the irrationality of rationality'.' Several negative effects of rationalization were discussed. For instance, predictability is highly wanted as people not expecting surprises. They get limited menu to choose from to reduce uncertainty when entering a fast food restaurant to. Whatever food consumed are mostly indistinguishable from one chain store to another.
Nozick (1993), going deeper, advances the view that we accord rationality intrinsic value (over and above its instrumental value), because deciding and believing in a way that is responsive to "the net balance of reasons" has come to form an important part of human identity.
In their 2005 book, Understanding and Managing: Organizational Behavior, Jennifer George and Gareth Jones define organizational structure as "the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates, and motivates employees so that they cooperate and work together to achieve an organization's goals." A logical consequence to an organization's structure is the resulting culture, which George and Jones further define as "the set of shared values, beliefs, and norms that influences the way employees think, feel, and behave toward each other and toward people outside the organization." Finding the right structure for one's organization is vital to its strength and longevity. Appropriate structures are commonly found by trial and error; most continue to evolve as the organization enters different stages of its existence. Structures are defined and redefined in accordance with the organization's strengths and weaknesses, maximizing one while attempting to decrease the other. Over the course of change of structural eras', so too will the culture change.
A society of organizations is one in which organizations enter our lives as influential forces in a great many ways — in how we work, what we eat, how we get educated and cured of our illnesses, how we get entertained, and how our ideas are shaped’ (Henry Mintzberg 1989)
The Different Ways Organizations Can Be Structured and Operated There are four major ways a company - organization can be structured and operate. P.C.G (o) Ltd I would dare say that is structured and operates with the functional structure. In order to make it clear and understandable I am analyzing here below the four ways that organizations can structure and operate. We will observe that all four structures have there advantages and disadvantages. In order also to assist you understand better the differences of the four ways that organizations can be structured see in Page 4 & 5 Figures 1,2,3 which are the layout of the organization charts for each structure: 1.
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
As the theme of my essay I have chosen to find out what our contemporary society must not forget in order to be able to make organizational theory evolve well into the 21st century. For this task I have decided to take a look back to Aldous Huxley’s modern dystopia “Brave new world”, that warned against totalitarian regimes that intended to suppress individuality in order to advance the interest of the state in its time. Even as those regimes might not be a direct threat nowadays we can eerily conclude that some aspects of it are quite accurate for the times we live in. According to Phillip Yancey who suggested that “there is a much more subtle enemy inchoate within each of us - a natural tendency for people to trade autonomy for comfort, safety and amusement.” This for the most people does not set off alarms but I will argue that it is the most basic requirement that has to be met in our day and age in order to tackle the wide range of issues that we face at the crossroads leading to the future, whether we talk about humanity or organizational theory itself. I think the novel gives us the perfect opportunity to draw parallels with our contemporary society, and see what must be corrected within post modernity based on how things evolved over the course of history and from prophetical books like Huxley’s even as at his time it was only intended to be satire. In the World State people are controlled by technologies like genetic engineering, sleep-learning and drugs like soma to satisfy needs and gently induce masses to enjoy their servitude. If one were to describe postmodernism in just a word or two, "skepticism" and "relativism" would probably best capture the overall ethos of its adherents. Deep skepticism about...
The following essay will define what rational organisation design is and how it can be used in business to both cut costs and give increased control to management as well as giving reference to important figures who relate to the systems development. Both the benefits and drawbacks of rational organisation will be explored with both theoretical and real life examples. The conclusion will highlight how rational organisation can be implemented into Junction Hotel and the extent to which it is desirable.
When the buzzword of business model was very active and reactive during the internet boom, many individuals did not understand the concept of the proper business model for the proper business (Magretta, 2002). When not utilizing the right type of model for the organization, the model will be misused and distorted (Magretta, 2002). Understanding the traditional organization and learning organization, will allow an organization to determine which time of organization they desire the most.
“ Organizations are collectivities oriented to the pursuit of relatively specific goals and exhibiting relatively highly formalized social structures” (page 29). The rational system is a group of individuals, bound together as an organization, designed to reach predetermined goals. The rational system models sees organizations as a mechanical model. A machine that has multiple parts that also works individually but also work together for the better good of the whole. All the individuals of the group can be replaced with a new one if it doesn’t meet the standards of
The classical school of organization theory dominated administrations from the early 1900’s well into the 1930’s, and it is still relevant today in many of the contemporary organization theories. Shafritz states that classical organization theory was the first theory of its kind, and serves as the foundation of other schools organization theory (Shafritz, Ott, & Jang, 2011, p. 32). Classical organization theory includes scientific management approach, bureaucratic approach, and administrative management approach. Several major theorists of classical organization were Adam Smith, Frederick Taylor, Max Weber, Henri Fayol, and Luther Gulick.
Understanding the structure of an organization plays a vital role in laying the blueprint for how a company will be managed and organized. It provides a well-defined framework that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each employee in a particular company. It shows how each employee interacts and works one another in achieving the goals of a company. In other words, organizational structure is a reflection of the working relationships that govern the workflow of the company. It has a profound effect on a company’s structural dimensions, which includes formalization, specialization, hierarchy and centralization.
...ch a decision. One of these models is the Rational Model. The benefit of utilizing the Rational Model to reach a decision is that it is easier to justify and defend a decision, due to the complexity and the thoroughness of the processes involved. The Rational Model is useful for developing a strong business case for why a specific course of action should be considered anytime a major business, or even personal decision must be made.
Rational decision making is one of the most common problem solving methods and can be used to solve almost all problems. Rational decision making and problem solving processes can be explained in a logical manner. Effective leaders use rational decision making processes to identify the problem, think up solutions, evaluate alternatives along with select a solution, implement and evaluate the final solution. In rational decision making leaders analyze the problem to achieve the most efficient choice through different possible alternatives from different scenarios before making a selection.
According to Hatch and Cunliffe (2006), there are three major perspectives about the study of organization theory (OT): modern, symbolic interpretive, and postmodern. Each of these perspectives comes with its own assumptions and methodologies. Hatch and Cunliffe provided an introduction text about the concepts and characteristics of the three OT perspectives. Tsoukas and Knudsen also compiled a comprehensive handbook summarizing all facets of the meta-theoretical perspectives. In this post the writer will discuss the basic concepts of three perspectives, present Hatch and Cunliffe’s reasons why a multiple perspectives approach to organization theory is important, and compare Tsoukas and Knudsen’s introduction to the Hatch and Cunliffe introduction in their books.