The essence and components of an organization (organization theory). Organisational culture.

Organization is an open, dynamic, purposeful social system of cooperation designed to enhance individual effort aimed at goal ac­complishment; consists of the human element, the physical element, the work element, and the coordination element; transforms resources into outputs for users.

It is important to examine the various parts or components of organ­ization theory in order to outline its broad scope. These components are: goals, work, power and authority, delegation, structure.

It was stated earlier that organizations were established to enable an individual to accomplish more in a group than he could as an individual. In other words, organizations are devices for pooling talent and ability into an effective whole that can accomplish some desired objective. Every organization is initially built to accomplish some goal. The goal or purpose is an unrealized state or condition that the members do not pos­sess but which they deem desirable. It is imperative that organizational goals be clearly defined and communicated to all organization members who are to be affected by them. Goals are the starting point for the design and maintenance of the organization itself. At the same time, these goals must meet a need that society has defined as important. Thus, consumer needs play a crucial role in organization.

Once the goal of an organization is established, it is time for the members to decide on the type of work activity that will be necessary to accomplish these goals. Basically, any organization must perform two fundamental types of work: primary and secondary. The primary work (it also commonly referred to as line work) consists of production and distri­bution of goods and services that will satisfy consumer needs. The sec­ondary work (it is often termed staff work) consists of all those activities that support and extend the operations of primary work. For example, in a manufacturing firm, the secondary work would include accounting, per­sonnel and quality control.

No theory of organizations would be complete without a treatment of the roles that power and authority play in organizational activity. These two components of theory help explain the network of relationships that tie the other components of an organization together into some logical pattern.

Power is the ability to influence others successfully. It comes from any single or combination of possible sources. For example, one can have power over others because of one's intelligence, skill, or money. Regard­less of its source, power enables its holder to exercise one's will over others. Thus, in order to understand the total workings of an organiza­tion, one must have an appreciation of the role that power plays in these workings.

Authority can be defined as power that has been given official recognition by the organization. Once an organization legally authorizes an individual to act on its behalf, that person is said to possess author­ity. Every member of the organization has some amount of authority to take action necessary to carry out his responsibility.

Organizations are divided into sub–units or groups. Each of these groups will be under the direction of a manager or managers. In order for these managers to perform their mana­gerial duties properly, they must be granted appropriate responsibility and authority. The means for making these assignments is termed delegation. In general, delegation may be defined as the process of transferring an obligation (responsibility) and an accompanying right (authority) from a superior to a subordinate position in the organization. It is this basic process that enables an organization to grow. Without delegation, an organization simply cannot exist and prosper.

The patterns of work divisions and their hierarchical arrangements constitute the basic components of structure. Structure, then, is the hierarchical pattern of authority, responsibility, and accountability rela­tionships designed to provide coordination of the work of the organiza­tion. It is basically a managerial tool that aids in guiding the organization towards its goals and can be considered the skeleton of the organization­al body.

Organizational Culture is defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization."

Organizational culture is the collective behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Cultural values are collective beliefs, assumptions, and feelings about what things are good, normal, rational, valuable, etc.

Date: 2016-01-05; view: 1623