Orgarnizational Behavior: The Conclusion - Persuasion In The Media Age: The Beginning

Persuasion in the Media Age: An Analysis

by

Charles Lamson

Hello

This is the conclusion of my in-depth Analysis of Organizational Behavior: Securing Competitive Advantage and the beginning of my analysis of Persuasion in the Media Age. I know yesterday I said I would do some more articles on this topic. However, after reading the last chapter, I decided against it. It just did not seem like very good blog material. I give this book a favorable rating. I enjoyed it. I found it easy to read, yet very informative. I would recommend this book to all those interested in administrative science.

Poseidon

Poseidon was one of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology. His main domain was the ocean, and he is called the "God of the Sea". Additionally, he is referred to as "Earth-Shaker," due to his role in causing earthquakes, and has been called the "tamer of horses." He is usually depicted as an older male with curly hair and beard.

The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology; both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece as a chief deity, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades. According to some folklore, he was saved by his mother Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which was devoured by Cronos.

There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for Athens to Athena. According to the references from Plato in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, the island of Atlantis was the chosen domain of Poseidon.

Moving On (Back to Earth)

I now plan to start an in-depth analysis of another one of my favorite college text-books, Persuasion in the Media Age.


Analysis of Persuasion in the Media Age

The Beginning

We are constantly bombarded by persuasive messages. Everyone from advertisers and politicians to our friends and colleagues seek to gain our support for their ideas, products or services. In today's world, persuaders use increasingly sophisticated ways of exerting influence over the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of their audiences. It is essential that we develop an ability to critically analyze the persuasive messages we encounter. Consider two brief examples:

A television commercial for a new car tells us much more than how many miles to the gallon the car gets or which safety features it includes. Automobile advertising tells us what kind of cars we should drive, the cultural importance of driving particular cars and why it is important to have the freedom of mobility that driving affords. We often do not even realize how the implicit messages of advertisers affect our attitudes and ultimately our buying behavior.

Politicians - in combination with news media sources - use public opinion polling to shape the public's agenda telling us which issues are important and which are not. While this agenda may be reflective of some peoples' priorities, it is just as likely to exclude the priorities of many others. In fact, politicians purposely create agendas that ignore many members of the public instead targeting smaller influential groups that can help them with re-election.

As persuaders begin to target through direct-broadcast satellites, direct mail and narrowcasting television programming, the challenge of making informed decisions is even greater.

Poseidon, Paella Museum

Poseidon in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn

Persuasion in the Media Age explores the nature of persuasion today and offers strategies for critically evaluating persuasive communication. This analysis provides a contemporary response to an age old problem: understanding and adapting to the technological advances in our society. Today's world demands a new perspective of persuasion: one that is grounded in the assumption that human consciousness has been forever altered by communication technology. In order to respond to this fast-paced change, we must move beyond traditional theories to better understand how to respond to and evaluate persuasive communication in this era of technological advances.

Check this out to learn more about the mighty Greek god, Poseidon.

Look To The Future

Learning Organizations

Learning organizations rely on critical thinking and rigorously analyzed hard data to provide a long-term sustainable competitive edge relative to others in their industry. Unfortunately knowledge-creating organizations are still rare. Too many U.S. businesses instead fall prey to every new management fad promising a painless solution, especially when it is presented in a neat and bright package. This tendency has created a cottage industry of pop management books, which often substitute for serious thinking about the best way to manage in specific companies.

To avoid the quick-fix mentality, managers need to keep current with the literature in the field of management and to pay particular attention to journal articles that translate research findings into practical guidelines. Second, managers need to be skeptical when simple solutions are offered, and to analyze such solutions thoroughly. Managers need to ensure that the concepts they apply are based on science, and managers should experiment with new solutions themselves whenever possible - in other words, strive to make their organizations learning organizations.

The purpose of the upcoming series of articles on this blog is to help promote the kind of philosophy embodied by knowledge-creating organizations. Whereas these past articles on organizational behavior have focused on learning what is already known about management, I now plan to start writing more about the thinking process so that you yourself can learn new and innovative approaches to management. Being the first to discover and implement innovative management techniques will help give you a sustainable competitive advantage relative to those relying on ineffective and widely copied business fads.

Coming up in this next series of articles, I will begin by examining the nature of the scientific process in order to show you, the reader,  how to successfully conduct your own experiments. I will then go on to discuss how to draw valid causal inferences so that you can maximize your ability to learn from your own experiences as well as to critically evaluate claims made by others. I will then go on to discuss how to generalize research results to determine whether the results found in one sample and setting are likely to be repeatable in a different sample and setting. Finally, I will describe some of the scientific sources you can turn to in seeking answers to your managerial questions.

I must go now. Have a pleasant evening and a proactive tomorrow.

How To Train People To Be Sensitive

Sensitivity Training

Sensitivity training focuses on developing greater sensitivity to oneself, others and to one's relations with others. Designed to promote emotional growth and development, sensitivity training typically takes place in a closed session away from work. It may involve a collection of people who do not know each other, a group of people who are well acquainted or a combination of the two. A sensitivity training session may last for as little as half a day or go on for several days. It is begun by a change agent, who announces that the change agent's role is to serve solely as a non-directive resource. The change agent then lapses into silence leaving the participants with neither a leader nor an agenda to guide interpersonal activities. The purpose of putting people in such an ambiguous situation is to force them to structure relationships among themselves and in the process question long-held assumptions about themselves, about each other and about interpersonal relations.

Sensitivity training participants take part in an intense exchange of ideas, opinions, beliefs and personal philosophies as they struggle with the process of structuring interpersonal relations. Here is a description of 1 four-day session:

The first evening discussion began with a rather neutral opening process which very soon led to strongly emotional expressions of concern. By the second day, the participants had begun to express feelings toward each other quite directly and frankly, something they had rarely done in their daily work. As the discussion progressed, it became easier for them to accept criticism without becoming angry or wanting to strike back. From the second day onward the discussion was spontaneous and uninhabited. From early morning to long past midnight, the process of self-examination and confrontation continued. They raised questions they had never felt free to ask before. Politeness and superficiality yielded to openness and emotional expression.and then to more objective analysis of themselves and their relationships at work. They faced up to many conflicts and spoke of their differences. These were tense moments, as suspicion, distrust and personal antagonisms were aired, but more issues were worked out without acrimony.

By completing this process, people learn more about their own personal feelings, inclinations and prejudices and about what other people think of them.

A Word of Warning

Sensitivity training can initiate profound and intense psychological change. It is not uncommon for participants to engage in very critical assessments of themselves and others that can be both difficult and painful. Therefore the change agent overseeing sensitivity training must be a trained professional who can help participants deal with criticism in  a constructive manner. In the absence of expert help, participants could be at risk of serious psychological trauma. 

 The End

How To Manage Organiztional Culture

Click to see Wyoming Mail (1950)

Organizational culture grows out of informal and unofficial ways of doing things. It influences the formal organization by shaping the way employees perceive and react to formally defined jobs and structural arrangements. For example, in a company that promotes the Protestant work ethic, the idea that working hard is the way to get ahead in life, employees are led to view their jobs as critical to personal success and therefore as important, interesting, challenging and in other ways worthwhile. By encouraging employees to perceive success as something to be valued and pursued, these norms also encourage the developments of a need for achievement and motivate hard work and high productivity. Cultural norms and values convey social information that can influence the way people choose to behave on the job. They do so by affecting the way employees perceive themselves, their work and the organization.

Can organizational culture be managed? It might seem that the answer to this question should be no for any of the following reasons:

1. Cultures are so spontaneous, elusive and hidden that they cannot be accurately diagnosed or intentionally changed.
2. Considerable experience and deep personal insight are required to truly understand an organization's culture, making management infeasible in most instances
3. There may be several subcultures in a single organizational culture complicating the task of managing organizational culture to the point where it becomes impossible.
4. Cultures provide organization members with continuity and stability. Therefore members are likely to resist even modest efforts at cultural management or change because they fear discontinuity and instability.

Many organizational behavior experts disagree with these arguments however and suggest that organizational cultures can be managed through the use of the approaches discussed next.

In one approach, symbolic management managers attempt to influence deep cultural norms and values by shaping the surface cultural elements such as symbols stories and ceremonies that people use to express and transmit cultural understandings. Managers can accomplish shaping of this sort in a number of ways. They can issue public statements about their vision for the future of the company. They can recount stories about themselves and the company. They can use and enrich the shared company's language. In this way, managers not only communicate the company's central norms and key values but devise new ways of expressing them.

Managers who practice symbolic management realize that every managerial behavior broadcasts a message to employees about the norms and values of the organization. They consciously choose to do specific things that will symbolize and strengthen a desirable culture. For example, deciding to promote from within and avoid hiring people from outside the firm sends employees the message that strong performance is rewarded by career advancement. This message reinforce cultural norms and values that favor hard work.



Click to see Siege at Red River (1954)
The End

Organization Culture

Surface Elements of Organization Culture

Element	Description
Ceremonies	Special events in which organization members celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their firm
Rites	Ceremonial activities meant to communicate specific ideas or accomplish particular purposes
Rituals	Actions that are repeated regularly to reinforce cultural norms and values
Stories	Accounts of past events that illustrate and transmit deeper cultural norms and values
Myths	Fictional stories that help explain activities or events that might otherwise be puzzling
Heroes	Successful people who embody the values and characters of the organization and its culture
Symbols	Objects, actions or events that have special meanings and that enable organization members to exchange complex ideas and emotional messages
Language	A collection of verbal symbols that often reflects the organization’s particular culture

Ceremonies

Ceremonies are special events that in which the members of  company celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their culture.  Ceremonies exemplify and reinforce important cultural norms and values. In sales organizations like Mary Kay and Amway, annual ceremonies are held to recognize and reward outstanding sales representatives. Part of the reason for holding these ceremonies is to inspire sales representatives who have been less effective to adopt the norms and values of their successful colleagues. Whether they personify the "Mary Kay approach" or the "Amway philosophy," the people who are recognized and rewarded in these ceremonies greatly enhance the attractiveness of their companies' cultural underpinnings.

Rites

Often organizational ceremonies incorporate various rites. Rites are ceremonial activities meant to send particular messages or accomplish specific purposes. Rites of passage are used to initiate new members and can convey important aspects of the culture to them. In some businesses, new recruits are required to spend a lot of time with veteran employees and learning about cultural norms and values by listening to these veteran s' stories about their experiences at work. In other companies the rite of passage is merely a brief talk about company rules and regulations delivered by a human resources staff member to newcomers during the first day at work. In the latter case, the rite is more of a formal welcoming and does not really help newcomers learn much about the culture of the firm.

'. 

When employees are transferred or demoted or fired because of low productivity, incompatible values or other personal failings, rites of degradation may draw the attention of others to  the limits of acceptable behavior. 

Rites of enhancement also emphasize the limits appropriate behavior, but in a positive way. Rites of enhancement recognize increasing status or promotion to a new position in a firm and may range from simple promotion to a new position in a firm and may range from simple promotion announcements to intricate recognition ceremonies such as the Mary Kay and Amway ceremonies previously described.

In rites of integration, members of an organization are given the opportunity to express and share the common feelings that bind them together. In rites of this sort, official titles and hierarchical differences are intentionally ignored so that members can get to know each other as people rather than as managers, staff specialists, clerks or laborers. This can take the form of weekly parties, giving employees the opportunity to chat informally over pizza and drinks. Company picnics, golf outings, softball games and holiday parties can also serve as rites of integration.

Rituals

A rite that is repeated on a regular basis becomes a ritual. A ritual is a ceremonial event that continually reinforces key norms and values. The morning coffee break is a ritual that strengthens important workplace relationships. So too, is the annual stockholder meeting held by management to convey cultural norms and values to company shareholders. Just as routine coffee breaks enable coworkers to gossip among themselves and reaffirm important interpersonal relationships, annual stockholder meetings give the company the opportunity to strengthen connections between itself and people who would otherwise have little more than a limited financial interest in its continued well-being.

Stories

Stories are accounts of past events that serve as reminders of cultural values. Often, the stories are familiar to all employees. As organization members tell stories and think about the messages the stories convey, the concrete examples facilitate their later recall of the concepts presented. Stories provide information about/historical events in the development of a company that can improve employees understanding of the present.

In one organization, employees tell a story about how the company avoided a mass lay off when almost every other company in the industry felt forced to lay off employees n large numbers. The company manged to avoid a layoff of 10 percent of their employees by having everyone in the company take a 10 percent cut in salary and come to work in only nine out of ten days. This company experience is called "The 9 Day Fortnight."

The story of The 9 Day Fortnight vividly captures the cultural value that looking after employees' well-being is the  right thing to do. Presumably, employees continue to tell the story among themselves as a reminder that their company will avoid layoffs as much as possible during economic downturns.

Myths

A myth is a special kind of story that provides a fictional but likely explanation for an event or thing that might otherwise seem puzzling or mysterious. Ancient civilizations created myths about Gods and other supernatural forces to explain natural occurrences such as the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon and the formation of thunderstorms. Similarly, the members of an organization sometimes develop fictionalized accounts of the company's founders origins or historical development to provide a framework for explaining current activities in their firm.

Heroes

Heroes are people who embody the values of an organization and its culture. Richard A. Drew was a banjo- playing college dropout working in 3M's  research lab during the 1920s. He helped some colleagues solve a problem with masking tape. Soon thereafter DuPont came out with cellophane. Drew decided he could do better than DuPont and coated the cellophane with a colorless adhesive to bind things together - and Scotch Tape was born. In the 3M tradition, Drew carried the ball himself by managing the development and initial production of his invention. Moving up through the ranks, he went on to become technical director of the company and showed other employees how they could succeed in similar fashion at 3M. Heroes, such as Drew, are concrete examples that make the guiding norms and values of a company readily apparent.

Symbols

Symbols are actions, objects or events to which people have assigned special meanings. Company logos, flags and trade names are symbols. The golden arches of McDonald's is a good example. Symbols represent a conscious or unconscious association with some wider, usually more abstract, concept or meaning. In organizations, symbols may also include official titles such as chief operating officer, or special eating facilities. Official automobiles or airplanes may be given symbolic status. Sometimes even the size of an employees office, or its placements or furnishings have special symbolic value.

Symbols mean more than might seem immediately apparent. Despite the fact that a parking space is just a few square feet of asphalt, it may symbolize its holder's superior hierarchical status or clout. It is the ability to convey a complex message in an efficient economical manner that makes symbols so useful and important.

Language too, is a means for sharing cultural ideas and understandings. In many organizations, the language members use is itself a reflection of the organizations particular culture. For example, at many tech companies, a language of "tech-speak" has developed largely because of the technical background of the people who work in this industry. Whatever the source of a common vocabulary, the fact that such a vocabulary exists attests to the presence and acceptance of a shared set of norms and values.

The End

Element

Description

Ceremonies

Special events in which organization members celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their firm

Rites

Ceremonial activities meant to communicate specific ideas or accomplish particular purposes

Rituals

Actions that are repeated regularly to reinforce cultural norms and values

Stories

Accounts of past events that illustrate and transmit deeper cultural norms and values

Myths

Fictional stories that help explain activities or events that might otherwise be puzzling

Heroes

Successful people who embody the values and characters of the organization and its culture

Symbols

Objects, actions or events that have special meanings and that enable organization members to exchange complex ideas and emotional messages

Language

A collection of verbal symbols that often reflects the organization’s particular culture

Organizational Design

Click to see Secret of The Incas (1954)

Organizational Design

Introduction

Organizational design is the process of structuring an organization so as to enhance organizational effectiveness in light of the contingency factors the firm faces. As they develop, organizations grow through the stages of inception, formalization, elaboration and transformation.

Paths of Transition - Multi-unit and Virtual Structures

For large organizations that have progressed through the developmental stages, transition to a multi-unit structure is a matter of forming teams and giving them autonomy by decentralizing operations and reducing middle management. Transition to the virtual structure is more dramatic, requiring massive downsizing and the formation of contractural relationships.

For small organizations that have jumped directly from inception or early formalization to transition, adoption of a multi-unit structure means rapid growth through merger or internal expansion. In contrast, movement into a virtual structure requires the identification of prospective contractors and development of contractural relationships. For example, in the 1990s Ron Oklewicz's Telepad, manufacturer of handheld pro-based computers, developed its computer with GVO, an industrial design company in Palo Alto, CA, and collaborated with a battery maker to design a portable power supply. Then it manufactured the product using spare capacity at an IBM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, and contracted with Automatic Data Processing for that firm to act as a payroll agent for its production employees, By forming strategic alliances, joint ventures or other contractural relationships, with various firms, a relatively small company like Telepad can form a temporary business entity with the apparent resources of a much larger organization.

If successful, transitions that take place during the stage of transformation result in post-bureaucratic structures that enable companies to act both large and small at the same time. Through mutual adjustment and decentralization, firms are able to realize extensive flexibility. Through large size, whether real or virtual, firms are able to control the scope of resources needed to accomplish complex tasks in an effective manner. Key to the success of such organizations, are the information-processing networks that tie their members together. In the absence of modern computer equipment, post-bureaucratic structures could not exist.

We are now entering an era that is witnessing the emergence of the virtual manager. Already, many people "commute" to work electronically using computers telephones and email to clock in, clock out, exchange information with headquarters and fulfill all types of managerial duties. In this day and age it is possible that headquarters cease to exist entirely. And thus, a company may consist of a single individual managing by electronic network a collection of contractural relationships that allows the creation, production and distribution of goods or services. This possibility suggests that the next postbureaucratic structure may be no structure at all, at least not in the traditional sense.

  

`

Click to see Chinatown Hustler

Organizational Environment

Enacting Environmental Change

An organization's environment consists of everything outside the organization. Suppliers, customers and competitors are part of an organization's environment, as are the governmental bodies that regulate its business, the financial institutions and investors that grant it funding, and the labor market that provides it with employees. In addition, general factors such as the economic, geographic and political conditions that impinge on the firm, are part of its environment. 

Environmental Change

Environmental change concerns the extent to which conditions in an organization's environment change unpredictability. At one extreme, an environment is stable if it does not change at all or if it changes only in cyclical and predictable ways. An example of a stable environment is the one that surrounds many of the small firms in Amish communities throughout the mid-western United States. Amish religious beliefs require the rejection of modern conveniences, such as automobiles, televisions and gasoline-powered farm equipment. So Amish blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers and livestock breeders have conducted business in much the same way for generations. Another stable environment surrounds firms that sell Christmas trees. The retail market for cut evergreen trees is predictably strong in November and December but weak at other times of the year.

At the other extreme, an environment is dynamic when it changes over time in an unpredictable manner. Because the popular style of dress changes so frequently in North America, the environment surrounding companies in the fashion industry is quite dynamic. Similarly, the environment surrounding companies in the consumer electronics industry has changed dramatically. New products create entirely new markets.

Enacting a Favorable Environment

Sometimes environmental coordination and information-processing requirements are as much the consequence of an organization's actions as they are the result of unchanging external forces. Consider the happy plight of Levi's, the San Francisco based manufacturer of casual clothing. Following a 1992 study commissioned by the company that found that businesses were growing increasingly receptive to casual attire in the office, Levi's began a direct mail campaign to corporate human resource directors in which it pitched the company's Dockers brand as a fashionable yet relaxed alternative to the traditional dresses-and-suits code of attire. As a follow-up, Levi's shot a "how to dress business casual" video, which it distributed to over 7,000 companies, and began conducting fashion seminars for various corporations and trade associations in the United States

and Canada.

Once dependent on the faddish market for denim jeans and accessories, Levi's is now a major player in the comparatively stable market for office apparel. Organizations as diverse as Charles Schwab and Company, Nationwide Insurance and The New England Employee Benefits Council have sent employees to Levi's presentations, and Levi's has built a database of attendees for use in future promotions. The company's earnings shot up like a rocket. in an industry that was other wise languishing. Dockers shops sprouted up in regional malls and outlet centers to respond to rapidly growing demand, Levi's enacted an environment that has favored the company for years, and will probably continue to do so for the years to come.

Click to see Vivek The Homeless Prophet

Organizational Effectiveness

Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.

Peter Drucker

Organizational Effectiveness

by

Charles Lamson

Organizational effectiveness, the ultimate aim of organizational design, is a measure of an organization's success in achieving its goals and objectives. Goals and objectives might include targets pertaining to profitability, market share, growth, product quality, efficiency, stability or other similar outcomes. An organization that fails to accomplish its goals is ineffective because it is not fulfilling its purpose.

A successful organization must satisfy the demands of the various constituency groups that provide it with resources it needs to survive. For example, if a company satisfies customers' demands for desirable goods or services, it will probably continue to enjoy its customers' patronage. If it satisfies its supplier's demands for payment in a timely manner, the suppliers will probably continue to provide it with needed raw materials. If it satisfies the employees' demands for fair pay and satisfying work it will probably be able to retain its workers and recruit new employees. If it satisfies stockholder demands for profitability, it will probably have continued access to equity funding. If a firm fails to satisfy any one of these demands, its effectiveness will be weakened because the potential loss of needed resources, such as customers or employees, threatens its survival. 

Effectiveness differs from organizational productivity. The concept of productivity does not take into account whether a firm is producing the right goods or services. A modern company producing more glass milk bottles than ever before is certainly productive but it is also ineffective because most milk companies sell their products in plastic jugs. Effectiveness differs from efficiency. Organizational efficiency means minimizing the raw materials and energy consumed by the production of goods and services. It is usually measured as the ratio of inputs consumed to units of output produced---for instance, the number of labor hours required to manufacture a bicycle. Efficiency means doing the job right---producing what ought to be produced in light of the goals, objectives, and constituency demands that influence a company's performance.

Structural Alternatives

The extent to which an organization is effective is strongly influenced by its structure. For each firm, only one type of structure will have the greatest possible effect on its ability to attain goals. To clarify the fundamental differences among the various types of structures, alternatives are sometimes classified along a dimension whose values range from mechanistic to organic.

At one extreme, purely mechanistic structures are machine-like. They permit workers to complete routine, narrowly-defined tasks designed according to the dictates of the efficiency perspective in an economical manner, but they lack flexibility. Extremely mechanistic structures are centralized and have tall hierarchies. They are also characterized by large amounts of formalization, standardization and specialization.

In contrast, purely organic structures are like living organisms in that they are flexible and able to adapt to changing external conditions. In such structures, the empowerment and quality perspectives on job design have greater influence on the way tasks are developed and performed, allowing employees more control over their work and affording the organization increased adaptability. However, because of their flexibility, organic structures lack the single-minded focus required to perform routine work efficiently.

The different parts of extremely organic structures are connected together by decentralized networks in flat hierarchies. The emphasis placed on horizontal relationships means a reduction in the number of vertical layers required to process information and manage activities. In addition organizations with organic structures typically rely more on mutual adjustment than on formaliziation, standardization and specialization. For this reason, computerized information networks take on importance as tools enabling coordination and communication among interdependent tasks.

A particular structure may be mechanistic in some respects and organic in others. The more mechanistic  the structure, the more efficient but less flexible it will be. The more organic the structure, the more flexible but less efficient it is. These differences in efficiency and flexibility can be traced partly to the mechanisms used to coordinate work activities. Standardization incorporates low long-term costs and is thus the basis of mechanistic efficiency. Mutual adjustment on the other hand is quite flexible and is therefore the source of organic flexibility.

Differences in the efficiency and flexibility of mechanistic and organic structures are also attributable to differences in centralization, a characteristic that varies independently of the degree to which a structure is bureaucratic. On the one hand, the greater centralization of mechanistic structures encourages efficient specialization, with centralized decision-makers gaining ever-growing expertise in decision making. On the other hand the greater decentralization of organic structures facilitates adaptive responses, because decentralized decision makers located throughout an organization can lead its parts in several different directions at once. IBM's move to decentralize back in the 80s and 90s illustrates this point. IBM was so centralized that decisions about the design manufacture and sales of personal computers were made by the same headquarters managers who made decisions about larger mainframe computers and midsize mini-computers. 

Comparison of Mechanistic and Organic Structure

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides Communication takes the form of information and advice Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

end

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

• Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives
• Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management
• Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy
• Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates
• Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates
• Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

            

• Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized
• Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders
• Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections
• Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides
• Communication takes the form of information and advice
• Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

• Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives
• Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management
• Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy
• Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates
• Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates
• Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

            

• Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized
• Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders
• Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections
• Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides
• Communication takes the form of information and advice
• Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

Professionalization

Click to see Submerged (2001)



Introduction

Professionalization is the process whereby managers hire people to perform certain work for which useful;written specifications do not exist, and in some cases, cannot be prepared. Professionals are people who develop work-related knowledge skills and abilities in training programs conducted outside the employing organization. For example, teachers learn how to teach in schools of education and medical doctors acquire their skills in medical schools  Business professionals develop their expertise in business in colleges and universities. Professionals learn the rules and standards of conduct needed to perform their jobs during the professional training process.




Click to see Giant Planet: Jupiter
The End

Thursday

I had outpatient surgery this morning.

Click if you hate the government
I am now home, drinking coffee.

I AM TIRED.

I am going to bed early tonight.


I will dream of Jupiter and it's glorious moons.

Click to see Awkwafina perform her hit song "Peggy Bundy"

Group Development

There is a disturbance in the force - click to see

Wednesday

Introduction

12:20 PM

As groups develop, members modify formally prescribed group tasks, clarify personal roles, and negotiate group norms. These developmental processes tend to advance through four stages: initiation, differentiation, integration and maturity.

1. Initiation is a stage of uncertainty and anxiety. New or potential members focus on getting to know each other's personal views and abilities. In the beginning they are likely to discuss neutral topics like the weather and news that have little bearing on the group's purpose. As they gain familiarity and begin to feel more comfortable, members turn to discussing general work issues and each person's probable relationship to the formally prescribed task of the group. Attention now concentrates on determining which behaviors should be considered appropriate and what sorts of contributions people should be expected to make to the group. Members may also try to choose a leader.
2. Differentiation conflicts are likely to erupt as members try to reach agreement on the purpose, goals and objectives of the group. Sorting out who will do what - and when, where, why, and how - and what reward members will receive for their performance often proves to be extremely difficult.
3. Integration comes after having weathered the integration stage, group members must resolve conflicts over other crucial issues. Integration focuses on reestablishing the central purpose the group in light of the structure of roles developed during differentiation. The task of the group may come to be defined in informal terms that modify the group's formal purpose and reflect the experience and opinions of group members.
4. Maturity is the final stage of group development. In this stage members fulfill their roles and work toward obtaining group goals. Many of the agreement reached about goals, roles and norms may take on formal significance, being adopted by management and documented in writing. Formalizing these agreements help to ensure that people joining the group at this stage will understand the group's purpose and way of functioning.

Group Productivity

People are more productive when working in groups than when working alone. However, a large body of research indicates that groups of individuals working together are sometimes less productive than the same number of people working alone. Often this falloff in productivity can be avoided if managers work to reduce their negative effects of various obstacles to group productivity.

Obstacles to Group Productivity

Process loss is the difference between what a group actually produces and what it might theoretically produce. It is caused by a variety of obstacles to group productivity, the most influential of which are production blocking, group-maintenance activities and social loafing.

Production blocking occurs when people get in each other's way as they try to perform a group task. For example, when one member of a moving van crew carries a chair through a doorway and another member waits to carry a box of clothing through the same doorway.

In order for a group to function effectively, its members must fulfill the requirements of several group-maintenance roles. The roles include encouragers, people who enhance feelings of warmth and solidarity within the group by praising, agreeing with and accepting the ideas of others. Harmonizers minimize the negative effects of conflicts among the group members by resolving disagreements fairly, quickly and openly, and relieving interpersonal tension. Standard setters raise questions about group goals and goal attainment and set achievement standards with which group members can evaluate their performance.

Social loafing can also cause process loss. Social loafing is the result of the choice made by some members of a group to take advantage of others by doing less work, working more slowly or in other ways decreasing their own contributions to group productivity. According to economists, social loafing makes sense from a loafers perspective if the rewards the group receives for productivity are shared more or less equally among all group members. A loafer can get the same rewards that everyone else gets but without having to expend the same personal effort.

Click to see Five Guns West (1955)

The End