Images of Organization Gareth Morgan by GrayRice, Deebrah, Hyder, & Shen EDUC 8240 Organizational Theories and Leadership in Education Organizational Theory Organizational theory is an interdisciplinary field of study that seeks to understand how organizations operate, why they behave the way they do, and how they can be improved. The goal is to develop a deeper understanding of how organizations function and use this knowledge to improve every aspect. GrayRice, Deebrah, Hyder, & Shen Metaphors All theories of organization and management are based on implicit images or metaphors that lead us to see, understand, and manage organizations in distinctive yet partial ways Metaphor is a valuable, descriptive tool because it adds color to language so that leaders, followers, and the organization can work together more efficiently, can understand the perspective that develops a healthy culture, and can deal with new ideas with stable emotions. The use of a metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervade how we understand our world generally Metaphors produce one-sided insight and create distortions Keep in mind that any theory or perspective is incomplete, biased, and potentially misleading, even though it creates valuable insight No single theory will ever give us a perfect or all-purpose point of view Use metaphors to generate a range of complementary and competing insights and learn to build on the strengths of different points of view Organizational Metaphors GrayRice, Deebrah, Hyder, & Shen Gareth Morgan GrayRice, Deebrah, Hyder, & Shen Gareth Morgan Prominent organizational theorist Made significant contributions to field of organizational theory. "Images of Organization" presents 8 metaphors or images to understand organizations. Emphasizes importance of understanding assumptions that shape our thinking about organizations Argues that metaphors we use to understand organizations can have an impact on our perceptions and behaviors Highlights importance of holistic and multidisciplinary approach to org theory Insights from sociology, psychology, economics, and management Metaphors as a tool for understanding complex concepts Pause and Share What "organizations" do you belong to? Share in the chat box! What Are the Images Machine Political systems Brains Organisms Cultures Psychic prisons Flux and Transformation Instruments of Domination Strengths: Mechanistic approaches to organization work well only under conditions Machines where machines work well: Expect organizations to operate as machines: in 1. When there is a straightforward task to perform 2. When the environment is stable enough to ensure that the products produced will be appropriate ones 3. When one wishes to produce exactly the same product time and time again 4. When precision is at a premium 5. When the human "machine" parts are compliant and behave as they have been designed to do a routinized, efficient, reliable, and predictable Limitations: way 1. Can create organizational forms that have great difficulty in adapting to changing In understanding organization as a rational, circumstances technical process, mechanical imagery tends 2. Can result in mindless and unquestioning bureaucracy 3. Can have unanticipated and undesirable consequences as the interests of those working in the organization take precedence over the goals the organization was designed to achieve 4. Can have dehumanizing effects upon employees, especially those at the lower levels of the organizational hierarchy underplay the human aspects of organization and to overlook the fact that the tasks facing organizations are often much more complex, uncertain, and difficult than those that can performed by most machines Organisms Individuals and groups, like biological organisms, operate most effectively when their needs are met Organizations are "open systems" Organizations and organisms seek to adapt and survive in a dynamic environment Organizations are clusters of interconnectivity Contingency theory lens Sustainability consciousness Strength: Focus on achieving congruence with environment Weakness: Environments are far less concrete than the metaphor suggests s n i a r B Organizations are like brains, with different parts that process information and make decisions of the collective intelligence. Seeing organizations as living brains draws attention to the importance of information processing, learning, and organized wisdom. O iz rgan s ation org on i t a rm fo as in g n i s s e proc s n i a r b Or z gani s n o i t a hi p a r log as ho s brain Cre lea rnin aniz Str atin g atio eng g ns ths ? c Lim itat ion s? Cultures Culture: “The pattern of development reflected in a society’s system of knowledge, ideology, values, laws, and day-to-day ritual” (Morgan, 2006, p. 116) Organizations are cultural phenomena Ex: Western culture: Individuality, competition against each other & against the system Non-conformity = abnormal in culture “Since organization ultimately resides in the heads of the people involved, effective organizational change always implies cultural change. Changes in technology, rules…are just not enough” (Morgan, 2006, p. 145). Strengths: Focuses on the symbolic importance of all parts of the org Limits: Culture is often more complex than it looks! Political Systems Organizational Politics: Composed of relations between interests, conflicts, and power Power 1. Formal authority 2. Control of scarce resources Interests Goals, values, desires, expectations, and other orientations and inclinations that lead a person to act in one way rather than another Conflicts May be personal, interpersonal, or between rival groups or coalitions 3. Use of organizational structure, rules, and regulations 4. Control of decision processes 5. Control of knowledge and information 6. Control of boundaries 7. Ability to cope with uncertainty 8. Control of technology 9. Interpersonal alliances, networks, and control of "informal organization" 10. Control of counter-organizations 11. Symbolism and the management of meaning 12. Gender and the management of gender relations 13. Structural factors that define the stage of action 14. The power one already has Psychic Prisons Organizations are systems that are entangled in their own thoughts and actions Organizations get trapped in favored ways of thinking; ways of seeing become ways of not seeing Freud: repression of unconscious fears and desires Jung: psyche is part of universal and transcendental reality; collective unconscious Transitional phenomena Strengths: challenge basic assumptions, gain important insights, ethical management Weaknesses: deflect focus from other forces of control, highlights exploitive and destructive aspects of organizations, underestimates power in maintaining status quo Flux and Transformation Organizations are dynamic systems that are constantly changing and evolving Autopoiesis Adaptation Transformation Chaos & Complexity Flexible Responsive Mutual ausality Innovation Dynamic Dialectical hange Restructuring Adjustment Strengths Offers new insights on the nature and source of change Offers new ideas of thought that can be used to enrich our understanding of management & leadership Offers leaders and managers a new perspective on their role in facilitating change Weaknesses Individuals that find comfort in controlling, organizing, and predicting system change may struggle with the concept of “powerless power. The order of change only becomes apparent in hindsight Instruments of Domination “Organizations are often used as instruments of domination that further the selfish interests of elites at the expense of others, and there is an element of domination in all organizations” (Morgan, 2006, p. 293). Labor of the many in service of the dominating force (executives, leaders) “Weber identified three types of social domination… the charismatic, the traditional, and the rational-legal” (Morgan, 2006, p. 294). Strengths: Allows us to see the problems of "rationality --> efficiency" when it prioritizes profits over people Limits: Runs the risk of conspiracy when people believe an org (or all orgs) are trying to dominate them Group Task Visual Representation In your pairing, pick the 2-3 images/metaphors that stood out to you the most Create a visual representation of how these images/metaphors interact with one another You can opt to visually represent this for your school setting, or school settings in general, or you can do so for any other organization you choose Options: Google Slide collage of clipped images, JamBoard sketched drawing(s), a diagram/conceptual framework for thinking about the images Before we return, pick 1 person from your pair to present your visual representation, and explain how you chose to conceptualize the images Questions to think about: 1.What metaphors resonated with you the most? Why? 2. What was your thought process as you visualized these metaphors? If you searched for images, what were your search terms? 3. How do the metaphors you chose interact with each other? 4. What connections can you make with the metaphors and your school/organization setting? References Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
