Looking at Organizations
An Introduction to Public Management
Management as a function of how we organize to get the work done
Drawn from Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan
Morgan suggests 8 types of organizations in the public and
private sectors
Morgan’s 8 Types or Images
Organizations as Machines
Organizations as Organisms
Organizations as Brains
Organizations as Cultures
Organizations as Political Systems
Organizations as Psychic Prisons
Morgan’s 8
Organization as Flux and Transformation
Organizations as Instruments of Domination
Combinations of 1-8
We will go back to each of these in the next few weeks, but in the meantime….
Background
In order to assess what is happening in a given business or government operation
we need to look at several factors
The Organization
The People who work there
The Clients
The Environment (politics?)
Reading the situation
Involves looking at the elements noted:
The organizational structure and culture
The folks who work there
The clients
The environment
Reading the situation
Requires you to put it all together to try to make sense
Or to make changes (Leadership)
In other words: “You have to pay attention to the details to lead or understand.
We will see in this course that good criminal justice leaders do just this.
Now, back to Morgan’s 8 Images
Organizations as Machines
Taylor and Scientific Management
“Deskilling” of the workers
Productivity
Consistency
Procedures, Rules and Regulations
Underlying Assumptions
Everybody is trained to act the same within a job title.
Chain of Command
Bureaucracy
Reduction in initiative and
discretion
Strengths; works well with
Straightforward task to perform
stable environment
same product time after time
precision at a premium
compliant workers
Weaknesses
Organizations have difficulty adapting
mindless and unquestioning bureaucracy
leads to worker dissatisfaction and change in serving interests from organization
to individual (see for example “Rivethead”)
can dehumanize the worker (offender?)
Organizations as Organisms
Based on the notion of living systems
Adaptability
suitability for given tasks
Recognition of the social needs of the work force, as opposed to the Taylorism of
the machine model
Comes out the the Hawthorne studies
Needs according to Maslow
Physiological
Security
Social
Ego
Self actualization
You have probably been exposed to this in Psychology, think now of organizations
and those who work in them
Environments
Like any organism, the organization needs to be able to adapt to the environment
or perish
Redundant jobs for example, redundant organizations
Environmental Variables
Nature of the environment
Nature of the tasks
Organization of the work
Nature of authority
communications
Employee commitment
What is a healthy organization?
One that has a bias for action
Is close to the customer
Provides autonomy and entrepreneurship
Gets
productivity through people
Is hands on and Value Driven
Demonstrates simple form and lean staff
And has simultaneous loose-tight properties
Strengths
Tends toward a more satisfied work force and gets better work
More open and trusting
Employees share vision
Weaknesses (In CJ)
Open system makes tactical leadership more difficult
CJ organizations slow to change…witness Community Policing and Direct
Supervision for example
The trick seems to be to create small teams for specific tasks that are open within a
more traditional organization
Organizations as Brains
Often known as “decision making” approach
Can’t totally replicate the brain
Bounded rationality
act on basis of incomplete information
explore only limited number of options
unable to attach accurate values to outcome
Result
Organizations try to process information and seek to make it manageable
Thus organizations and organization charts of agencies show not only the
responsibility of the unit, but often how they “think” or “see” a problem.
Example: personnel vs... operations
Concepts
Feedback
Interface
Networking
Seamless ness
In other words the operation of trying on new information and ideas, recognizing
limits and moving toward goals
Cybernetics: Four Key Principles
Capacity to sense monitor and scan
Relate information to operational norms
Detect significant deviations from norms
Ability to initiate corrective action…
Leading to a continuous process of information exchange
Single Loop Learning
Single:
sense, monitor, scan environment
compare to operational norms
take action
Double loop learning
Double:
sense,
monitor, scan environment
compare to operational norms
question norms
take action
A Question:
If organizations can be thought of as brains, can we teach organizations to learn?
Bureaucratic structures limit this ability
look at other images as we progress to arrive at an answer to the question of
organizational learning...
Computers showing the way
Organizations as Cultures
Culture:
Society’s system of knowledge
ideology
values
law, and
day-to-day ritual
Examples
Governing Prisons demonstrates the cultural flavor of each of the three agencies
studied.
Remember that culture develops over time and it changes over time.
Thus often times, change comes slowly, look back to learning organizations when
you read case studies in CJ
Two Kinds of Culture In Organizations
Formal Culture
Informal Culture
Formal Culture
Rules, Regulations, Mission Statements and Vision Statements.
Formal Culture is the “official” culture of the organization
It is often created by the managers and executives and given to the line staff
Line staff are the people who do the work
Informal Culture
This is the culture on the “shop floor” or the work place
It is determined by practice and the desires and actions of the workers
It is sometimes not known by the managers
It can be in conflict with the Formal Culture
Management’s Role in Culture
Define formal culture
Recognize the needs and desires of line staff such that the clash between cultures is
minimized
Strengths of Cultural Image
Culture was recognized by Organizational Theorists early in their studies of
organizations
It makes sense and is well accepted by most parties
Culture while slow to change provides some stability and strength in hard times
Another Culture: Collective Bargaining
This
culture may be in partial conflict with both the formal and informal cultures
as the Collective Bargaining agent may be playing a more “political role”
Political Image of Organizations
Politics is the way we determine how we allocate scarce resources
Politics is a dead bang serious game played to maximize YOUR interests
In the Political frame we can expect all sides to play by these rules.
Clearly they are mediated by other images
Some Terms in Politics
Autocracy:
Absolute control held by one person or small group supported by control of the
crucial resources, or tradition or charisma or other claim
Bureaucracy:
Rule exercised through the rule of the written word..rule of law and of formal
organization
Technocracy:
rule
exercised by those with knowledge or expert power and the ability to solve
relevant problems
Codetermination:
Where opposing parties combine in joint management of mutual interests.
Coalition or corporatism for example
Representative
Democracy:
Rule through the election of officials who act FOR the electorate. Specific terms of
office and some form or accountability usually included
Direct Democracy:
Everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in all decision making.
Communes or Kibbutzim.
Political Types
Obviously very few ( if any) organizations are totally of one type, but rather are a
blend or compromise between several of these types.
Politics Writ Small
We have looked at larger agency politics, what of the individual?
Politics and personal lives….Individuals in organizations may and often do move
politically to achieve their personal ends
This is also true for small groups as well
Examples
Labor Unions
Special Interest Groups
Geographical Groups
Department to Department/ Unit to Unit
In any case it has to do with advancing their position or power within the
organization
Power
Power is the medium through which conflicts are ultimately resolved.
Some scholars of organizations see power as the “big” variable
Types of Power
Formal Authority
Control of Resources
Use of Organizational Rules and Structure
Control of Decision Process
Control of Boundaries
Ability to Cope with Uncertainty
Types of Power
Control of Technology
Interpersonal Alliances Networks and control of the Informal Organization
Control of Counterorganizations
Symbolism and meaning
Gender and the management of gender relations
Types of Power
Structural Factors that define the stage of action
The power one already has
Managing Organizations from the Political Frame
Organizations as mini states that replicate the relationship of individuals to the
society
Three ways of looking at this
Unitary
Pluralist
Conflict
Unitary Organizations
Place emphasis on common objectives and interests
Conflict is rare and transient and can be removed by appropriate managerial
action.
Uses authority. leadership and control to guide the organization toward
achievement of common interests
Pluralist Organizations
Emphasis placed on the diversity of the group and individual interests.
Organization as a coalition
Conflict is inherent and can be positive
Power is the crucial variable. Organizational activities decided by a plurality. the
most “votes”
Radical Organization
Emphasis on oppositional nature of interests. Organization is a battleground
where rivals seek to meet ends
Conflict recognized as inevitable whether latent or pronounced
Power a key feature. Power relationships are key
Phases
Organizations can go through each of these phases in the course of history
A takeover, or change in leadership for example, may lead to movement from
conflict to pluralist to unitary.
Organizations as Psychic Prisons
When organizations stifle or prevent initiative or creativity
Groupthink:
A condition where the way the group thinks can prevent or discredit
those who see something different, or another way to make progress
Example in Automotive Industry
Assumption by American Auto makers in the early 70’s that only big American
cars would sell….
In the meantime, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota etc.etc. You know the story
It can be corrected, like when IBM made the decision to stay out of the desk top
computer market, then reversed.
Psychic Prisons and Organizational Culture
Obvious connection here, a “bad” culture that is accepted and supported can stifle
change.
Law Enforcement in the Pre-Civil Rights Era US South for example
Or integrating CJ agencies with minorities and women….Leadership issues
Organizations in Flux and Transition
Think back to learning organizations
Some questions that an organization looking at change might consider
Questions for a manufacturing organization for example
Where do we stand?
What’s happening in the Environment?
Why are our people having so much struggle with sales?
Can we penetrate new markets?
What business are we in?
Is it the right business?
Food for thought
What kinds of questions might a criminal justice agency ask when things seem to
be changing?
Some of the answers are clearly constrained by the environment,
We can’t for example suggest we should not be in the public safety business
more later in the term on this
The Organization as an Instrument of Domination
Organizations can have an ugly face
And can do horrible things
to both society and to those who work in it
Internal domination and harm
Disgruntled, stressed out and angry workers
Unsafe working conditions
Strife and conflict at work that reduces the performance of the agency
The public purse
External domination and harm
Agencies that do what they are told, rather than what is right.
Holocaust studies in Germany for example
Current questions about Correctional Industrial Complex or War on Drugs
Or on the toughening attitudes about prisoners
Some History
Because so many of us work for organizations domination is an important topic
In
1780 20% of workers worked for salaries 80% were self employed and there
were few managers
In 1974: 83% salaried, 8.2% self employed and 8.8% managers and administrators
So
our founding principles were laid out at a very different time with regard to
how Americans perceived their lives and work.
Think back to the “deskilling” and the Scientific Management we spoke of earlier