Part II
Organizational Perspectives
Chapter 5
Contemporary Organizational Theories
and Management Systems
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Learning Objectives
1. Understand how contemporary management theories differ
from classical organizational theory.
2. Know the three events that served as the foundation of
human relations theory.
3. Understand systems theory and the components of the
police system.
4. Discuss total quality management and how it applies to
modern police departments and community policing.
5. Know the various structures that are used in police
departments.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Introduction
• Mechanistic organization
– Fairly inflexible
– Characterized by hierarchy, formalization, and centralized
authority
• Organic organization
– More open
– Allow employees greater input and responsibility in decision
making, especially at the lower levels in the organization
– Supposedly more responsive to community needs
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Human Relations Organizational
Theory
• Management engaged in a social process that combines
techniques and people to mutually benefit the
organization and the employee
• Managers spend a substantial amount of time dealing
with human problems
• Functions of the Human Relations Organizational
Theory:
– Motivates people to higher performance
– Helps us understand people and their relationship to work
– Helps people reach their fullest potential
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
The Genesis of Human
Relations Theory
• Hawthorne Experiments
– Signaled a need for management to harness worker energy and ideas so that
management and workers could mutually benefit
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory of motivation
– Identified a hierarchy of five levels of employee needs
– As one level of need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator; managers must find
other ways of motivating employees.
• Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
– Theory X implied that managers must constantly control, punish, and manipulate
employees.
– Theory Y depicted a worker who was willing to work and failed to be productive
only when management failed to provide the proper work atmosphere.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Human Relations Philosophy
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Workers are viewed as whole individuals.
Managers are required to use their experience and intuition from an
interdisciplinary perspective.
Higher productivity and greater human satisfaction require employee
participation in the organization.
Communication is the nervous system of the organization.
The employee has a job-oriented role and an informal group-oriented role.
Cooperation in the form of teamwork is an indispensable management practice
if the organization is to survive.
Employees are diversely motivated.
The work situation is a complex social system of interrelated elements.
Human relations management skills can be developed.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Participatory Management
• Allows subordinates to participate in making and
planning their own responsibilities and the operation of
their own units
• Usually encouraged in matters affecting the officer’s job
performance
• When subordinates’ feelings, concerns, and ideas are
expressed to their supervisors, the process of
management is improved.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Contributions of the Neoclassical or
Human Relations Model
• The introduction of behavioral sciences in an integrated
fashion into the theory of organization
• Showed the informal organization’s influence on the
formal structure of organizations
– People have an effect on management and their organization.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Weaknesses of the Neoclassical or
Human Relations Model
• Informal groups are uncommon as a natural occurrence
in organizations.
• The majority of workers do not belong to informal
groups.
• People cannot function without some level of structure.
• Research found that a reward system required both
monetary and social components.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Bridging Classical and Human
Relations Theories
• Mixed Structures
• Contingency Theory
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Mixed Structures
• Mechanistic or traditional structures
– Appropriate work settings where repetitive tasks are performed
• Organic systems
– Appropriate for nonrepetitive work environments
• Long-linked technology
– Process by which individual work groups contribute a part to the
total
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Contingency Theory
• Advises that organizations are embedded in an
environment
• The environment places demands and pressures on the
organization, resulting in change in operations and
structure.
• Institutional theory
– Organizations change not to be more effective, but to give the
appearance of effectiveness.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
The Systems Model of Organizational
Management
• Emphasizes the relationship between the police agency
and its environment
• Concentrates on the parts, not the whole
• Emphasizes open construction of organizations
• Focuses on organizational processes and outcomes
• Attempts to mediate between classical and human
relations approaches
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Characteristics of an Open System
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Environmental awareness and importation of energy and resources
Conversion of energy into goods and services
Outputs
Cyclical character of processes
Negative entropy
Feedback
Functional steady state or dynamic homeostasis
Movement toward growth and expansion
Equifinality
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Total Quality Management
• A management orientation that ensures the organization and
its members are committed to continuous improvement and to
completely meeting customer needs.
• To achieve maximum effectiveness:
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Services must be of the highest quality.
Quality is the overarching objective.
Customers’ opinions should be the chief determinant of quality.
The client is the reason the organization exists in the first place.
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Organizational Structure and
Police Administration
• Vertical Structure
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Used by traditionally organized police departments
Specialized units operate independently from other units
Control and communication comes from chains of command
Decision making is centralized by upper echelons of department
• Matrix Structure
– Separate operations are decentralized across geographic areas
– Driven by geographical area and workload
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning
Organizational Structure and
Police Administration (cont.)
• Horizontal Structure
– Activities are organized around core processes
– Substantially reduces levels of hierarchy and bureaucracy
• Team Structure
– Use permanent and temporary teams to solve problems and
deliver services
– Community policing has resulted in some departments adopting
team arrangements
© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning