Organizational Theories
Definitions and concepts
(in)formal social structure
In my opinion, the social structure is one of the most important aspects to monitor to benchmark the internal health of a company. The formal social structure sets the standards under which the participants must operate. The informal social structure creates great opportunities to keep your employees happy without affecting written company policy. For example; one of your employees is unhappy because he/she feels she has earned a promotion, but isn’t getting one. You, being his/her manager would like to give him/her that promotion, but the budget won’t allow you at this time. What you could do, in line with the informal social structure is give him/her some extra authority of responsibilities without upgrading his/her financial benefits. This will keep your employee happy again for a while, without it costing extra money.
3 systems perspective
When looking at the three major aspects to analyze organizations, I think the open systems aspects works best for most companies.
Within this system everyone knows their place, but has a huge amount of freedom the shape the way he/she reaches the goals set at the end of his/her task. Combined with this freedom are close “workgroups” who operate as a separate unit. People within the same workgroup feel connected, and with the right stimulation they will be eager to go to work, to see their family again, and enjoy the freedom given to them by their managers. Bonuses can be given to people who allow this system to work flawlessly, and severe sanctions can be put on people who cannot handle the freedom given to them.
In essence, this system encompasses the visions I believe in the most; A happy internal customer equals a happy external customer.
3 great theorists brought back to life
• Marx, Weber and Durkheim a brought into a modern automobile factory. Here they see workers standing alongside the...
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