2ترجمه درس توسط آقای آرین پور
Organizations as Organisms
l.et’s think about organizations as if they were organisms.
We find ourselves thinking about them as living systems,
existing in a wider environment on which they depend on the
satisfaction of various needs. And as we look around the organizational
world we begin to see that it is possible to identify different species of
organization in different kinds of environment. Just as we find polar
bears in arctic regions, camels in deserts, and alligators in swamps, we
notice that certain species of organization are better “adapted” to
specific environmental conditions than others, We find that
bureaucratic organizations tend to work most effectively in
environments that are stable or protected in some way and that very
different species are found in more competitive and turbulent regions,
such as the environments of high-tech iirrns in the aerospace and
microelectronics industries.
The problems of mechanistic visions of organization have led
many organization theorists away from mechanical science and toward
biology as a source of ideas for thinking about organization. In the
process, organization theory has become a kind of biology in which the
distinctions and relations among molecules, cells, complex organisms,
species, and EC0lH@/ are paralleled in those between individuals,
groups, organizations, populations (species) of organizations, and
their social ecologl, And in pursuing this line of inquiry, organization
theorists have generated many new ideas for understanding how
organizations function, and the factors that influence their well being.
Discovering Organizational Needs Not surprisingly, organization
theory began its excursion into biology by developing the idea that
employees are people with complex needs that must be satisfied if they
are to lead full and healthy lives and to perform effectively in the
workplace. ln retrospect, this hardly appears a profound insight,
because from a modern perspective this seems an obvious fact of life.
We all know t_hat employees work best when motivated by the tasks
they have to perform, and that the process of motivation hinges on
allowing people to achieve rewards that satisfy their personal needs.
However, in the early part of this century this idea was by no means
obvious, For many people work was a basic necessity, and those who
designed and managed early organizations treated it as such. Hence.
people like Frederick Taylor and the other classical management
theorists were able to view the design of organizations as a technical
problem, and the task of encouraging people to comply with the
requirements of the organizational machine was reduced to a problem
of “paying the right rate for thejob.” While esprit de corps was viewed
as a valuable aid to management, management was viewed primarily
as a process of controlling and directing employees in their work.
Most organization theory since the late l920s has rested in
overcoming the limitations of this perspective. We can start the story
with the Hawthome Studies. These were conducted in the 1920s a.nd
1930s under the leadership of Elton Mayo, at the Hawthorne Plant of
the Westem Electric Company in Chicago. At the outset the studies
were primarily concemed with investigating the relation between
conditions of work and the incidence of fatigue and boredom among
employees. As the research progressed, however, it left this narrow
Taylorist perspective to focus on many other aspects of the work
situation as well, including the attitudes and preoccupations of
employees and factors in the social environment outside work. The
studies are now famous for identifying the importance of social needs
in the workplace and the way work groups can satisfy these needs by
restricting output and engage in all manner of unplanned activities. In
identifying that an “informal organization” based on friendship groups
and .unplanned interactions can exist alongside the formal organization
documented in the ‘blueprints' designed by management, the studies
dealt an important blow to classical management theory, They showed
quite clearly that work activities are influenced as much by the nature
of human beings as by formal design, and that organization theorists
must pay close attention to this side of organization.
With the Hawthorne Studies, the whole question of work
motivation thus became a buming issue, as did the relations between
individuals and groups. A new theory of organization began to emerge,
built on the idea that individuals and groups, like biological organisms,
operate most effectively only when their needs are satisfied.
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Theories of motivation presented the human being as a kind of
psychological organism smuggling to satisfy its needs in a quest for full
growth and development. This theory which suggested that humans are
motivated by a hierarchy of needs progressing through the%
ترجمه درس توسط آقای آرین پور
سازمان به مثابه یک ارگانیسم
اجازه بدهید در مورد سازمانها ،زمانیکه آنها به عنوان ارگانیسم تلقی می شوند ،فکر کنیم.
ما افکار خودمان را درباره آنها به عنوان سیستم های زنده موجود در محیط وسیع تر ،جائیکه آنها وابسته به بهره مندی از نیازهای متنوع هستند :پیدا کردیم همانطور که ما به پیرامون جهان سازمانی نگاه می کنیم ،شروع به دیدن این مطلب کردیم که شناسایی گونه های مختلف سازمان در انواع متفاوت محیطی امکان پذیر است به طوریکه ما فرم های قطبی را در مناطق شمالی ،شتر ها را در بیابان و تمساح را در مرداب پیدا کردیم .ما متوجه شدیم که انواع معین سازمان با شرایط محیطی مشخص نسبت به سایرین ،بهتر تطبیق می یابند.ما دریافتیم که سازمانهای بورد کراسی تمایل به فعالیت های موثرتری در محیط هایی که ثابتند یا در برخی شیوه های محافظت شده هستند :دارند و اینکه گونه های متفاوت زیادی در نواحی آشفته و رقابتی از قبیل محیط هایی از شرکت های فنی بالا در ماورا جو و صنایع میکرو الکترونیکی پیدا شدند.
مشکلات تصورات مغناطیسی سازمان ،بسیاری از تئوری های سازمانی را که به دور از علم فنی است و به سمت بیولوژِی به عنوان منبعی از ایده ها برای فکر کردن در باره سازمان می باشد .سوق می دهد.در این پروسه تئوری سازمان ، نوعی از بیولوژی که در تمایزات وروابط بین مولکول ها،سلول ها ، ارگانیسم های پیچیده انواع و اکولوژی که در بین اشخاص ،گرو هها ، سازمان ها گونه های جمعیتی ،سازمانها و اکولوژی اجتماعی شان برابر هستند :می باشد ودر پیگیری این خط از تحقیق تئوری های سازمانی ،بسیاری ایده های نو را برای فهم چگونگی عملکرد سازمان ها و فاکتور هایی که بخوبی تحت تاثیر آنها شده اند بوجود آورده است.
کشف نیاز های سازمانی : شگفت انگیز نیست که، تئوری سازمانی ،سیر خودش را به سمت بیولوژی با توسعه ایده ای که کارمندان افرادی با نیاز های پیچیده هستند که بایستی راضی نگه داشته شوند ،اگر که آنها به سمت زندگی سالم و کامل سوق داده شوند و به طور موثرتری در محیط کاری انجام (وظایف) می کنند .در نگاهی به گذشته ،این (تئوری) بندرت یک دیدگاه ژرف عمیق به نظر می رسد چرا که از دیدگاه مدرن به نظر می رسد که حقیقتی آشکار از زندگی باشد.همه ما می دانیم که کارمندان ،وقتی توسط وظایفی که بایستی انجام دهند مورد تشویق واقع می شوند :بهتر کار می کنند و پروسه انگیزه منوط به اجازه افراد برای دستیابی به پاداش هایی است که نیاز های شخصی شان را براورده سازد.بهر حال در بخش اولیه این سده ، این ایده با هیچ معنای واضح و مبرهن نبود.برای بسیاری از مردم کار یک ضرورت اساسی بود و کسانی که سازمانهای اولیه را طراحی و مدیریت می کردند بدین ترتیب رفتار می کردند.بنابراین مردم، فردریک تیلور و تئوری مدیریتی کلاسیک دیگر را دوست دارند که قادر به دیدن طراحی سازمان ها به عنوان مشکل فنی می باشد و وظیفه تشویق افراد برای کامل کردن نیاز های ماشین سازمانی که مشکل پرداخت نرخ واقعی شغل را کاهش دهد در حالیکه روح رفاقت به عنوان مساعدتی ارزشمند برای مدیریت دیده می شود .مدیریت به عنوان پروسه کنترل و هدایت کارمندان در کارشان لحاظ می شود.
بیشتر تئوری سازمان از اواخر 1920با غلبه بر محدودیت های این دیدگاه است. ما می توانیم داستان را با مطالعات Hawthorne ، شروع کنیم .این در سال 1920و1930 تحت رهبری التان مایو در Hawthorne plant از کمپانی western Electric در شیکاگو ،هدایت شده بود. در مطالعات خارج از مجموعه ،با تحقیق کردن رابطه بین شرایط کار و شواهد مبهم و کسل کننده در بین کارمندان در نظر گرفته می شود .همانطور که تحقیق پیشرفت کرد آن ، این مقاله را به عنوان دیدگاه Taylirist برروی بسیاری از جنبه های دیگر موقعیت کاری متمرکز کرد:که شامل نگرش ها و اشتغالات قبلی کارمندان و کارخانه ها در محیط اجتماعی کار بیرونی است.اکنون مطالعات برای شناسایی اهمیت نیاز های اجتماعی در محیط کاری مهم هستند روش گروههای کاری می تواند این نیاز ها را با محدود کردن output و بکار گیری در همه حالت فعالیت های طراحی نشده برآورده سازند در تشخیص اینکه یک سازمان غیر رسمی بر پایه ی گروه های دوستی و تقابلات طراحی نشده می تواند در کنار سازمانهای رسمی با برنامه کاری که به وسیله مدیریت طراحی شده است ثابت شود. واین مطالعات با اهمیت (این مطلب)به سمت تئوری مدیریتی کلاسیک سر کار دارد.آنها نشان دادند به طور واضح که فعالیت های کاری تحت تاثیر طبیعت انسانی با طرح رسمی است و تئوری سازمان بایستی توجه نزدیکتری به این جنبه از سازمان داشته باشد.
با مطالعات Hawthorne ،پرسش کلی از انگیزش کاری همانطور که روابط بین اشخاص وگروه ها را انجام می دهد :یک مسئله حیاتی می باشد. تئوری جدید سازمان شروع به پیدایش کردو ایده ای را ساخت که اشخاص و گروهها شبیه ارگانیسم های بیولوژیکی هستند که تنها زمانیکه نیازهایشان برآورده شود :عمل می کند. تئوری انگیزشی تلاش انسان که به عنوان یک موجود سایکولوژی برای پیشرفت و رشد کامل نیاز های خود می کند را ارائه می کند.
این تئو ری پیشنهاد می دهد که انسانها با سلسله مراتبی از نیاز های در حال رشد بواسطه ،روانشناسی ،اجتماعی و روانشناختی که مفاهیم بسیار قوی داشت .تشویق می شوند .آن پیشنهاد می دهد که سازمانها بوردکراسی بدنبال راهی برای تشویق کارمندان از طریق پول یا تنها با فراهم آوردن امنیت شغلی می باشد که توسعه انسانی برای سطوح پایین تر از سلسله مراتب نیاز ها را محدود می کند. بسیاری از تئوری های مدیریتی برای دیدن اینکه حرفه ها وروابط بین شخصی می تواند برای ایجاد شرایطی برای رشد شخصی که به طور همزمان
به سازمانها برای دستیابی به اهداف و افعال کمک کند:مجددا طراحی شدند.
توجه خاصی برروی ایده به وجود آوردن احساس مفید سودمندی و اهمیت بیشتر با دادن شغل های معنادار متمرکز شده و همچنین با دادن استقلال ،مسئولیت پذیری :و شناسایی قابلیت های آنها به عنوان عاملی برای دخیل کردن آنها در امور شغلی .ارتقائ شغلی همراه با رهبری مشارکتی ،دموکراتیک و کارمند محور ،شیوه دیگری است در مقایسه با رویکرد های باریک بینانه ،تحکم آمیز و غیر انسانی که نتیجه مدیریت علمی و تئوری مدیریت کلاسیک می باشد.
The Decision-making Process
The decision-making process is a systematic series of sequential steps.
The steps include
1- Recognizing the problem
2- Gathering and processing information
3- Evaluating alternatives
4- Deciding, selecting, or choosing
5- Implementing post-decision activities
The first necessary condition for a decision is a problem.
Problems exist where goals are to be attained and uncertainty exists
about an appropriate solution. A problem must also suggest more than
one alternative solution, The decision-making process is then a
sequential and reiterative series of psychological and physical activities
in which the decision-ma.ker seeks and evaluates information to
achieve the required level of confidence to reach a decision.
The process is not rigid; it allows a person to move backward or
forward or to skip stages, For example, in some instances gathering
and processing information may precede problem recognition, for
nurse administrators may be seeking information to arrive at one
decision only to learn of a need for an additional related decision, For
example, when using fomis to collect data and attempting to tabulate
information and write a quarterly or annual report, the administrator
may realize that the fomi circulated did not satisfactorily request the
needed information, The situation men requires new, Lmexpected
decisions. For organizational reasons, we will discuss decision-making
steps in their listed sequence.
Recognizing the Problem
Identifying a problem is an essential prerequisite for decision making.
Although this step at first glance appears simple, it is actually the most
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complex, for it involves a perception of the current state of affairs.
Because people view reality differently from one another, each holds a
slightly different preference about what an ideal state, situation, or
outcome should be. One might postulate that a perfect situation would
exist whenever the actual and the ideal were totally congruent, but this
seldom occurs, as both actual and ideal are in a continuous state of
flux. lncongruence between actual and ideal does not alone constitute a
problem; rather the incongruence must be of sufficient magnitude to
provoke problem recognition.
It is easy to get caught up in symptoms and never really identify
the real problem. Thus, it is helpful to state specifically what is wrong
and what improvements seem feasible. Then, the nursing administrator
can gather facts, investigate possible causes, and determine the real
problem,
Nursing administrators, who are continually faced with limited
resources, must establish priorities about the importance of various
problems, For example, a problem involving inadequate office space
may be irritating to a nursing supervisor or clinical specialist, yet it
may not be recognized or perceived as a problem by those in upper
levels of hospital administration. The nursing administrator must
therefore choose either to ignore the unsatisfactory situation or to
gather sufficient information to convince the hospital administrator that
a problem does exist. The decision will depend on the amount of time
and energy that can be devoted to the issue at a given time, after the
nursing administrator has taken other demands and priorities into
consideration.
When evaluating a problem, the decision maker needs to look at
both the problem’s priority and its potential for being solved. Nursing
administrators will occasionally encounter high-priority problems that
have limited potential for being solved. The nursing administrator
faced with high staff tumover might find, for example, that the
problem largely stems from the unusual demands of one surgeon who
insists on beginning a surgical schedule at 4 A.M. The hospital
administrator, while acknowledging the nursing problem, refuses to
intervene in the physician’s control of the hospital schedule because
the physician brings a large number of patients to the hospital. In this
case, the problem, although important to the nursing administrator,
may be unsolvable.
Faced with such situations, nursing administrators must often
establish priorities for dealing with problems. Reitz suggests three
possible ways of choosing priorities.
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The first problem encountered is the first problem solved, In
other words, deal with problems in the order in which they
appear.
2. Problems that can be dispensed with immediately are given priority
over more time-consuming ones. That is, give the easiest problems
to solve first priority.
3. Give crisis or emergency problems priority over all others.
Once a nursing administrator has arranged problems according to
priority and degree of solvability, it is time to begin gathering and
processing information.
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Managers and Leaders-Are They
? Different
Theodore Levitt has described the essential features of a managerial
Culture with its emphasis on rationality and control:
Management consists of the rational assessment of a situation and
The systematic selection of goals and purposes (what is to be done
The systematic development of strategies to achieve these goals; the
Marshalling of the required resources; the rational design, organization,
Direction and control of the activities required to attain the selected
Purposes; and, finally, the motivating and rewarding of people to do
The work.
In other words, whether his or her energies are directed toward
Goals, resources, organization structures, or people, a manager is a
Problem solver. The manager asks himself “What problems have to be
Solved, and what are the best ways to achieve results so that people
Will continue to contribute to this organizat.ion'?” In this conception,
Leadership is a practical effort to direct affairs; and to fulfill his task, a
Manager requires that many people operate at different levels of status
And responsibility. Our democratic society is, in fact, unique in having
Solved the problem of providing well trained managers for business.
The same solution stands ready to be applied to movement,
Education, health care, and other institutions. It takes neither genius nor
Heroism to be a manager, but rather persistence, tough-mindedness,
Hard work, intelligence, analytical ability and, perhaps most important,
Tolerance and good will.
Another conception, however, attaches almost mystical beliefs to
What leadership is and assumes that only great people are worthy of the
Drama of power and politics. Here, leadership is a psychodrama in
Which, as a precondition for control of a political structure, a lonely
Person must gain control of him or herself such an expectation of
Leadership contrasts sharply with the mundane, practical, and yet
Managers and Leaders-Are They
? Different
Theodore Levitt has described the essential features of a managerial
Culture with its emphasis on rationality and control:
Management consists of the rational assessment of a situation and
The systematic selection of goals and purposes (what is to be done
The systematic development of strategies to achieve these goals; the
Marshalling of the required resources; the rational design, organization,
Direction and control of the activities required to attain the selected
Purposes; and, finally, the motivating and rewarding of people to do
The work.
In other words, whether his or her energies are directed toward
Goals, resources, organization structures, or people, a manager is a
Problem solver. The manager asks himself “What problems have to be
Solved, and what are the best ways to achieve results so that people
Will continue to contribute to this organizat.ion'?” In this conception,
Leadership is a practical effort to direct affairs; and to fulfill his task, a
Manager requires that many people operate at different levels of status
And responsibility. Our democratic society is, in fact, unique in having
Solved the problem of providing well trained managers for business.
The same solution stands ready to be applied to movement,
Education, health care, and other institutions. It takes neither genius nor
Heroism to be a manager, but rather persistence, tough-mindedness,
Hard work, intelligence, analytical ability and, perhaps most important,
Tolerance and good will.
Another conception, however, attaches almost mystical beliefs to
What leadership is and assumes that only great people are worthy of the
Drama of power and politics. Here, leadership is a psychodrama in
Which, as a precondition for control of a political structure, a lonely
Person must gain control of him or herself such an expectation of
Leadership contrasts sharply with the mundane, practical, and yet
41
organized, and taught as skills, then society’s faith in technique over
personal qualities in leadership remains the guiding conception for a
democratic society contemplating its leadership requirements. But
there are times when tinkering and trial and error prove inadequate to
the emerging problems of selecting goals, allocating resources, and
distributing wealth and opportunity. During such times, the democratic
society needs to find leaders who use themselves as the instruments of
leaming and acting, instead of managers who use their accumulation of
collective experience to get where they are going.
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What is an Organization
An organization is a consciously coordinated social entity. with a
relatively identifiable boundary, that functions on a relatively
continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. That`s a
mouthful of words. so let us break it down into its more relevant parts,
The words consciously coordinated imply management. Social
entity means that the unit is composed of people or groups of people
who interact with each other. The interaction patterns that people
follow in an organization do not just emerge; rat_her, they are
premeditated. Therefore. because organizations are social entities, the
interaction patterns of their members must be balanced and
harmonized to minimize redundancy yet ensure that critical tasks are
being completed. The result is that our definition assumes explicitly
the need for coordinating the interaction patterns of people.
An organization has a relatively identyiable boundary. This
boundary can change over time, and it may not always be perfectly
clear. but a definable boundary must exist in order to distinguish
members from nonmembers. It tends to be achieved by explicit or
implicit contracts between members and their organizations. ln most
employment relationships, there is an implicit contract where work is
exchanged for pay. ln social or voluntary organizations, members
contribute in return for prestige, social interaction, or the satisfaction of
helping others. But every organization has a boundary that
differentiates who is and who is not part of that organization.
People in an organization have some continuing bond. This bond,
of course, does not mean lifelong membership. On the contrary,
organizations face constant change in their memberships. although
while they are members, the people in an organization participate with
some degree of regularity. For a salesperson at Sears Roebuck, that
may require being at work eight hours a day, tive days a week. At the
other extreme. someone functioning on a relatively continuous basis as
1
a member of the National Organization for Women may attend only
few meetings a year or merely pay the annua.l dues.
Finally. organizations exist to achieve something. These
"something" are goals, and they usually are either unattainable by
individuals working alone or. if attainable individually, are achieved
more efficiently through group effort. While it is not necessary for all
members to endorse the organization’s goals thlly, our definition
implies general agreement with the mission ofthe organization.
? What is Organization Structure
Our definition of organization recognizes the need for formally
coordination the interaction patterns of organization members.
Organization structure stipulates how tasks are to be allocated. who
reports to whom. and the formal coordination mechanisms and
interaction patterns that will be followed.
? What is Organization Design
Our third term, organization design. emphasizes the management side
of organization theory. Organization design is concerned with
constructing and changing an organization’s structure to achieve the
organizations goals. Constructing or changing an organization is not
unlike building or remodeling a house. Both begin with an end goal.
The designer then creates a means or plan for achieving that goal. In
house construction, that plan is a blueprint, In organization building,
the analogous document is an organization chart.
? What is Organization Theory
From our previous definitions, it is not too difficult to deduce what we
mean by the term organization theory. It is the discipline that studies
the structure and design of organizations, Organization theory refers to
both the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of the discipline. It
describes how organizations are actually stnictured and offers
suggestions on how they can be constructed to improve their
effectiveness.
? Why Study Organization Theory
Organizations are the dominant form of institutions in our society.
Organizations pervade all aspects of contemporary life-society as a
2
whole, the economy, as well as our personal lives. It is not
unreasonable, then, to expect us to want to understand this
phenomenon that is so intertwined in our lives.
At a more sophisticated level, you may want to replace your
intuitive theories of organization with ones that have been derived
scientifically and systematically.
When we use the phrase systematic study, we mean looking at
relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing our
conclusions on scientific evidence; that is, data gathered under
controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably
rigorous manner. The objective is to replace intuition or that “gut
feeling” one has as to “why organizations are designed as they are” or
"what works best when” with scientifically based theories.
Probably the most popular reason for studying organization
theory (OT) is that you are interested in pursuing a career in
management. You want to know how organizations operate, have that
knowledge based on some scientific evidence, and then use this
knowledge for constructing and changing an organization`s structure to
achieve the organization’s goals. In other words, you expect to practice
organization design as a manager, administrator, personnel analyst,
organizational specialist or the like.
3