Theory Of Organization

Theory of Organization

Organization is a network of independent relationship. Various relationship can contribute to the organization as a whole. Three essence major of organizational  thought and theory are :
·    The classical theory of Organization
·    The Humans relation school of thought
·    The school of thoughts which concerned with social system and emphasizes the relationship of the part of the whole organization.

The Classical School
The main idea of this concept is that, everyone in the organization or even outside of organization might be hold your destiny someday. Figure out who’s important to your effectiveness and threat them with good way. The classical theory of organization is concerned almost entirely with the design and structure of organization, not with people. Which is the chief tool is the organization chart.

Among recommended principles of management Henri Fayol included following :
1.    Division of work (specialization)
2.    Authority and responsibility (power)
3.    Discipline (obedience)
4.    Unity of command (one boss)
5.    Unity of direction (one plan)
6.    Subordination of individual interest to general interest ( concern for the organization first)
7.    Remuneration (fair pay)
8.    Centralization (consolidation)

Scott’s definition of formal organization : a system of coordinated activities of a group of people working cooperatively toward a common goal under authority and leadership. Scott’s identified four key components of classical organization theory :
·    Division of labor refers to how a given amount of work is divided amng the available human resources. The division can be according to the nature of the various jobs or according to the amount of responsibility and authority personal assumes.
·    Scholar and functional processes express, respectively, the vertical and the horizontal growth and structure of the organization. Scholar refers to the levels of the hierarchy (chain of command) in the organization. Functional refers to the specific job duties of each employee in the organization.
·    Structure refers to network of relationships and roles throughout the organization structure enables the organization to meet its objective effectively and in an orderly  manner.
Classical theory usually distinguish two kind of staff :
Line organization includes the chain of command and the primary function of the formal organization. it can be described easily by organization chart. Staff organization supplement line organization. the staff people advise and serve the line people.
Jablin (1987) describes four key structural dimension that predominated in most theoretical analysis: 1. Configuration ( e.g. span control, organization size) 2. Complexity ( vertical and horizontal) 3. Formalization 4. Centralization
Span of control refers to the number of employees a manager can effectively supervise. Span of control influence the shape of an organization. span of control also relates to how centralize or decentralize an organization is. In centralize organization, power and decision point are few. In decentralized organization, authority and decision making are spread throughout the organization and authority is generally delegated to the smallest practicable units. Centralization of authority can usually expedite decision making since fewer people are involved. Decentralization involves more people and takes more time but may improve organizational morale by giving more employee the opportunity to be involved in decision making.

The Human Relation School
The basic logic of the human relations approach was to increase concern for workers by allowing them to participate in decision making, by being more friendly, and calling them by their first name, which improved worker satisfaction and morale. The net outcome would be lower resistance to and improve compliance with management’s authority.
David described an informal organizational as based on people and their relationship rather than on positions and their functions. He distinguish informal powers as personal and formal power as institutional :
Power in informal organization is earned or given permissively  by group members, rather than delegate; therefore it does not follow the official chain of command.
Davis thought the main criteria of an informal leader are : age, seniority, technical competence, work location, freedom to move around the work area, and responsive personality.

The Social System School
In the social system school, what affected one part of the organization affected all parts of the organization. nothing exist without eventual impact on something else. There is stated that all parts of an organization are interdependent or interlocking because all parts within the system called subsystem, affected by each other. This means simply that a change in any part of the system will affect all other parts of the system. Longeneeker has supported this point of view :
The system concept is useful because of its strong amphasis upon these interrelationalships. These interrelationalships are stressed as being of primary importance. The role management is seen as the management of interrelationalships. This emphasis avoids some of the pitfalls of a components mentality in which departments work out their own relationships in a haphazard manner.

Scott likened organization theory to general systems theory because both study the following factors :
1.    Parts (individuals) in aggregates and movement of individuals into and out of the system
2.    Interaction of individuals with the environment of the system
3.    General growths and stability problems of systems

Huse and bowditch summarized the main characteristic that define an organization as a system :
1.    Composed of a number of subsystem, all of which are interdependent and interrelated
2.    Open and dynamic, having inputs, outputs, operation, feedback, and boundaries
3.    Striving for balance through both positive and negative feedback
4.    With a multiplicity of purpose, function and objective, some of which are in conflict, which the administrator strives to balance
Some of the key concepts necessary to the understanding of an organization as an open social system are feedback, balance, input, transformation and interdependence.