Chapters Summary: Formal Organizations

Chapter 1

Organizations are distinguished from other frameworks of human relations and characterized by formal behavior. Secondly, their nature tends to be primarily instrumental in the manner that they are essentially tools used to accomplish given tasks. However, the modern formal organizations are even more distinct owing to the fact that titles, behavior, and adherence are governed by explicit rules. In summary, unlike other informal collectivities such as a family, an organization is deliberately formed, has a specific purpose, standardized behavior, impersonal leadership, perpetual longevity (Greenwald, 2008). Q: How do you understand an organization?

Chapter 2

Even though organizations may appear long-lasting and powerful, they are not autonomous in terms of development and operation. They have to respond to the values and needs of people that form them. The concept of organizational milieu explains the various factors that are beyond the direct or immediate control of the organization. Examples of such factors are the members’ psychological characteristics, extra-organizational or natural ties that exist among members, such social forces as culture, lifestyle, and economy, as well as other organizations. Organizational milieu contributes to the understanding of the decisions made by managers and leaders on a daily basis and explains the strategic dilemma faced by organizations (Greenwald, 2008). Q: Do you think the management should try as much as possible to shield the organization from factors that are beyond its control?

Chapter 3

The existence of organizations, their functioning, and the factors that influence them are aspects explained by multiple theories developed over the years. Examples include transaction cost theory, contingency theory, critical theory, humanistic theory, and others. However, it is important to note that no single theory provides a comprehensive understanding of a formal organization. Nevertheless, the major ones tend to focus on environment, function, and conflict. Here, it is important to note that it is not easy to tell the extent to which external forces affect the internal processes and features of an organization (Greenwald, 2008). Q: What theory do you think effectively addresses the tendency to have conflicts within the organizational setting?

Chapter 4

It is important to note that roles within organizations tend to be interrelated so that the performance of one individual affects in a certain way the roles performed by others. All roles are essentially targeted at achieving the organizational objectives. Unfortunately, social forces usually contradict organizational needs. This creates a need to ensure that each member of an organization performs his or her task as expected. The role serves to provide the members of the organization with the information, organization, as well as the resources needed to perform the organizational function assigned to them. Notably, a good number of conflicts result from the various roles assigned to different individuals within a formal organization (Greenwald, 2008). Q: Do you agree that social forces always disagree with the organization’s needs?

Chapter 5

An organizational structure serves to coordinate the roles performed by individual members of an organization. It is basically defined as the social bonds or interrelationships that exist between different positions within an organization. Role expectations denote the manner in which roles are connected to the organizational structure. The management ensures that this connection is effective so that the organization can meet its objectives. When doing this, a number of management approaches may be employed, a popular one being Taylor’s scientific management (Greenwald, 2008). Q: How do you think the organizational structure facilitates performance of roles by members?

Chapter 6

To ensure that people meet their role expectations and act according to the organizational structure, organizations have to motivate their employees. This is usually done through the concepts of rewards and punishment that encourage and discourage a given behavior respectively. Notably, management of an organization’s workforce requires that a sophisticated mix of both negative and positive reinforcement is employed. Here, the frequency, magnitude, and the nature of both punishments and rewards significantly influence the people’s performance. Rewards are either intrinsic or extrinsic. Money (pay) is one of the most conspicuous extrinsic rewards; however, it is interesting that people not always attribute their positive behavior to it. This has led to the conclusion that there exists a very complicated relationship between human behavior and pay. It is also worth noting that punishment is less discussed in the literature on organizational behavior (Greenwald, 2008). Q: Why do you think many people fail to regard pay as their source of motivation to work?

Chapter 7

Organizations rely not solely on their people’s choice to seek reward or avoid punishment as doing so may lead to fragmentation and instability in the organization. Rather, they have to find a way to compel the staff to simply accept the direction given to them. Imperative forces are the measures taken by organizations to ensure that their members adhere to their role expectations and whether or not there are rewards and/or punishment. The most obvious force employed is discipline whereby over time, people are taught how to always demonstrate certain behavior. Other forces include power, for instance, emotional and expert power (Greenwald, 2008). Q: Why do you think it is hard for organizations to entirely depend on rewards and punishment as the forces that will drive their employees to perform their roles?

Chapter 8

The organizational culture dictates how things are to be done in that organization. The leadership styles, reward patterns, and communication methods used by different organizations are a demonstration of differences in organizational culture. The culture plays another very important role; it facilitates coordination and cohesion within an organization. Elements of organizational culture include logos, flags, mission statements, artwork, and the most fundamental ones – beliefs and values. Notably, to establish and maintain a culture, an organization has to expend resources. Nevertheless, the organizational culture is an irreplaceable aspect; hence, there is the need to direct adequate resources towards it (Greenwald, 2008). Q: Do you think organizational culture explains the differences in performance among organizations within the same industry and equipped with similar resources?