Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, And Postmodern Perspectives

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Contingency Theory. Available at: http://www.12manage.com/methods_contingency_theory.html (accessed [ permanent dead link] 26/03/12) Rules are stable and can be learned. Knowledge of these rules can be viewed as expertise within the bureaucracy (these allow for the management of society). Modernist Perspective: The modernist definition of knowledge is what we are able to collect from our senses; touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing. The main aims of modernists are to eliminate bias and focus on objective knowledge.

This shows who has the authority (who makes decisions) in the organization and who has to report to these people. The relationships throughout the organization between managers and subordinates are usually displayed in a pyramid. Symbolic-Interpretive Theory: focuses on individual and group experiences within the organization and how these are interpreted. This theory can be seen as being based on the following theories: Within an organization, the silo metaphor describes the different values and routines that subcultures have, which make relationships between them difficult. This problem is usually solved through the formation of a strong culture, “agreement about what is valued and the intensity with which these values are held.” (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2006). Masculine versus Feminine: “this refers to the degree of separation between gender roles in society.” (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2006). Feminine countries include The Netherlands and Sweden, whereas masculine countries include Austria and Japan. In masculine cultures, career advancement and achievement of goals are important, whereas in feminine cultures relationships and services are of importance. Equivocality: This is a term used to describe that an organization acts in different contradictory ways, so that different groups are targeted (they appeal to different groups in the environment), and those groups believe the organization to be a certain way. Therefore, this can lead to ambiguity.A rational organization system has two significant parts: (1) specificity of goals and (2) formalization. Goal specification provides guidelines for specific tasks to be completed along with a regulated way for resources to be allocated. Formalization is a way to standardize organizational behavior. As a result, there will be stable expectations, which create the rational organizational system. [31] [32]

However, sometimes it is difficult to measure centralization in an organization because some activities are centralized whilst others are decentralized.

Summary

Weber believed that a bureaucracy consists of six specific characteristics: hierarchy of command, impersonality, written rules of conduct, advancement based on achievement, specialized division of labor, and efficiency. [19] This ultimate characteristic of Weberian bureaucracy, which states that bureaucracies are very efficient, is controversial and by no means accepted by all sociologists. There are certainly both positive and negative consequences to bureaucracy and strong arguments for both the efficiency and inefficiency of bureaucracies. Selection: Organizations are selected based on whether or not they fit properly into the niche. If not, they move into a new environment or ‘die’. In the context of the postmodernism perspective, the people are expected to have a wider scope of understanding as the era emerges and empowerment of the marginalised group is given a highlight. The power and culture is greatly affected in many ways. The organisational perspectives discussed, selecting the leaders in an organisation mean having enough freedom to choose for someone that the members think will be productive. If the modern perspective is more on the scientific approaches for the organisation where subjectivity prevails, it may result to a biased selection. Symbolic-interpretative also caters to an unjust decision because the individuals rely more on the symbols that they see on a specific idea. Postmodernism though is influenced by the modernist approach; it somehow holds a strong point of an organisational theory because it applies the complications of the significant factors and the new era. Empowerment in this era has been the culture in many business organisations and as globalisation comes in, many organisations are adapting the same trend.