... An organization is a system where groups of people are channeled into achieving certain goals. Organizations are social units and exist in every aspect of the modern world for a variety of purposes. Each organization is unique and differs from one another in many ways; however, environment, strategy and goals, formal organization, informal organization, work technology, and people are essential ingredients of all organizations. These elements work with each other depending on the purpose of organization. Organizations have been under significant analysis for years (Morgan, 2006). It is important to look at them from various perspectives in order to gain more insight into their strengths and weaknesses. Scott and Davis (2007) recommend organizations to be analyzed from rational-technical, natural-social, and open system perspectives. Each perspective has its own advantages and the characteristics of one do not invalidate those of the others. The rational-technical system is a traditional approach in which organizations are mainly characterized by goal specificity and formalization. Organizations, when explored from this perspective, appear to be highly formalized systems designed to achieve specific goals. The advantage of viewing an organization through this lens is that it allows the organization to easily accomplish specific goals by following written rules and assigning specific roles to individuals within each department. However, rational-technical systems...
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...In contrast to the rational model, players in the political model (often referred to as incrementalists) do not focus on a single issue but on many intraorganizational problems that reflect their personal goals. In contrast to the administrative model, the political model does not assume that decisions result from applying existing standard operating procedures, programs, and routines. Decisions result from bargaining among coalitions. Unlike in the previous models, power is decentralized. This concept of decision making as a political process emphasizes the natural multiplicity of goals, values, and interests in a complex environment. The political model views decision making as a process of conflict resolution and consensus building and decisions as products of compromise. The old adage, “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours,” is the dominant decision-making strategy. When a problem requires a change n policy, the political model predicts that a manager will consider a few alternatives, all of them similar to existing policy. This perspective points out that decisions tend to be incremental--- that managers make small changes in response to immediate pressures instead of working out a clear set of plans and a comprehensive program. This incrementalist approach can be seen as the simplest or most extreme form of satisficing. The incremental approach of the political model allows managers to reduce the time spent on the information search and problem definition stages. Incremental...
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...According to Weber, authority is power accepted as legitimate by those subjected to it. These three forms of authority are said to appear in a "hierarchical development order". States progress from charismatic authority, to traditional authority, and finally reach the state of rational-legal authority which is characteristic of a modern liberal democracy. However in this paper, we will try to agree with Max Weber’s statement that, legal – rational authority is the most rational type of authority, while giving reasons to our argument. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state (in the form of Members of Parliament, Judges, Police Officers, etc.) or by academic knowledge of an area (someone can be an authority on a subject). The word "Authority" with capital "A”, refers to the governing body upon which such authority (with lower case "a") is vested ( Arendt, 1961: 53). However, authority is often used interchangeably in governments with the term "power". However, their meanings differ. Authority refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise power (Spencer, 1970: 258). For example, while a mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by lynching, people who believe in the rule of law consider that only a court of law to have the authority to order capital punishment. Max Weber, in his sociological and philosophical work, identified and distinguished three types of legitimate domination that have sometimes been rendered...
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...Management process, linear and nonlinear management, ordinary and extraordinary management, rational management, chaos theory Management - from rational management to chaos theory Submitted to Dr. D. Coleman By JJ de Klerk In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Doctorate in Business Administration Swiss Management University March 3, 2012 1 1. Introduction Developments over the last few decades have led to a new way of thinking in economic and management approaches. The scientific approach to management, which emphasizes the basic management functions of planning, organizing, leadership and control, now seems unable to explain the era of change that characterizes economies and organizations alike. This paper will focus on explaining the rational management model, focusing on ordinary management, and go on to discuss the new approaches such as chaos theory – also called complexity theory - and the need for extraordinary management and innovation. 2. Rational management Management and organization science literature have until recently focused on the objective control of agents and worked on the assumption that interactions can be described in linear terms (Webb, 2005). When difficult decisions have to be made, many managers and strategists rely on the economics view in which profit maximization is the guiding principle. Executives will us the rational model tools described above, and believe that precise solutions should be achieved through precise...
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...The aim of this dissertation is to highlight how, according to Max Weber, legal rational authority is the most rational type of authority. In this understanding, key concepts to the task at hand will be defined and discussed; after which a brief background of Weber and the three types of authority will be given. The essay will then proceed to show how legal rational authority is the most rational type of authority by highlighting its advantages and disadvantages then comparing it with the other forms of authority and then a fitting conclusion will be given at the end. The term legal is defined as means based on or required by law, the term rational means based on or in accordance with reason or logic and the term Authority refers to the power or right to give orders and enforce obedience (Collins, 2011). Thus Max Weber defined legal rational authority as the type of authority which rests on the grounds of a belief in legality of normative rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue command (Basu, 1994). Legal rational authority is the type of authority that rests on legally established impersonal order, rule of law and not humans (LeMay, 2002). Legal rational authority has also been defined as authorities found in organizations were rules are applied judicially and in accordance with ascertainable principles valid for all members in the organization (Prasad, 1991). Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist, who laid emphasis on the three...
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... Why do many organizations outsource their business overseas to countries like China or India? Outsourcing is an effective cost-saving technique when used properly. Outsourcing is sometimes more affordable to purchase a good from companies with comparative advantages than it is to produce their products internally. China and India are the fastest growing economies around. The most obvious reason is the reduced costs. Wages for skilled workers are lower in developing countries such as China or India. The outsourcing of American jobs has become one of the biggest topics in the United States. The country's working class faces pressures which they have not experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s (Magdoff, Foster). Outsourcing continues to have several different opinions from many individuals. On one side of the topic, many are in support due to the low cost for companies. The main reason is outsourcing boosts the United States economy. On the opposing side, many are opposed to outsourcing because of the reduction of jobs in the United States and a variety of other factors. The focus on outsourcing has led to many companies being shipped to foreign countries like China and India. With the rise of technologies that make life much simpler for all of us, the human race has developed along with it a growing list of demands. As a result, organizations are addressed to solve these demands. This frame of thought is also applicable to outsourcing organizations as well. We need...
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...jobs and require the following skills and abilities in order to do the job well: This chapter involves review of previous studies and researches carried out which were found to be related to this presently. Detailed review of literature was carried out to cover the following study areas as shown: - Organizations - Management - Motivation (Reward) and its theories - Relevance of motivation (reward) on productivity. 2.2 ORGANIZATION Organization can be defined as two or more people who work together in structured way achieve a specific goal or goals. Organization can be defined form diverse perspectives. According to Scott (1981) these are there perspective for defining organization these are: 1. Organization as rational systems. 2. Organization as natural systems. 3. Organizations an open system. Organization as Rational Systems: The definition of Organizations as a rational system emphasizes two major characteristic of Organizations. a. Specification of goals b. Formalization of structure. According or Barnard (1938) “formal Organization is that kind of cooperation concision of men that are conscious l deliberate and purposeful Scott (1981). Defines an Organization as a collectively oriented to the pursuit of relatively specific goals an exhibiting a relatively highly formalized social...
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...in formal organizations. Before its publication, most of the work on management and organization was fragmentary: to administer is to plan, organize, integrate and measure etc. But some more basic questions like why we need organizations, what are essential for organizations, are left untouched. Barnard realizes that without first answering these questions and finding the nature of organizations, we are lack of a solid base on which to discuss the more specific questions. One of the greatest contributions of Barnard is to point out the cooperation nature of organizations. Barnard was the first to insist that organizations by their very nature are cooperative systems and cannot fail to be so. Cooperation is the essence of organizations. An organization can survive only because of cooperation. Actually, he emphasized cooperation almost to the exclusion of such things as conflict, imperative coordination and financial inducements. This extreme position is, of course, not so favorable in today’s view and I will discuss these defects later. We should give Barnard the credit, however, for seeing that an organization is a cooperative system, interpreted with the language of contract theory, this is saying that in order for an organization to exist, there should be a set of contracts that every member agrees. The problem is that Barnard seems to minimize the importance of individuals in order to emphasize on the cooperation in organizations. He defined the organizations as “nonpersonal”...
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...Significance and Limitations of Rational Decision-making Managers as Decision-makers The Rational Model Non-rational Models Decision-making Process Types of Managerial Decisions Programmed Decisions Non-programmed Decisions Decision-making Under Certainty, Uncertainty and Risk Management Information System vs Decision Support System The Systems Approach to Decision-making Group Decision-making Forms of Group Decision-making Decision-making Techniques Summary Decision-making describes the process by which a course of action is selected to deal with a specific problem. The success of an organization depends greatly on the decisions of managers. There are two major types of models used by managers to make decisions - (1) rational model and (2) non-rational models. In the rational model, managers engage in rational decision-making processes. At the time of decision-making, they possess as well as understand all the information that is relevant to their decision. In contrast, non-rational models of managerial decision-making suggest that limitations of information-gathering and information-processing make it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions. The three non-rational models of decision-making discussed in the chapter are: satisficing, incremental, and garbage-can models. Any decision-making process contains seven basic steps: (1) identifying the problem; (2) identifying resources and constraints, (3) generating alternative...
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...Understanding Work & Organisations Word Count - 1840 words Name - Jinit Dedhia Student Number -120252266 Different aspects of the concept of ‘rationality’ and how these are identified in different management theories Rationality in today’s world has become a significant facet of management in organizations. Rationality as a whole can be defined as the ability of being consistent with or based on logic (Rona-Tas, 2007). A more appropriate definition for rationality in management for this essay is, described by Simon (1972) as a style of behaviour that is appropriate to the achievement of given goals, within the limits imposed by given conditions and constraints. The principal meaning of rationality is a condition of consistency among choices made from different sets of alternatives. In his view, rationality is defined by the existence of a preference relation which is complete and transitive (Arrow, 1996) .The essay is concerned with giving a brief overview of rationality and it will also discuss the different aspects on the concept of rationality identified in different management theories. Types of Rationality Rational behaviour is behaviour in accordance with reason, behaviour that in some sense serves the actor’s interests. Most writers seem to accept that rationality is an essential premise for any science of economics. In so far as economics is a science of human action, there seems to be little one can say of action, which is...
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...SUBJECT NAME: Public Administration Question: According to max Weber, legal rational authority is the most rational type of authority. Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer. The aim of essay is to discuss legal rational authority commonly known as bureacracy. It high lights why legal rational authority is the best way of authority for any professional run organization. The essay also highlights some of the problems of legal rational authority and the solutions that can make it more flexible in communication and decision making Legal rational authority according to Webber was the most rational and most stable of authority. Formal rules and regulations legitimize this authority. People obey orders of the ruler not because they are loyal but because rules and laws stipulate so and must be obeyed Legal rational authority also known as the bureaucratic authority is the form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or ruling regime is largely tied to legal laws. Legitimacy is seen as coming from legal order, meaning the authority follows and obeys the laws that have been enacted and enforced by government. Rationality means the basis by which sound decisions are made by proper reasoning instead of acting on intuition or influence Legal rational authority is the best type of authority reason being unlike these other types of authority, legal rational authority is management based on a formal structure with set rules and regulations which makes...
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...understand the implication of human beings and the interactions of organization as well as aware the best way on nature and the role of management in designing and controlling the organizations. Organizational theory is distributed to two main approaches, Technical-rational approach and Social-human approach. Technical-rational approaches simply are considering the organization as machines and treating human as mere cogs within them which include Bureaucracy, The Classical School and Scientific management. About the Social-human approaches are seeing the organization as communities of people and treat human as emotional and social beings, which structures are more flexible and It can be called as Human rations school. Afterward, I would like to discuss them respectively and particularity. First of all, about the Bureaucracy demonstrates the people to have their own responsibilities and well-defined tasks. It indicates there are the hierarchical reporting structures in organization which means the managers have official authorities to exact obedience such as because of their position, as well as the personal authority based on individual personality, intelligence, and experience obedience and respect within an organization are absolutely essential. Good discipline requires managers to apply sanctions whenever violations become apparent. So it creates the management responsibility. Moreover, the bureaucratic organizations can complete their task with developing their own regulations...
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.... Introduction It is fortunately for this generation manager because they have more than century's management theory and thought to retrospect. Although modern management theory dates primarily from the early twentieth century, there was serious thinking and theorizing about managing many years before. Throughout many different contributions of writers and practitioners have resulted different approaches to management, resulting in a kind of management theory jungle and help them to face the challenge of the future. Despite the inexactness and relative crudity of management theory, the development of thought on management dates back to the days when people first attempted to accomplish goals by working together in groups. To know something of the background of the development of management thought. 'Even limited knowledge can help one appreciate the many opinions, ideas, and scientific underpinnings which preceded the upsurge of management thought may help us avoid rediscovering previously know ideas.' (Harold Koontz, Heinz Weihrich, 1988) 2. Development in management theory 2.1 Management Development History The history of modern management has been characterized by the swing of a pendulum. 'Trace back the evolution of management theory from the nineteenth century to the present day--basically from Taylorism to Japanization.' (John Sheldrake, 1997) Scientific management developed in the crucible of American industrialization and subsequently spread throughout the industrial...
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...KKKKKK Criticism for Max Weber’s Bureaucracy Written by Dr. Wasim Al-Habil College of Commerce The Islamic University of Gaza Beginning with Max Weber, bureaucracies have been regarded as mechanisms that rationalize authority and decision-making in society. Yet subsequent theorists have questioned the rationality of bureaucracies. Which features of modern-day public bureaucracies are rational? Which are not? Buttress your argument with citations from organization and/or public administration theories. Introduction: Max Weber’s work about bureaucracy, translated into English in 1946, was one of the major contributions that has influenced the literature of public administration. However, Van Riper (1997) argues that the work of Weber on bureaucracy has no influence on American PA until the 1950’s. The word bureaucracy is derived from two words; “bureau” and “Kratos.” While the word “bureau” refers to the office the Greek suffix “kratia or kratos” means power or rule. Thus we use the word “bureaucracy” to refer to the power of the office (Hummel, 1998, 307). “Bureaucracy” is rule conducted from a desk or office, i.e. by the preparation and dispatch of written documents and electronic ones. Bureaucracy is borrowed by the field of public administration (PA) from the field of sociology. It was borrowed by PA in much a similar way that practices of business were borrowed from the field of business administration and economics. Weber (1946) presents...
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...crime and behavior. Any type of social institutions consists of a group of people who share a desired result. Generally, there are five different types of social institutions. They are political, educational, religious, economic, and family. The average social institution is an organization of people who abide by the laws and follow the general rules and guidelines in a collective manner. These social groups could be a normal club with one thing or goal in common. Some social institutions that most people are familiar with are the Boys and Girl Clubs, the Cub Scouts, and the Girl Scouts. Further, family, school, church, government agencies are not the only social groups, organized crime organizations have adopted the philosophy of social institutions. Organized crime also had people with a vested interest in the business of killing rivals for a living, the common objective, is to profit by committing crimes. Social institutions are not just limited to producing productive individuals for societal means (Lyman & Potter, 2007). The structure of the social institution and organized crime are very similar. Both are run by the persons with the idea to form the organization. Each member of the organizations must know...
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