An organization (or organisation — see spelling differences) is a social arrangement which pursues collective
goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment. The word itself is
derived from the Greek word ὄργανον (organon) meaning tool. The term is used in both daily and scientific English
in multiple ways.
In the social sciences, organizations are studied by researchers from several disciplines, the most common of which are
sociology, economics, political science, psychology, management, and organizational communication. The broad area is commonly referred to as organizational studies, organizational behavior
or organization analysis. Therefore, a number of different theories and perspectives exist, some of which are compatible, and
others that are competing.
- Organization – process-related: an entity is being (re-)organized (organization as task or action).
- Organization – functional: organization as a function of how entities like businesses or state authorities are used
(organization as a permanent structure).
- Organization – institutional: an entity is an organization (organization as an actual
purposeful structure within a social context)
Organization in sociology
In sociology "organization" is understood as planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human beings to construct or
compile a common tangible or intangible product. This action is usually framed by
formal membership and form (institutional rules). Sociology distinguishes the term organization into planned formal and unplanned
informal (i.e. spontaneously formed) organizations. Sociology analyses organizations in the first line from an institutional
perspective. In this sense, organization is a permanent arrangement of elements. These elements and their actions are determined
by rules so that a certain task can be fulfilled through a system of coordinated division of
labor.
An organization is defined by the elements that are part of it (who belongs to the organization and who does not?), its
communication (which elements communicate and how do they communicate?), its autonomy
(Max Weber termed autonomy in this context: Autokephalie)(which changes are executed
autonomously by the organization or its elements?) and its rules of action compared to outside events (what causes an
organization to act as a collective actor?).
By coordinated and planned cooperation of the elements, the organization is able to solve tasks that lie beyond the abilities
of the single elements. The price paid by the elements is the limitation of the degrees of freedom of the elements. Advantages of organizations are
enhancement (more of the same), addition (combination of different features), and extension. Disadvantages can be inertness
(through co-ordination) and loss of interaction.
Organizations in virtual worlds
In a virtual world (such as Second Life) "organization[s]" is understood as planned,
coordinated and purposeful action of human beings and computer AIs in order to construct and/or compile a common intangible
product or service to its
community. Just as "an organization in sociology" this action is usually framed by formal membership and form (institutional
rules). As in Second Life an organization is usually used for making money (i.e. Power Products inc. - or like in
World Of Warcraft: the clan Farmers Organization-) and
security, some are also wicked and evil organizations- usually called griefer/troller groups/organizations such as the Pirates of Tibia that roams Tibia. Many fail to realize that Wikipedia is a wiki, and thus subject to the review and editing
of others, and also that they will be aware of any slander put upon them in this medium. These would not be classified as
organizations in the "real world" because they are not truly "alive". Some organizations in Virtual Worlds have a very important
roles in Real Life activities.
Some of these "clans" exist between virtual worlds, sometimes migrating between them, as newer versions of software come out,
or games better suited to the system of clans. Some games, such as the aforementioned World
of Warcraft and Dungeon Siege have extensive clan systems, consisting of hundreds
of members. This gives rise to entire "mini societies", where you can buy and sell equipment, using real world or virtual money.
This is a good example of how societies can form.
Organization in management and organizational studies
-
Management is interested in organization mainly from an instrumental point of view. For a
company organization is a means to an end to achieve its goals.
Organization theories
Among the theories that are or have been most influential are:
Organizational structures
-
The study of organizations includes a focus on optimizing organizational
structure. According to management science, most human organizations fall roughly into four types:
Pyramids or hierarchies
A hierarchy exemplifies an arrangement with a leader
who leads leaders. This arrangement is often associated with bureaucracy. Hierarchies were
satirized in The Peter Principle
(1969), a book that introduced hierarchiology and the saying that "in a hierarchy every
employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
An extremely rigid, in terms of responsibilities, type of organization is exemplified by Führerprinzip.
Committees or juries
These consist of a group of peers who decide as a group, perhaps by voting. The difference between a jury and a committee is that the members of the committee are
usually assigned to perform or lead further actions after the group comes to a decision, whereas members of a jury come to a
decision. In common law countries legal juries render decisions of guilt, liability and
quantify damages; juries are also used in athletic contests, book awards and similar activities. Sometimes a selection committee
functions like a jury. In the Middle Ages juries in continental Europe were used to determine the law according to consensus
amongst local notables.
Committees are often the most reliable way to make decisions. Condorcet's jury
theorem proved that if the average member votes better than a roll of dice, then adding more members increases the number
of majorities that can come to a correct vote (however correctness is defined). The problem is that if the average member is
worse than a roll of dice, the committee's decisions grow worse, not better: Staffing is crucial.
Parliamentary procedure, such as Robert's Rules
of Order, helps prevent committees from engaging in lengthy discussions without reaching decisions.
Staff organization or cross-functional team
A staff helps an expert get all his work done. To this
end, a "chief of staff" decides whether an assignment is routine or not. If it's routine, he assigns it to a staff member, who is
a sort of junior expert. The chief of staff schedules the routine problems, and checks that they are completed.
If a problem is not routine, the chief of staff notices. He passes it to the expert, who solves the problem, and educates the
staff – converting the problem into a routine problem.
In a "cross functional team", like an executive committee, the boss has to be a non-expert, because so many kinds of
expertise are required.
Organization: Cyclical structure
A theory by put forth by renowned scholar Stephen John has asserted that throughout the cyclical nature of one’s life
organizational patterns are key to success. Through various social and political constraints within society one must realize that
organizational skills are paramount to success. Stephen John suggests that emphasis needs to be put on areas such as individual/
group processes, functionality, and overall structures of institutions in order to maintain a proper organization. Furthermore,
the individuals overall organizational skills are pre-determined by the processes undertaken.
Matrix organization
- See also: matrix management
This organizational type assigns each worker two bosses in two different hierarchies. One hierarchy is "functional" and
assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same
field. The other direction is "executive" and tries to get projects completed using the experts. Projects might be organized
by regions, customer types, or some other schema. matrix management
Ecologies
This organization has intense competition. Bad parts of the organization
starve. Good ones get more work. Everybody is paid for what they actually do, and runs a tiny business that has to show a
profit, or they are fired.
Companies who utilize this organization type reflect a rather one-sided view of what goes on in ecology. It is also the case that a natural ecosystem has a natural border -
ecoregions do not in general compete with one another in any way, but are very autonomous.
The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline talks about functioning as this type of organization in this external article
from The Guardian.
"Chaordic" organizations
The chaordic model of organizing human endeavors emerged in the 1990s, based on a blending of
chaos and order (hence "chaordic"), comes out of the work of Dee
Hock and the creation of the VISA financial network. Blending democracy,
complex system, consensus decision
making, co-operation and competition,
the chaordic approach attempts to encourage organizations to evolve from the increasingly nonviable hierarchical,
command-and-control models.
Similarly, emergent organizations, and the principle of self-organization. See also group entity for an anarchist perspective on human organizations.
Organizations that are legal entities: government, international organization, non-governmental
organization, armed forces, corporation,
partnership, charity, not-for-profit corporation, cooperative,
university.
Hybrid organizations
A hybrid organization is a body that operates in both the public sector and the private sector, simultaneously fulfilling
public duties and developing commercial market activities. As a result the hybrid organization becomes a mixture of both a part
of government and a private corporation.
See also
Related lists
References
- Richard Scott. Organizations. ISBN 0-13-266354-6
- Richard Scott. Organizations and Institutions
- Charles Handy.Understanding Organizations
- Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull. The Peter Principle Pan Books 1970 ISBN 0-330-02519-8
- Ronald Coase (1937). "The Nature of the Firm"
Economica, 4(16), pp. 386-405.
- Julie Morgenstern (1998). Organizing from the Inside Out. Owl Books ISBN 0-8050-5649-1
- Henry Mintzberg (l98l). "Organization Design: Fashion or Fit" Harvard Business Review (January February),
- Thomas Marshak (1987). "organization theory," The New
Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, pp. 757-60.
External links
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