My current work place is in the church. I work in the church as a musician, and the experience I go through at my work place is related to Venkatesh’s experience in one way or the other. Serving in this organization is a calling that is not applicable to all, this is because; it requires one’s total commitment and full engagement, that is why not all people are priests. Team work is essential in such an environment; since various tasks need to be accomplished, from landscaping to indoor activities such as cleaning. Employee engagement is a major element in my organization. For instance, the other people who work with me in the church are usually loyal and patriotic. They are dedicated to supporting Christians in the profession of their faith (Mandiberg, 42).
Everyone in this organization has an inner motivation that makes them perform their duties as expected of them. Apart from this, there is a very tight relationship among members of this organization, since; all of us are just but Christians and non is superior in faith than the other .This relationship may be useful in that incase a person gets any problem and seeks help, many people will contribute towards helping out.
Team work is the second element that prevails in my work environment in that; fellow colleagues are ready, and willing to work together in harmony. For instance, all of us put our efforts together, so that we ensure that various mass proceedings are carried out in co-ordination of various groups such as, the choir, ushers and the dancers. The element of teamwork is also evident among the priests themselves. Recognition is the third significant element in my work environment.
This may be two folded in that when a priest is preaching he may recognize various efforts made by his or her followers. People may also recognize the performance of various artists, including me, if the choir presents its songs well. (Topchik, 14).
Apart from recognition, appreciation, which is closely related to recognition, is another prevailing element in the church. This may take the form of tithes and also offerings. When a preacher finishes his teachings, the congregation always find it necessary, to entice the priest with various gifts to include offerings that will be used for the priest’s upkeep. Such an appreciation is part of a priest’s motivation (Mandiberg, 42). Social processes in any organization or formation, is as a result of social interactions among individuals. These interactions may be in various forms such as; Opposition, that may prevail from outside our organization in that other denominations think that they are more superior, and that they are righteous. This form of social interaction may result to individual and organizational conflicts among various denominations. On the other hand, this may be useful in our organization, since we may act on their false information to justify what we do through the bible.
Cooperation is another form of social interaction that may facilitate the achievement of social processes in my organization. Such interaction may be informal whereby; it can be spontaneous with mutual benefits, in that a priest may decide to delegate his or her duties to another priest and vice versa (Jenkins, and Purushotma, 51). Formal cooperation also exists in that, it is contractual in nature and gives reciprocal rights, as well as, obligations of employees. Cooperation is essential in church because, we may not be able to run our church activities as expected as their might be gaps in various areas that may be left unattended. The hierarchical structure in the church is such that, we have the Pope; who is the head, then followed by bishops who are stationed in various regions. Under the bishops are the priests who are in charge of various churches. These priests always work in close coordination with the deacons; who are the second in command after them. Even though churches in various regions tend to be interdependent, they take different social structural forms.
Simple structural form has been adopted in churches by bishops in various regions. The authority of setting up a new church in the regions lies with the bishop who is in charge of a region, as he is also the controller of church donations. This eases the work of the priest since they will only engage themselves in what they can do best; which is preaching to the congregation and other administrative duties expected of them. In this case, most priests can perform multiple tasks in a flexible manner to include counseling, since they possess various skills as well as knowledge (Mandiberg, 39). A functional structure also prevails in that; people are grouped on the basis of their expertise. For instance in my organization, the choir is made up of selective individuals who are classified on the basis of their voices. The division under this may translate to bass, tenor and soprano singers. This structure is very important in my organization, since it helps in highlighting areas that are lowly human resourced.
In comparison to Venkatesh’s observation, there are some similarities between the gangs and the church in terms of the hierarchical structure such that, in both, there is a person in charge of others. This is evident whereby Mr. Venkatesh was allowed to lead the black kings for a day. At this point, he had similar roles to that of a bishop in a region.
The black kings are also passionate in what they do, after Venkatesh realizing that they are poorly remunerated; with their leader getting a minimum annual pay of only $ 30,000.This is a similar case to the priests, since most of them get very minimal offerings that may not be able to meet all their needs (Jenkins, and Purushotma, 54). Both the Black king organization and the church are social service organizations in that, they aim at responding to the people’s needs. For instance, the Black kings charge protection money to those residents engaging in economic activities, while the church aims at fulfilling people’s spiritual needs.
When it comes to the work environment and the social environment, both the church and the black kings embraces teamwork and cooperation, since individuals in this organization aim at achieving specific goals and objectives. A functional structure also exist in both organizations in that, of the 250 gangs, six of them dealt with drugs while others were responsible for other activities (Sherif, 23). This is similar to the church in that there are the dancers, singers, ushers and also other people who may possess different skills that contribute to the success of mass proceeds. Lastly, a simple structure also existed between the church and the black kings in that, those heading these organizations are the ones who possess the powers to authorize any undertakings as they are one who gives orders.
Works Cited
Topchik, Gary S. Managing Workplace Negativity. New York: AMACOM, 2000. Internet resource.
Sherif, Muzafer. Social Interaction: Process and Products. , 1967. Print.
Jenkins, Henry, and Ravi Purushotma. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2009. Internet resource.
Mandiberg, Michael. The Social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press, 2012. Print
