Organizational Theory Midterm
Organizational environment is the number of factors that create an impact. They can be either threats or opportunities. Organizational structure basically is the way an organization positions people and their jobs. Organizational structure and design majorly depends on the environment for it to operate nicely (O’leary, Fiorino, Durant & Weiland, 1998, p. 64). The conditions constituting the environment are like economic, legal-political, natural environment, social cultural and technological factors.
These environmental factors can either be dynamic or stable. When the environment is stable, it is when the customers’ wishes are well taken care of and probably they will stay consistent for quite a long time. There are various organizations that face reasonably stable environments and they include the manufacturers of staple items such as cleaning supplies, detergents and paper products.
When the environment is dynamic and volatile, the customers’ needs change continuously. This is the exact opposite of the constant environment. This state is repeatedly thought of as unstable. Changes in technology in the company are highly appreciated. Technology is constantly being modernized and enhanced. When these conditions change the needs of the customers also change leading to changers in the organizational structure.
In a broad-spectrum, organizations that work in stable environmental conditions are advantageous. This is because the structure provides a level of effectiveness that improves the long term organization’s performance that enjoys rather stable working environments. On the other hand, organizations operating in dynamic and normally changing environments are likely to realize that organic structure has the most benefits; this is because the structure allows the organization to react to the change of the environment more.
Organizational morals or ethics is the willingness and ability to echo on values in the course of the decision making process in the organization. The stakeholders’ goals are the dreams that the stakeholders have in the organization. The morals of the organization are connected to the stakeholders’ goals in that they determine and establish the values and the decisions that affect stakeholders. The morals also establish how managers use the instructions everyday in their companies.
Business leaders or managers make every effort to maintain fairness and justice in the organization (Werhane & Morland, 2011, p. 95). These morals and ethics are important in the organization since they help make good business sense for stakeholders and managers. They also enhance productivity. This is where the stakeholders are considered as employees of the corporation and they are the ones to be affected by the practices of the management. When the management regards ethics towards the stakeholders, employees are the ones to be affected positively. For instance, if a corporation decides to give its employees health and welfare attention; such attention and similar programs might be a source of improved productivity for an organization.
The second way that the management ethics can be practiced is by affecting positively the ‘outside’ stakeholders who are the suppliers and the customers. A positive image can be a very good way of attracting customers (Provis, 2004, p. 77). For instance baby products manufacturer guards its public image carefully while putting the heath of the customer and his well-being before the corporate profits.
The third way that the management ethics can be practiced is by ensuring that the health of the corporate is in reducing regulation from the administration agencies. Where the companies are believed to be operating unethically, pressure is more likely to be put on the government officials and legislators to control those businesses. For instance, a case on the hearings of 1990, on the rise in home heating oil and gasoline because of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, this was due to the perception of the public that the oil companies were behaving unethically.
Organic organizations are usually found in the dynamic or volatile environments (O’leary, Fiorino, Durant & Weiland, 1998, p. 67).This shows that organizations need to encourage creativity and interpersonal communications for solving problems. This can be practiced in the development of software industries where changes are being made each and every day so as to better the previous products.
On the other hand, Mechanistic structures are found in the static environments. This is where innovation is not much and the way the products are made does not change or there are only few changes. These structures are usually made to enhance effectiveness and capitalize on specialization. The reason as to why larger organizations are usually mechanistic is that the type of structure that is formed is the same one that gives the organization the ability to work effectively.
REFERENCES
O’leary, R., Fiorino, D., Durant, R. & Weiland,P. (1998). Managing for the Environment:
Understanding the Legal, Organizational, and Policy Challenges. Kentucky: Jossey-
Bass.
Provis, C. (2004). Ethics and Organizational Politics. New York: Edward-Elgar
Werhane, P. & Morland, M. (2011). Leadership, Gender, and Organization. Boston: Springer.
