dougherty ch. 8

characteristics of systems

-9 characteristics: 1. importation of energy 2. the throughput 3. the output 4. systems are cycles of events 5. negative entropy 6. information input, negative feedback, and the coding process 7. the steady state and dynamic homeostasis 8. differentiation 9. equifinality

classical organizational theories

-with the rise of capitalism in the late 19th century, organizations came to be viewed as a class of collectives -the classical model of organizations began during the beginning of the 20th century and was epitomized by max weber's model of bureaucracy (machine theory) -machine theory: a generic term that implies that each organization is built according to the blueprint derived from its purpose, just as each machine is built according to a set of specifications.

(O'Neill and Trickett) 6 implications for consultants taking on a systems view of organizations

1. consultation is an activity designed to intervene in the social context 2. an important source of knowledge includes understanding the social context where consultation is occurring 3. cultural and institutional diversity is a positively valued fact of life for the consultant 4. consultation interventions should be matched to the organization within which consultation occurs 5. priority should be given to predicting the side effects of consultation 6. interventions should be designed in such a way that the organization's resources are managed and preserved

3 classical views of planned change

1. the empirical-rational approach 2. the normative-reeducative approach 3. power-coercive approach

real organizational change conditions

1. there must be a sufficiently high level of dissatisfaction with the status quo to mobilize energy toward some change 2. leaders must have some vision of the desired result of change 3. leaders must envision and communicate some practical first steps toward this desired result if energy to begin change is to be mobilized

assessment in organizations

Issues in assessment in organizations, issues in assessment, social justice and time constraints. -focusing on continuous assessment and the resulting adjustments to the internal and external environments

organization

a complex social system that interacts with its environment and is subject to influences from without and within. -organizational factors and pragmatic issues about which consultants may want to be knowledgeable include: recent changes in organizations and our society, the influence of organizational theory on the consultation process, the importance on an ecological perspective, the nature of organizational change, the impact of organizational culture, multicultural competence in organizations, issues in assessment, social justice and time constraints.

machine theory

a generic term that implies that each organization is built according to the blueprint derived from its purpose, just as each machine is built according to a set of specifications.

subsystem

a smaller system contained in the major system. The subsystems of an organization are integrated by means of the norms, roles, and values present within the system. Role behavior is sanctioned by norms that are justified by values. -five subsystems within organizations are built around the organization's norms, roles, and values: -the technological or production subsystem, the support subsystem, the maintenance subsystem,the adaptive subsystem, the managerial subsystem

empirical-rational

assumes that people are rational by nature and will follow their rational self-interests once these are made known. -changes will be adopted only if they can be rationally justified and gains are evident -changes in cognition produces changes in behavior -based on scientific research and the process of educating people for change

organizational culture

culture: a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal regulation, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems -manifestations include: climate, group norms, roles, systems, politics, and values -uniqueness in their philosophy, a focus by management on maintaing the philosophy, deliberate attempts to integrate the philosophy throughout the organization, and involvement by all staff in communicating and reinforcing an organization-wide view of events and decisions -according to (schein), culture manifests itself in terms of the interaction of: 1. artifacts 2. values 3. basic underlying assumptions

normative-reeducative

does not deny the role of rationality in change but points out that change is supported by sociocultural norms based on attitudes and values -this approach views people as social by nature; their shifts in emotion about something will bring about change. This position holds that change is not only intellectual; it also involves feelings and attitudes

throughput

energy is transformed as it goes through the organization. in a human service organization, throughput can be service to clients, training of existing personnel, addition of new staff, and so forth

negative entropy

entropy is the degradation process of all organisms toward death or disorganization. organizations can arrest this entropy by importing more energy than they expend. this process of energy storage is called negative entropy

power-coercive

focuses on the ingredients of power and the ways it is used in bringing about change. This approach relies on the use of political, economic, and moral sanctions in the exercise of power; it assumes that externally based on sanctions are necessary for change to occur. -the involvement of internal stakeholders within from all levels of the organization as well as that of external stakeholders is essential in determining the nature and course of change in an organization -data gathering functions are critical

the multiculturally-copetent organization

hogan) notes, "cultural awareness, coupled with the skills needed to interact successfully with people of diverse cultural backgrounds living and working in the same place, is called diversity competence -culturally competent organizations have congruent structures, policies, programs, protocols, and processes that enable the entire system to work with culturally diverse people. -provide serves cross-culturally -deal with issues such as: questions of access, equal opportunity, cultural competence, bias, conflict management, climate and cultural changes, and over multicultural organizational development

training consultees

managers often think, "if employees are not motivated, then come up with a training application that will get them motivated and then implement it. -training prospective consultees in the problem-solving process prior to consultation -training consultees directly in selected interventions is another effective method of dealing with time constraints

time constraints

part of the time constraint issues involves the mindset by many consultees that consultants are professionals to whom a problem is given to be fixed -consultees see themselves functioning mainly as referral sources for the consultant -view the consultant as the one who can come up with a traditional training intervention that should fix the problem -organization members are being asked to do more with less. This makes time an even more precious commodity

social justice

progressively influencing the work of consultants and collaborators -consultation social justice advocacy through consultant activities such as functional behavior analysis, systems-level organization consultation, collaboration, and impacting policy -remove barriers such as equal opportunity for all organizational members, removing barriers to learning -eliminating counterproductive environmental forces and expanding productive ones. -take a system-level view and consider the organization as the client system, rather than an individual within that organization

open systems theory

provides a broadly based perspective on organizations developed from attempts to understand biological events -integral to consultation-related activities of professional in the helping professions -related to the ecological theory and as a result can be useful in promoting the preventive aspects of consultation, including empowerment of individuals and groups, implementation of prevention programs, and support for social justice and cultural-competence issues -focusing on continuous assessment and the resulting adjustments to the internal and external environments -organizations: dynamic entities continually interacting with their environment, changing and adapting to develop congruence between people, process, structure, and external environment -interrelated and interdependent -interaction among subsystems of the organization and the organization and its environment operate under reciprocal influence -closed and open systems closed systems: are not affected by their environments: they have a finite amount of energy, and when that energy is used up, the system runs down -open systems: have permeable boundaries and can obtain energy from and send energy back to the environment. Open systems have an input-throughput-output mechanism. -the systems view of organization identifies four components: a framework (pattern of activities), goals, methods and operations, and people -system: an orderly combination of parts that interact to produce a desired outcome or product -one of the most popular models of organizational theory

dynamic homeostasis

refers to the basic preservation of the system's character. In preserving its character, the organization must import more energy than it exports. In adapting to its environment, an organization moves toward assimilating the external resources considered necessary for survival. Hence, organizations attempt to grow both quantitatively and qualitatively over time

bureaucratic model

the ideal of organizational effectiveness. -its principles which are "means to ends" in nature, emphasize the structure of the organization over the human element. -rules and regulations provide order and continuity -jobs are analyzed in terms of what is required to do them effectively, and the most highly qualified people are placed in them. -communication patterns are vertical, with each unit under the direct control of a higher unit. -emphasis is placed on the written record, with all decisions, acts, and regulations written down -according to this theory, organizations were meant to be efficient, effective, and equitable. -the potentially counterproductive elements in this model can lead to red tape, rigidity, apathy, and resistance to change -weber designed this theory

steady state

the importation of energy can maintain constancy in the flow of energy such that an organization is characterized by a steady state

equifinality

the principle of equifinality proposes that organizations can reach the same end by different means: this is the "there's more than one way to skin a cat' principle. (for example, a single human service organization might use any of several methods to improve its public relations image).

organizational theory

the study of the structures and processes of organizations and the behavior of groups and individuals within them. -most theories must simplify organizations

ecological perspective

this view emphasizes that behavior is a function of the interaction of the characteristics of the environment and the characteristics of the individual. -human behavior is produced by the impact of several interacting systems, making the context of behavior very important