Organizational Fundamantal

Chapter 3 introduced two characteristics of natural systems. On one hand, goal complexity focus more on goal’s actions than the goal itself as well as the survival of organizations; on the other hand, the informal structure is more central for the organizations because there is a formal structure builds upon it. The author also introduced some schools of thought under the social consensus model. First, the Human Relation School thrives in different subareas including small-group behavior, leadership and the individual difference; however, the theory suffers some critics as a refined form of exploitation. Second, by emphasizing organizational culture, Barnard considers organizations as centers to induce cooperation in his “Cooperative System”. For example, people are willing to contribute under the “condition of communion”. Third, in Selznick’s Institutional Approach, organizations are considered as adaptive organisms that are institutionalized from the characteristics and commitments of participants and whose formal structures are infused with values from informal structures. Last but not least, Parson’s theory analyzed all social systems from ecological, functional and social psychological levels.

For reasons an organization’s goal may change overtime, first of all, the real goal of an organization may be different from the stated goal since the operations and activities of participants, as well as the changes in the external environments. Second, more than a mean to an end, organization itself may try to adapt and survive and such maintenance goal may take priority before the organization’s pre-set goal.

The biggest difference between Theory X and Theory Y is the assumption of human factors such that people view work as neural not hateful, and rewards, especially intrinsic rewards, serve as better incentives than punishments or controls. I think these two theories still have their impact on current managements and HR depending on industry difference. For industries that need repetitive and labor-intensive work, Theory X tends to be more effective. For industries need creativity and individual efforts, Theory Y may be better.