Organisation Theory - Assignment Example

Nothing could be farther from the truth, because organizations are diverse in the goals they set for themselves, the way they are structured, the activities they undertake and their strategies to pursue their goals (Daft & Marcic, 2013). Organizations include the Catholic Church as well as the Yakuza, the Chicago Bears and the International Paralympic Committee, the Salvation Army and Apple, Inc., Mensa International and the Miss Universe Organization. The wide spectrum of organizations appears to defy any attempt to define what unifies them, let alone shape a coherent and cohesive Organization Theory.

The issue to be addressed in this discussion deals on the advantages and disadvantages of a multi-perspective approach to understanding organizations. Adopting a widely diversified approach that seeks to include all organizations may defeat the purpose of creating a definitive framework due to overbreadth, to the point that nearly all organizations may be excluded from some aspect of the theory. . d and described according to its tangible aspects (organizational structure, asset size, principal operations, number of employees, place of operations), and intangible aspects (management style, type of leadership, organizational culture, strategic approach).

Increasingly, organizations are being viewed in terms of theoretical pluralisms because of the growing awareness of their increasing complexity. Astley & Van de Ven (1983) propose a metatheoretical taxonomy of the major schools of thought in organization and management theories is presented in the table in the Appendix. There are two dimensions according to which the divergent views were classified: the level of organizational analysis (from the micro to the macro), and the orientation of the analysis (from deterministic to voluntaristic).

The matrix created is comprised of four quadrants: System-Structural View (Q1), Strategic Choice View (Q2), Natural Selection View (Q3), and Collective-Action View (Q4). The System-Structural View (also known as Structural-Functionalist Perspective) addresses the micro-level (i.e., individual organizations) with a deterministic orientation. Determinism means that organizational behaviour is perceived to be shaped by a system of impersonal mechanisms that impose external constraints on the members of the organization.

The structure of the organization creates roles and positions that function as hierarchical instruments in achieving organizational goals and creating stability in the system (Stolley, 2005). Included in this category are the systems theory of organization, the theory of structural functionalism, and contingency theory. The behaviour elicited is constrained and adaptive, and management role is reactive. The Strategic Choice View differs from the System-Structural