Organization Theory and Public Management by Jonathan R. Tompkins - Assignment Example

Chapter fifteen of the book, “Organization Theory and Public Management” bears the title, “The Organizational Culture Perspective and Symbolic Management Theory”. From the name of the chapter itself, one can easily frame the idea that the chapter deals with the perspectives of organizational cultures as viewed by different schools of management studies. The chapter being comprehensive is huge in nature and to avoid the bafflement of the readers; the chapter is divided into several small topics.
Organizational culture forms an effective part of management. At the outset of the chapter itself, the readers are introduced with the cultural perspective of an organization, along with that a virtual framework that shall enable a layman to comprehend the organizational culture is briefed. Different kinds of organizational culture along with its level, the concept of cultural strength and what should be the effective mechanisms to embed cultural values along with assumptions regarding them are discussed at length.
Next, the difficulties regarding the conduction of the cultural research are focused and in discussing the topic, The Practitioner oriented literature, Theory Z by William Ouchi and the most effective Japanese management theory regarding the thought process put forth by Pascal and Athos is discussed thoroughly. The ways of learning about the organization along with the leadership styles like Visionary Leadership and Transformational Leadership is thoroughly delineated.

Subsequently, in the chapter comes a very effective portion of the symbolic management theory which relates to Public Management. And, the relevance of public management in the present context, its meaning and its prospect in the future are discussed thoroughly in the chapter. Models related to various organizational effectiveness and the myriad mechanisms that have been proved successful in coordinating and controlling work activities of the members are discussed with proper examples. These inclusions of examples and case studies along with the models enabled the readers to understand the models in an effective way.

Lastly, different strategies undertaken across the globe to motivate workforce have been discussed thoroughly which is duly helpful for the prospective Human Resource Managers to comprehend and control their workforce with proper sync with the organizational values and culture (Tompkins, 2005).

Conclusion
The book, “Organization Theory and Public Management” since its publication in 2004 have insightfully guided the students and managers very effectively. Chapter fifteen of the book also is very didactic and full of rich information that is definitely a value addition to the book. Read More