Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism - Essay Example

Youth Work There are many factors to consider when asking the question "is it important for managers in youth work to have an understanding of theconcept of organisation culture" In order to answer this question credibly an understanding of management theories is required and their social policy context. In addition a critical appreciation of the potential contribution of management theory to the management and organizations of you work must be considered. In order to answer the above-asked question a manager in youth work must have the ability to relate theory to day-to-day management practice. Taking all of the criteria into consideration, I feel that the answer to the question is yes for the reasons presented in this paper. Anderson writes about this concept and other in "Imagined Communities". He takes the premise and considers it in the context of nationalism. Anderson contends, "Nationality, nation-ness, and nationalism are cultural artifacts whose creation toward the end of the 18th C was the spontaneous distillation of a complex ''crossing'' of discrete historical forces; but that, once created, they became ''modular,'' capable of being transplanted to a great variety of social terrains, to merge and be merged with a variety of political and ideological constellations. Theorists of nationalism have encountered three paradoxes: (1)The objective modernity of nations in the eye of the historian vs. their subjective antiquity in the eye of nationalists. (2) The formal universality of nationality as a socio-cultural concepts vs. the particularity of its concrete manifestations. (3) The political power of nationalism vs. its philosophical poverty. (Anderson URL http://ssr1.uchicago.edu/PRELIMS/Culture/cumisc1.html 2005) What Anderson says that applies to management and youth work is that there are clearly defined boundaries and common interests that have been derived from common circumstances. Through a managers understanding of this and implementation of this philosophy to their youth work an organisational culture can be formed and maintained. In order to understand an organisational culture beyond the premise of nationalism takes some understanding of society and the ways that people identify themselves within a given society. The consideration we are concerned with for this discussion is managements understanding of organization culture for youth work. Youth work is the process of creating an environment where young people can engage in informal educational activities. The concept of organizational culture is an important concept in youth work and a clear understanding of it by management will provide strength to the youth organizations implemented by management. The premise of organizational culture can only enhance any management position including youth work. Organizational culture can be thought of as the values, beliefs and customs of an organization. However many managers, especially youth managers, do not understand what the actual values and beliefs of their organization is. By gaining, an understanding of the factors that encompass organizational culture an organization can only benefit from a clear understanding of it. However, if the factors that make up organizational culture are not clearly defined or understood weakness within the organization can and most likely will result. Pollitt (1993) points out that organizational culture and its tenets are especially important in public services. There are several reasons for this and the main one is that public services encompass all of a society not just one sector of it. Although the specific interest of this discussion involves youth work that type of work ultimately effects and influences society. Polit explains, a single definition of organizational culture has proven to be very elusive. No one definition of organizational culture has emerged in the literature. One of the issues involving culture is that is defined in terms of its both causes and effect. Pollitt 1993 URL http://aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/critical/html2/8043everett.html) Taking into account Platt's thoughts and considering Anderson's premise on nationalism only strengthens the argument that organizational culture is a very important aspect of youth work. Values and beliefs of an organization must be clearly defined and understood by management. When taking youth work into consideration this is especially true because management's deigns will influence the youth. The youth will ultimately affect society so if there values and beliefs are not a well-defined part of an organization there will be a weakness in the culture of it. Culture organization it is a term or theory that is ambiguous but in reality, it has to have some ambiguity in order to meet he needs of a particular organization in a specific culture and society. According to According to Youker "socialization processes to align with the new values.". (p 8) The process and the values that go along with them are the significant factors to take into consideration when considering the concept of organizational culture in the context of any organization. It is especially important in youth work. In order for the outcome to be positive the process that is implemented must be well defined and understood. " Nationalism has undergone a process of modulation and adaptation, according to different eras, political regimes, economies, and social structures. As a result, the ''imagined community'' has spread out to ever conceivable contemporary society." (Anderson URL http://ssr1.uchicago.edu/PRELIMS/Culture/cumisc1.html 2005) Trice and Beyer have dedicated their efforts into contemplating the culture of work. The ability to establish the culture in work is especially important in youth work. In youth work it is important to re-map an organization as part of strategic management methods. What needs to understand by management is that an organization is always changing and must be evaluated constantly. An organizational culture has to be thought of as an entity that has needs that change and most be reevaluated. The values and beliefs of an organization need to be reevaluated in order to set goals. However, the organization must be understood as the entity it is order to meet these objectives. By understanding it for what it is allows for management to determine what the strengths and weaknesses are and how to change them. Purposes and outcomes are a significant factor in this type of management and towards the understanding and fulfillment of this concept. When defining culture as a manifest pattern of behavior the results will be seen in the outcomes of the implementation of the theory. (Peters 1993 p 72)Many people use the term culture to describe patterns of cross individual behavioral consistency (CIBC). For example, when people say that culture is "The way we do things around here," they are defining consistent way is in which people perform tasks, solve problems, resolve conflicts, treat customers, and treat employees. The process can be thought of as defining culture as a set of mechanisms creating cross individual behavioral consistency- In this case culture is defined as the informal values, norms, and beliefs that control how individuals and groups in an organization interact with each other and with people outside the organization. Both of these approaches are relevant to understanding culture and both of them will influence it. The function of organizational culture is also significant. These functions are behavioral control, the fact that it encourages stability and provides source of identity. (Anderson 1993 URL http://ssr1.uchicago.edu/PRELIMS/Culture/cumisc1.html) The functions of organizational culture very closely fit the criteria and objectives of management's aim when providing and implementing youth organization programs. The evidence is very strong that management for youth work would clearly benefit with a better understanding of the managerial theory. References Anderson, Benedict. (1991), [revised edition], Imagined Communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, Verso. Anderson, Benedict. (2005) "Imagined Communities" As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://ssr1.uchicago.edu/PRELIMS/Culture/cumisc1.html Geertz, C., (2000), Available Light: Anthropological reflections on philosophical topics, Princeton University Press. pp. 24, 26 Peters, J., and Waterman, R.H., (1982), In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's best-run companies, Harper and Row. p. 7 Pollitt, C. Management Techniques for the Public Sector." Pp. 203-238 in Governance in a Changing Environment, ed. B.G. Peters and D.J. Savoie. Quebec: Canadian Centre for Management Development. Trice, H.M., and Beyer, J.M., 'Studying organisational cultures through rites and rituals', in Academy of Management Review, 1984. Vol. 9 p. 105 Youker, Robert. "What is Culture in Organizations" 2005. As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2004/CultureBudapest.pdf#search='organization%20culture%20beliefs' Read More