Theories Best Liked

PO 333

Spring II, 2011

Written Assignments for Chapter 12 – Due April 27, 2011

Name _______________________________

Chapter 12 – Organizational Change

Which theories do you like best? Why?

Systems theory views organizational structure as the "established pattern of relationships among the parts of the organization" (French, Kast, and Rosenzweig). Of particular importance are the patterns in relationships and duties. These include themes of 1) integration (the way activities are coordinated), 2) differentiation (the way tasks are divided), 3) the structure of the hierarchical relationships (authority systems), and 4) the formalized policies, procedures, and controls that guide the organization (administrative systems). it shows the big picture, focuses on our sense of self and basic capacity to focus on what is most important while ensuring that our view of reality remains clear and truthful. This discipline connects personal skills and especially skills if individual learning organizations

Which theories do you like least? Why?

Classical Organization Theory

Classical organization theory evolved during the first half of this century. It represents the merger of scientific management, bureaucratic theory, and administrative theory.

Frederick Taylor (1917) developed scientific management theory (often called "Taylorism") at the beginning of this century. His theory had four basic principles: 1) find the one "best way" to perform each task, 2) carefully match each worker to each task, 3) closely supervise workers, and use reward and punishment as motivators, and 4) the task of management is planning and control.

Initially, Taylor was very successful at improving production. His methods involved getting the best equipment and people, and then carefully scrutinizing each component of the production process. By analyzing each task individually, Taylor was able to find the right combinations of factors that yielded large increases in...