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Population Ecology and Environment

Population Ecology and Environment. Organizations as Organisms. The machine perspective is limited There are social needs in the workplace Self actualization Ego Social Security Physiology Salaries and wages. Importance of the Environment. Open system

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Population Ecology and Environment

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  1. Population Ecology and Environment

  2. Organizations as Organisms • The machine perspective is limited • There are social needs in the workplace • Self actualization • Ego • Social • Security • Physiology • Salaries and wages

  3. Importance of the Environment • Open system • Continuous exchange with the environment • Homeostasis • Maintaining a steady state • Needs feedback • Entropy • Closed systems deteriorate • Negative Entropy • Import energy to offset entropy • Requisite variety • Have to be diverse to deal with changing environment

  4. Environment cont. • Equifinality • Many different ways to deal with the environment and come to the same end • System Evolution • Selection and retention allows an organism to move to a more complex form

  5. Implications of the Open System • Emphasizes the importance of the environment in which the organization exists • Organizations are viewed as interrelated subsystems • The organization does not exist or function in isolation • Strategy • Management • Technology • Culture • Structure • Need to establish alignments between systems

  6. Contingency Theory • Need to balance internal and external needs • No one best way to organize • Must achieve a “good fit” • Different approaches may be required within the same organization depending on tasks • Different types of organizations are required by different environments

  7. Mechanic vs. Organic Approach • Mechanic works well in very stable business environments • Little change (need efficiency) • Few new entrants • Stable market forces • Organic works better in Dynamic Environments • Rapid change • Opportunity for new entrants • Ever changing market forces

  8. Different Types • Organization Varieties • Machine Bureaucracy • Highly centralized • Divisionalized Form • Highly centralized • Professional Bureaucracy • Allows staff more autonomy • Professional training • Flatter structure • Simple Structure • Entrepreneur (flat and flexible) • Adhocracy • Often temporary • Often teams

  9. Contingency Theory • How does the organization achieve the good fit to the environment? • You must identify the environment • Simple / complex • Turbulent / stable • How does it adapt to change? • What strategy is being used and why? • Is the organization adapting and innovating? • Is the organization combative or collaborative?

  10. Contingency cont. • How does it balance internal relationships? • How does the organization balance human capital and technology? • What type of internal culture is established? • What does this mean in operational terms? • How is the organization structured? • Does it meet the challenges of the environment?

  11. Population Ecology • Basically Darwin’s Theory of Evolution • The strong and adaptive survive • The weak and non-adaptive perish • Internal pressures keep some organizations from adapting • New competition and environment may cause organizations to go • The arch typical “Buggy Whip” • Can an organization find their niche?

  12. Criticisms of Population Ecology • Seen as too deterministic • Does a manager’s actions matter? • Can’t a company transform itself? • GE • IBM • Places too much emphasis on scarcity and competition • Organizations can collaborate as well as compete • Many resources are abundant • Knowledge companies resources may be self generating

  13. Strengths and Limitations of Organismic Metaphor • Strengths • Organizations must pay close attention to their external environment • Survival and evolution become central concerns • Need to achieve congruence with the environment • Organizations cannot survive as independent entities

  14. Organismic Metaphor Limitations • Organizations are not Organisms • Not as concrete as implied • Made by the humans who populate them • The metaphor overstates the degree of “functional unity” and internal cohesion • Different elements in organizations operate differently • Looks for pulling together • Emphasis on unity vs. conflict may be a weakness • Can become an ideology • Can it disregard Human Choice over what their world can be?

  15. Source • Images of Organization The Executive Edition, Gareth Morgan

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