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Ashton Reidelberger Organizations as Rational Systems A.) How does the rational system perspective define organizations? B.) Summarize the theories of Taylor, Weber, and Simon. “ Organizations are collectivities oriented to the pursuit of relatively specific goals and exhibiting relatively highly formalized social structures” (page 29). The rational system is a group of individuals, bound together as an organization, designed to reach predetermined goals. The rational system models sees organizations as a mechanical model. A machine that has multiple parts that also works individually but also work together for the better good of the whole. All the individuals of the group can be replaced with a new one if it doesn’t meet the standards of …show more content…
The social conflict model has two types of conflict, the social consensus and the social conflict. Dalton took the concept of informal organization from just workers to include managers and is called managerial conflict. This is a power struggle of humans using conflict to control their environment and social activities within the organization in their favor. Dalton believes it is human to use conflict to your advantage. They’re several layers of conflicts that arise between coworkers, between departments, supervisor and worker, between staff members, between different groups within the larger organization and just good old personality conflicts. Rules are made to control conflicts and behavior, but who do they benefit. They are called organizational rules but individuals implement them and either favors the individual or his group within the group. Bendix did a study on 1956 about managerial ideologies. The managers or leaders use influence within the organization to get workers to follow them and work together for the company. They use this conflict of ideas to obtain loyalty, and employees who are loyal to their company. Sometimes conflict comes from outside the organization. An example of this theory outside influence is the National Football league and spousal and child abuse. A rash of abuse cases arising from the actions of the athletes, caused outside influences to take action against the National Football League. Women and other outside groups influenced the league to implement new rules to control or change the behavior of their employees, the
Conflict theory starts by emphasizing that conflict within society is the normal way of life and that the changing aspects can be understood by identifying the sources of conflict and power. Conflict theory argues that society is thick with conflict and that society does not work within equality; inequalities are expected to exist such as the haves having more power than have-nots. The unequal scattering of resources creates a social arrangement or class structure, which designates social structure and influences the functioning of society. According to Steven Tepper, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University, “Cultural conflict and moral regulation can serve to demarcate acceptable and unacceptable behavior, high- and low-status lifestyles, in- and outgroup membership, and reputable and disreputable values and beliefs” (Tepper 278).
In sociology we have learned about the three major sociological perspectives which are; symbolic interactionism, functionalism, or conflict theory. Conflict theory is my favorite topic that I learned about this year. Conflict theory was founded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. The main elements in social conflict are that society is created in ways to benefit the higher class, and factors such as race, sex, class, and age are likely to experience social inequality. To a social conflict theorist, it is all about dominant group vs. minority group relations. Karl Marx is considered the 'father ' of social conflict theory. The movie “The Hunger Games” shows many examples of social conflict throughout the whole movie.
By definition, conflict theory basically sees the society as a pitch in which inequality thrives in order to generate conflict and change. For instance, this theory emphasizes on the purpose of coercion in generating a social order that’s often ch...
Firstly, conflict theory or perspective focuses on the negative, controversy, and the ever-changing nature of society, and it is considered to be macro. Conflict theorists are pro-change, they encourage change even in the means of social revolution. The wealthy and the powerful people impose social order on the lower class level people. A sociological hierachy is put into place, where it clearly illustrates that, and also it expeandes Marx’s idea that the main conflict in society was economical. This theory forms a type of competition because in todays world not only does the conflict theory targets economics, but it also targets many important issues such as race, gender, religion, and politics. The conflict theory deals with the incompatible aspect in human society. Conflict theory has many different modes. Warfare and revolution is one of the conflict theory modes. An example of warfare is that going on currently in Burma, where there is military versus population fighting for control over the country’s government. Another mode of conflict is strikes. Now days this is a typical response back to unfair acts.
“Management is a process of planning, organisation, command, coordination, and control” (Morgan 2006, p.18). Rational organisation design is a bureaucratic method of management which emphasizes efficiency to achieve the end goal and the management of multiple companies have taken upon this system. Figures such as Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford have both shown and laid a path way for Rational Organisation which has become known as Taylorism and Fordism. The design has received criticism and both Taylor and Ford have been portrayed as villains with Taylor being called “enemy of the working man” (Morgan 2006, p.23) as the system dehumanised workers by taking all of the thought and skill from them and giving it to the managers this is because the tasks given were simple and repetitive. As staff needed little training they became an easily replaceable asset and thus more machine than human.
According to Ivancevich, Konospaske and Matteson, dysfunctional conflict is a confrontation or interaction between groups that harms the organization or hinders the achievement of organizational goals. The authors also state that if conflict levels become too high, the resulting chaos can threaten the organization’s survival.
A society of organizations is one in which organizations enter our lives as influential forces in a great many ways — in how we work, what we eat, how we get educated and cured of our illnesses, how we get entertained, and how our ideas are shaped’ (Henry Mintzberg 1989)
Conflict as defined by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is a competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interest, or persons), Mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands. Simply put conflict is the disagreement and disharmony that occurs in groups when differences are expressed regarding ideas, methods, and/ or members (Engleberg, Wynn, and Schuttler, 2003). Conflict among teams or groups develops in many ways. In developing an effective team, members will generally experience the five stages of evolution: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. The storming and norming stages deal with the process of conflict (storming) and resolution (norming). During the storming stage, exact conflict has not yet been identified and therefore chaos, disorganization, and disputes are apparent. The Norming stage is where conflict is identified and dealt with and resolutio...
Conflict theory is a theory derived from the works of Karl Marx. It enhances the role of cruelty and power in producing social order. It is the control theory that believes inequality exists because those in control of an unequal share of society’s resources actively defend their advantages. This is social control. Determining that one social class or group is more privileged then another. Control theory generally consists of four points, conflict built into society, one group becomes dominant, agreement is false, and conflict in society is desirable. Control theory suggests that each class is unequal. Lower social classes are considered to have less skill. The theory has the belief that people with high skill level will receive a higher return and people with lower skill level will get less.
In conclusion, this paper applied the rational systems theory to Bridge Over the River Kwai. An overview of the rational systems theory was provided. A brief description of the movie was provided. And, the rational systems theory was applied to Bridge Over the River Kwai to examine how organizations can be managed and the potentially detrimental results of
Conflict theory are perspective in sociology psychology that accentuate the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that analysis the broad socio-political system, or that weaken from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism. With conflict theory, you will see tensions, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society, which these conflicts become the purpose of social change. Conflict theory usually arise due to competition and limited resource that is feed by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. This is seen a lot on macro level. As a social worker, you will see and use conflict theory throughout your professional.
Differences within the team are the major reason for conflict. This stems from differences in opinion, attitude, beliefs, as well as cultural back grounds and social factors. The Conflict can be positive which is functional and supports or benefits the organization or a person’s main objectives (Reaching Out, 1997). Conflict is viewed as positive when the conflict results in increased involvement form the group, increased cohesion, and positive innovation and creativity. Conflict tends to be positive as well when it leads to better decisions, and solutions to long-term problems.
Hatch, M. J., & Cunliffe, A. L. (2006). Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.
...ch a decision. One of these models is the Rational Model. The benefit of utilizing the Rational Model to reach a decision is that it is easier to justify and defend a decision, due to the complexity and the thoroughness of the processes involved. The Rational Model is useful for developing a strong business case for why a specific course of action should be considered anytime a major business, or even personal decision must be made.
According to McShane and Von Glinow, conflict is “a process in which one party perceives that his or her interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party” (328). The Conflict Process Model begins with the different sources of conflict; these sources lead one or more parties to perceive that a conflict exists. These perceptions interact with emotions and manifest themselves in the behavior towards other parties. The arrows in the figure illustrate the series of conflict episodes that cycle into conflict escalation (McShane and Von Glinow 331-332).