Modern Organisations by Amitai Etzioni
MODERN ORGANISATIONS by AMITAI ETZIONI
Book Review - Bhushan Indravadan Jangla
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ORGANISATIONS DEFINED Organizations are social units deliberately constructed and reconstructed to seek specific goals. Corporations, armies, schools, hospitals, churches, and prisons are included; tribes, classes, ethnic groups, friendship groups and families are excluded. Organizations are characterized by: 1) Divisions of labor, power, and communication responsibilities, divisions, which are not random or traditionally patterned, but deliberately planned to enhance the realization of specific goals. 2) The presence of one or more power centers which control the concerted efforts of the organization and direct them toward its goals; these power centers also must review continuously the organization’s performance and re – pattern its structure, where necessary, to increase it efficiency. 3) Substitution of personnel i.e., unsatisfactory persons can be removed and others assigned their tasks. The organization can also recombine its personnel through transfer and promotion There are many synonyms for the term, organization. like bureaucracy, but it has two disadvantages. First, bureaucracy often carries a negative connotation for the layman. Second, bureaucracy implies that the unit is organized according to the principles specified by Weber, which is not the case with many organizations. The book follows the definition of organizations as social units that pursue specific goals, which they are structured to serve, under some social circumstances. Therefore, the book has three foci: organizational goals; organizational structure; and organizations and their social environment. THE NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL GOALS An organizational goal is the desired state of affairs, which the organization attempts to realize. The organization may or may no be able to bring about this desired image of the future. But if the goal is reached, it ceases to be a
Book Review - Bhushan Indravadan Jangla
© www.hrfolks.com All Rights Reserved
ORGANISATIONS DEFINED Organizations are social units deliberately constructed and reconstructed to seek specific goals. Corporations, armies, schools, hospitals, churches, and prisons are included; tribes, classes, ethnic groups, friendship groups and families are excluded. Organizations are characterized by: 1) Divisions of labor, power, and communication responsibilities, divisions, which are not random or traditionally patterned, but deliberately planned to enhance the realization of specific goals. 2) The presence of one or more power centers which control the concerted efforts of the organization and direct them toward its goals; these power centers also must review continuously the organization’s performance and re – pattern its structure, where necessary, to increase it efficiency. 3) Substitution of personnel i.e., unsatisfactory persons can be removed and others assigned their tasks. The organization can also recombine its personnel through transfer and promotion There are many synonyms for the term, organization. like bureaucracy, but it has two disadvantages. First, bureaucracy often carries a negative connotation for the layman. Second, bureaucracy implies that the unit is organized according to the principles specified by Weber, which is not the case with many organizations. The book follows the definition of organizations as social units that pursue specific goals, which they are structured to serve, under some social circumstances. Therefore, the book has three foci: organizational goals; organizational structure; and organizations and their social environment. THE NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL GOALS An organizational goal is the desired state of affairs, which the organization attempts to realize. The organization may or may no be able to bring about this desired image of the future. But if the goal is reached, it ceases to be a