The Environmet of Organisations
|In submitting this assignment, I certify that all this material is my own work, |
|except where I have indicated otherwise with appropriate references. |
|Title: Select four of the Workfile sections. Review critically the extent to which the theory and concepts presented inform |
|your understanding of the organisation for which you work (or one you are familiar with). Your response should not exceed |
|2,000 words. Include full bibliographic details of all work you consult or reference. |
In this assignment the degree to which the theories presented within the sections of; the environment of organisations, the design of organisations, working in groups, and contrast and change will be critically reviewed in terms of assisting my understanding of Network Rail and the Fixed Telecoms Network (FTN) project[1]. There is some overlap between sections due to the interrelatedness of the subject matter and these are referenced accordingly.
The Environment of Organisations
The contingency theorist Mintzberg identified four environmental factors; stability, complexity, diversity and hostility that impact on organisations, and realistically each of these can be viewed as a continuum. When examining these in relationship to Network Rail, the organisation can be described as a mechanistic “professional bureaucracy” as it operates in a reasonably stable environment that it has the ability to influence. The market place is specialised (rail) and in line with Mintzberg’s third hypothesis[2] Network Rail does not organise itself in business units.
At face value, Mintzberg’s five hypotheses seem to only explore the influence of the environment on the organisation and not the reverse. When Network Rail took over from Railtrack in 2003, the environment of the rail industry was aggressive and un-cooperative. There
|except where I have indicated otherwise with appropriate references. |
|Title: Select four of the Workfile sections. Review critically the extent to which the theory and concepts presented inform |
|your understanding of the organisation for which you work (or one you are familiar with). Your response should not exceed |
|2,000 words. Include full bibliographic details of all work you consult or reference. |
In this assignment the degree to which the theories presented within the sections of; the environment of organisations, the design of organisations, working in groups, and contrast and change will be critically reviewed in terms of assisting my understanding of Network Rail and the Fixed Telecoms Network (FTN) project[1]. There is some overlap between sections due to the interrelatedness of the subject matter and these are referenced accordingly.
The Environment of Organisations
The contingency theorist Mintzberg identified four environmental factors; stability, complexity, diversity and hostility that impact on organisations, and realistically each of these can be viewed as a continuum. When examining these in relationship to Network Rail, the organisation can be described as a mechanistic “professional bureaucracy” as it operates in a reasonably stable environment that it has the ability to influence. The market place is specialised (rail) and in line with Mintzberg’s third hypothesis[2] Network Rail does not organise itself in business units.
At face value, Mintzberg’s five hypotheses seem to only explore the influence of the environment on the organisation and not the reverse. When Network Rail took over from Railtrack in 2003, the environment of the rail industry was aggressive and un-cooperative. There
Bibliography: Beardshaw, J. & Palfreman, D. (1990), The Organisation in its Environment (4th edition). London: Pitman Publishing. Buelins, M., Van Den Broeck, H., Vanderheyden, K., Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. (2006), Organisational Behaviour. London: McGraw-Hill Clark, P Easterby-Smith, M., Burgoyne, J, and Araujo, L. (editors) (1999), Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization; Developments in Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications. Galbraith, J R. (1977), Organization Design. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Handy, C Jones, G. (2007) Organizational Theory, Design, and Change (5th edition). Pearson Prentice Hall Kramer, D & Neale, M Mullins, LJ. (2005), Management and Organisational Behaviour (7th edition). London: Pearson Education. Pheysey, D. (1993), Organizational Cultures, Types and Transformations. London: Routledge. Rollinson, D. (2008), Organisational Behaviour and Analysis; An Integrated Approach (4th edition). London: Prentice Hall Financial Times. Manfred Kets De Vries (1999) High-performance Teams: Lessons from the Pygmies. Organizational Dynamics, Vol 27, No 3 (Winter) Webpages: