Weeks 5 & 6 — The Systems Perspective

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks wrestling with machine metaphors for organizations, and now we’re turning to a different metaphor: systems. The biggest difference between the systems perspective and the approaches we’ve studied is that the systems perspective…

Week 7: Organizational Culture and Socialization

Chapter 5 introduces the cultural metaphor for studying organizations. It argues that competitive pressure, interpretive methodology, and social concerns led to the rise of this approach (pp. 125–131). Specifically, it introduces three…

Week 4 — Human relations and human resources approaches to management

This week we’re focusing on the last half of chapter 3 in which we were introduced to two more theories of management:

• human relations: “aimed at restoring whole human beings and…

Week 4: Humans Relations

Mary Parker Follett

Mary Parker Follett was ahead of her time when she began theorizing about organizations and how they work. Follett focused on group work and thought that groups of people working together was how an organization should be run. She…

Week 7: Cultural Approach

Assignment

Week 4 Assignment: Human Relations or Human Resources?

Follett, Mayo, and Barnard:

Follett, Mayo, and Barnard all had their way of examining the employee-manager relationship; this was the foundation of the human relations approach. Mary Parker Follett was a social worker who lived in Boston and ran…

Society As A Community

-Situated Individuals

As defined by the textbook, a situated individual is one who conducts everyday business of constructing and maintaining the social realities that he or she lives in. To be true, all individuals are situated in many different…

Week 4: Human Relations and Human Resources Approaches

The first thing that came to mind when reading about human relation theories was how unique America is in comparison to other parts of the world. If there is anything that America can boast about is its costumer service and human…

“Locavores, Sustainability, and Systems”

As discussed in the reading locavore is a term used to describe people who choose to eat locally, specifically within a 100-mile radius of the city. In just two short years locavore became a well-known word and was even named “Word of the Year” in 2007 by the Oxford University Press…

The History of Management

Mindfulness in an organization begins with dialogue. There are many parts to dialogue, but without it there is no way to obtain mindfulness. Mindfulness is based upon being both purposeful and strategic. One example of dialogue is equitable transaction where, for example, employees…