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27 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are the two terms of organisation? |
- Noun : Referring word - Verb : Action word |
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What is organisation in terms as noun? |
The term is used to describe an institution (social structure) which exists independently of its members and which both informs and constrains the actions of its members.
In this sense we speak of Tesco, the National Health Service or Cardiff University as an instituation... |
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What is the institutional perspective? |
The institutional perspective focuses on the unit of organisation and is interested in the features of these units as wholes... Such social structures exist independently of the humans belonging to them... The actions of the members of the organisation are directed or constrained by the larger social structure... Such social structures have a life over and above the life of their members... |
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What is organisation in terms of a verb? |
As a doing word... to organise or organising something. |
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What is the action perspective? |
In this perspective an organisation is continually produced or recreated through the continuing actions of its members - action continually reproduces organisation. This action perspective focuses on the process of organising... The interest is in how the humans coordinate their actions in the acgievement of joint goals... An organisation does not exist independently of its members and the actions they take... The organistion is produced and reproduced through such actions.
Cardiff university is continually reproduced by lecturers delivering lectures to students.. among a rnage of other actions. The NHS consists of a number of numerous haelthcare workers performing many healthcare actions on a daily basis... Such as diagnosing illnesses, transporting people to hospitals and entering patient records. |
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What is systemics? |
System thinking or systemics is an important way of thinking about many aspects of world... including organisations and their relationship with ICT. |
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What is a system? |
A system is a set of interacting and interdependent elements that exists for some purpose, has some stability and can usefully be vuewed as a whole. |
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What are the features of a system? |
- Identity : It should be possible to draw a boundary around what is inside the system and what is outside the system - Purpose : Systems are directed at the achievement of some implicit or explicit goals. - Emergence : Certain properties of a system emerge from the interaction of the things making up the system. - Interaction : Systems are not mere collection of things but involve the continuous interaction of things. - Holism : The whole is more than the sum of its parts. |
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What is the best way to see an organisation? |
An organisation is best seen as a system in which structure emerges from action. |
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How can organisation be said to emerge? |
Consider an organisation such as Cardiff University as a system... Within this system, people enact roles such as lecturer and student.. such roles are part of the social structure... In 'playing' these roles thier continuous action creates the structure of the university... or a prt of it, such as a business school... Their action reproduces the roles they enact... and through this the structure of organistion. |
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How do physists preceive the universe and organistion? |
Physicists see the whole universe as being characterised by lavk of order - entropy. Organisation is an island of negentropy - patterned order in a universe of entrophy. |
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Patterns of organisation |
Systems consist of inter-related patterns of organising coordinated action in the acievement of the collective goals. |
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Meals on Wheels : example |
Many elderly and disabled people are isolated in their own homes and cannot shop for foodstuffs cook their own meals... In many parts of the UK are services provided to these people in which an organisation prepares cooks and delivers meals on a daily basis them... This is something grand as a public sector organisation by local authorities or as a social enterprise there are even some private sector organisations offering such a service... This is something grand as a public sector organisation by local authorities or as a social enterprise there are even some private sector organisations offering such a service... Suppose a group of volunteers get together and want to set themselves up as a social enterprise offering such a service |
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What happens when Meals on Wheels becomes more successful? |
The quantity of foodstuffs required from the suppliers grows...More work has to be performed...More volunteers are needed to perform the work...The number if subscribers to the scheme treables... |
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What does this mean for Meals on wheels? |
The members must decude to organise themselves more appropriately... Start makjng records of things.. Such records communicate to volunteers what has happened, what is happening and what should happen amongst other things... This increased level of formal communication allows volunteers to better coordinate their activities... |
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What is a pattern? |
A pattern is anything which repeats across situations... What repeats within systems of organisation are actors taking repetitive actions across time and space... |
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What is the elements of a pattern of organisation? |
- Actions - Actors - Sequence
- LocationActors take repetitive action at differnet places at different times. Actors take repetitive action at differnet places at different times.
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What are the three different types of inter-related action? |
- Articulation - Comunnication - Coordination |
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What are actors? |
We use the term actors for anything that can act...
Action is not only taken or enacted by humans... but also by 'machines' and other artefacts (such as data structures)
Actors : - Humans - Machines - Data structures |
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What is action? |
Action takes place as sequences or cycles of events.. and these events occur at some time and are located somewhere.. |
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Actors in mote detail |
Within modern-day organisations work is rarely done by humans alone.. Work is accomplished either with IT systems or entirely by ICT systems... Most office work is performed with or through IT systems.. But some business actiin is performed independently by IT systems... as in the case of automated security trading... Artefacts such as data structures also act... |
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What is a data structure? |
A data structre is a physical symbol system... such as a student record. |
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How can data structures act? |
Having a student record serves to designate you ad a student of a particular university... Having a student record prescribes that you do certain things in terms of the organisation... such as taking modules, producing assessments etc. Not having a student record proscirbes you from doing these things... Prescription and proscription are both forms of action... |
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What are the types of action important to any type of pattern of organisation? |
- Articulation : The various ways in which substance is given form.. for the purpose of informing actors.
- Communication : The various ways in which actors inform themsleves and others... for the purpose of coordinating activities. - Coordination : The various ways in which informed actors achieve coordinated performance in the achievement of collective goals. |
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Ambulance example. |
- Articulation : People such as call-takers and dispatches make records of things such as incident locations and patient details. - Communication : Records and other froms of communication such as radio messages ensure that ambulances can get to incidents quickly.- Coordination : People such as paramedics and ambulance take coordination action to provide healthcare at the point of an incident. |
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What is sequencing action? |
Action always takes place at a certain time and in a certain place...
Events take place before and occur after other events. |
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Key points |
- Organisation emerges from action... - Organisation comprises systems or patterns or actions... - Any pattern of organisation consists of various actors taking action in some form temporal and spartial order... - Action may comprise articulation, communication or coordination... - Action takes place in sequences across time... - And in given locations - Ways of organising can be designed... often with IT |
