Systems & Organizations

Organizations:

• • complex systems comprised of multiple subsystems

  • provide services to meet societal needs

  • involve a hierarchy of authority & division of labor

  • comprised of goals, mission & a vision

External Influences

• consistently changing --> forces orgs to recognize, assess & adapt

  • Societal values

  • Economy

  • Technology

  • Client demographics (any stakeholder within the company)

  • Legislation & reimbursement

How do organizations adapt?

• Organizations must adapt constantly to accommodate the everchanging influence of external factors

• Mission Clarification

  • shared understanding of the mission, function & products

• Goal Setting

  • consensus on what the goals are & its alignment with the mission

• Means to Goal Obtainment

  • consensus on methods to reach those goals

• Measurement

  • establishing clear criteria to understand how well the organization is meeting those goals

• Correction

  • consensus on strategies to take if goals are not being met

Internal Factors of an Organization

• It is important for an organization to develop shared values that support the group as a whole, creating organizational culture

• congruence between individual values and organizational values is important

  • congruence = improved organizational performance

  • incongruence = lower organizational performance

Types of Organizational Culture

• Innovative 

  • flexible, adaptable, take risks with new ideas

• Aggressive 

  • competitive, focus on winning

• Outcome-oriented

  • action plan, results, achievement

• Stable

  • predictable, rule-oriented, bureaucratic

• People-oriented

  • supportive, fair, respects individual rights

• Team-oriented

  • collaborative, cooperative, group identity

• Detail-oriented

  • precision, attention to detail, data driven

Establishing Organizational Culture

• Behavioral regularities

  • similar language, customs, traditions, rituals (e.g. expectations to attend meetings, celebrate birthdays, go to happy hour, etc.)

• Group norms

  • standards & values (e.g. I cover you and you cover me, etc.)

• Publicly announced values

• Formal philosophy

  • policies & principles that guide actions (things that you do to take care of each other & clients)

• Unspoken (and spoken) rules

  • the ways things are done around here

• Organizational climate

  • feeling conveyed in the way people interact

• Skills & competencies

• Habits, thoughts, & perceptions

• Shared meaning

• Material artifacts

  • ideas, feelings, & images that characterize the physical workspace

How do we do that?

• Attraction 

  • employee sees a good fit between themselves & the organization

• Selection

  • employee is hired for good fit

• Attrition

  • employees leave when not a good fit

• Onboarding

  • this is who we are, and we'll train you to be like us - includes employee handbook with mission, vision, values, & expectations

  • usually done in groups to build relationships

• Leadership

  • be a role model & emulate acceptable behavior, ethics, norms, & values

  • practice organizational policies & don't deviate

• Rewards & compensation

  • rewarded for various things like results, performance, behaviors, seniority

  • people will watch for what is being rewarded & ignored by managers

• For-profit

  • makes $$ for investors

• Non-profit

  • makes $$ that is reinvested into the organization

• Sole proprietorships

  • the person & the business are the same - ownership of assets & responsibility for debt

  • must keep business & personal finances separate 

  • easy but risky

• Partnerships

  • two or more people start a business together & share risks/benefit

• Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs)

  • business is separate from its owner(s)

  • regulated by state/federal/local agencies

  • some liability protection

• Associations (AOTA, etc)