Universal Perspectives Of Organizational Design

Organization Design is a formal, guided process for integrating the people, information and technology of an organization. It is used to match the form of the organization as closely as possible to the purpose(s) the organization seeks to achieve.

Universal Perspectives

The Bureaucratic Model

Max Weber, a German sociologist, conceptualized the idea of bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is a form of organizational structure in which people can be held fully accountable for their actions because they are required to act in accordance with well-specified and agreed-upon rules and standard operating procedures. Basic Elements of the Bureaucratic Structure are:

• formal rules and behavior bounded by rules
• uniformity of operations continuity despite changes in personnel
• functional division of labor based on functional specialization
• rational allocation of tasks
• impersonal orientation
• membership constitutes a career
• promotion based on technical competence
• limited discretion of officers
• specific sphere of competence
• legally based tenure
• employment based on merit-no ascribed status
• qualifications tested
• proscribed authority-legally defined

The Behavioural Model

This model has evolved from the Human Relations School of management thought. In this model the performance of an organization is believed to depend on human beings, their behaviour, characteristics and their mutual relationships emerging from work patterns and organizational settings. The important factors which play significant roles are needs, motivations, attitudes, values, leadership, group behaviour, perceptions, communications, responsibility and authority relationship, etc. In other words, the behavioural models of organization design reflect the social and psychological implications of organizational life. The most popular behavioural models of organization design— the socio-technical systems theory and Likert’s System 4 Organization.

Contingency Approach

The contingency approach to organizational design tailors organizational structure to the sources of uncertainty facing an organization. The structure is designed to respond to various contingencies- things that might happen and therefore must be planned.

According to Contingency Theory, the structure of an organization depends on the circumstances at any given time. The key contingency variables addressed in the literature include:

• strategy
• ability to adapt to the environment
• technology and
• size

People become aware only at the time of death of what they have missed, because death comes like a fisherman, pulling you out of the ocean of life. As you are pulled out of life, suddenly you realize, “My God! I have been alive, and I never became aware of it. I could have danced, I could have loved, I could have sung — but now it is too late.” People become aware only at the time when they are dying, that they have been continuously surrounded by the eternal energy of life, but they never participated in it. Your daily life is your temple, and your religion. Act in awareness, act consciously, and naturally many things will start changing.

What Are The 10 Best Days Of Your Life?

If someone asked you to describe the 10 best days of your life, how would you answer?

Most people start off listing the days their children were born, the day they got married, and other other big milestone events.

But once you get past the top 4 or 5 things, the days that people cite as their “best” days are usually quite ordinary, days spent with family and friends, doing enjoyable, yet average things like picnics or swimming.

Think about your 10 best days, what are the best memories imprinted in your brain?

Most of the time, we don’t even realize that we’re experiencing one of our best days while we’re having it. It’s only when we look back that we realize how happy we were.

A few years ago my daughter and I were on a trip together when got the news of a dear friend’s passing. We got the news via email. We were out of the country, and there was nothing we could do at the moment. We couldn't even call the family.

My daughter and I spent our dinner that night discussing the fleeting nature of life. That’s when I came up with the “What were your 10 best days?” question.

My daughter cited some of her best days as the day she learned to ride a bike and a day we spent at the lake with my parents.

As I looked at my dear daughter across the table, I realized, today is one of my 10 best days.

I was a little embarrassed to say it out loud. But I thought of our friend and how many seemingly ordinary moments of his life did he later realize were special.

So, filling up with emotion, eye brimming over, I looked her straight in the eye said, “Today is one of my 10 best days.” To my surprise, she got teary eyed herself.

It was a rare instance for me; I actually recognized the beauty of a moment while I was still in it.

I once read a story about a soldier in a POW camp who kept himself sane by remembering a glorious spring day as a kid, when he and his siblings along with their parents, and the neighbor kids with their parents, spent a wonderful afternoon flying kites. The adults had been uncharacteristically lured away from their usual Saturday chores because the weather was fine, and the kids were having such a grand time.

The soldier assumed he was the only person who remembered the day so vividly. Yet years later he discovered that everyone else, young and old, remembered the day just as fondly as he did.

One woman, who was a child the day they flew the kites, described a scene years later when her own young daughter was begging her to go the park. The busy mother declined, saying she had too much work to do. But then her mother, who was sitting in the room listening, said wishfully, “It’s a beautiful day, it reminds of that day we flew the kites.”

The younger mother paused, as the emotions of the long ago kite-flying day returned. She put aside her work, grabbed her daughter’s hand and headed for the park.

Here’s the thing about those 10 best days, they're even more fun if you stay fully present while you’re experiencing them.

- Deepak Bhatt, 11:16 a.m.