PARADIGM OF ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY
Essay Topic: – Exploring the Paradigm Wars in Organizational Theory
Introduction
The organizations across the world are running on the set interrelated concepts that where individuals and groups are working together and performing activities with aim to accomplish the organisational goal and the set concepts are called as organisational theory. Companies are following the set pattern of organizational theories from very long and with the change in working concepts and conducting nature of business the approach and choice of theories are also demanding change (Ahuja, Lampert & Tandon, 2014). The critics are saying that the organization theory should be strategic choice which mean to develop the organizational theory as per the organizational requirement. The other believe that deterministic theory approach are tested and tested, though have few limitations as every organisation is different still they are more reliable. The war on Paradigm on organizational theory is on and critics are giving it a serious thought on the choice of theories. There are many deterministic theories in the market for use and in this essay three of them will be critically analysed and they are Resource Dependency Theory; Institutional Theory; and Population Ecology (Andrews, Boyne, Law & Walker, 2007).
Drivers of Organizational Evolution
The critics have been writing and discussing the reason of applying an organisational theory in an organization. Some take it a bad idea and some claim it to be an effective and good idea. To fight the competitive market the organizations aims to make all individual work as a team following same objective of achieving the organisational goals. There are various departments in an organisation with different functions in it. The organisational theory helps the management to make the individuals work as a team (Bassiti & Ajhoun, 2014). The theory defines the workings of the individuals and accordingly the organizational actions progresses in any organization. The critics claims that the choice of theory may neglect many important factors in an organization as one single theory cannot work universally that means being adaptable in every organisation. Though at certain point the critics are right as every organization carries its individual characteristics so universally used theories cannot fit perfectly with every organization and its need (Ciulu, 2009).
The theories are commonly taken up by the organizations and they decide the theory as per the management and workplace requirements. These organizational theories are of two types one is the strategic structure and the second is deterministic theories. The management decides the choice of theory by analysing the market and the need of the organization to gain the competitive advantage against its competitors. The traditional approach of the choice of theories is the deterministic theory that clearly defines the functions and factors of the organization. This theory approach is also considered as Paradigm which following a certain model to operate an organization (Driouchi & Bennett, 2011). The critics are against the paradigm as it limits the working of an organization and at certain point even force to accept actions that may act against the organization. The organizations apply one or even more than one theory. This is done when the management feels that a single theory is not able to effectively manage the organization’s all functions and responsibilities. So, choosing a theory is a critical job for any management as it will make the organization a success or a failure (Francescato & Aber, 2015).
The first choice of any organization is to go for the pre-defined and developed theories that does not need to be worked on before applying it on the organization. These theories are referred as deterministic theories. They have controlled approach towards the working of the organization. These theories as stated before are pre-defined and developed which guides the organizational management what needs to be done next and how a particular department should be handled. The three theories that are considered as deterministic in nature includes Organisation Ecology Theory, Resource Dependency Theory, and Institutional Theory. These theories are universally used by the organizations of all sizes and structure (“From the Old Paradigm to the Complexity Paradigm: The Evolution of Organization Theory”, 2013).
Resource dependence theory (RDT) is the investigation of how the outer assets of associations influence the conduct of the association. The obtainment of outside assets is an imperative principle of both the key and strategic administration of any organization. By and by, a hypothesis of the outcomes of this significance was not formalized until the 1970s, with the production of The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence. Resource dependence theory has suggestions in regards to the ideal divisional structure of associations, enlistment of board individuals and workers, creation systems, contract structure, outside authoritative connections, and numerous different parts of hierarchical procedure. The other theory is Institutional hypothesis which is a hypothesis on the more profound and stronger parts of social structure. It considers the procedures by which structures, including plans, tenets, standards, and schedules, wind up plainly settled as legitimate rules for social behaviour (Gupta & Lonial, 2009). Different segments of institutional hypothesis clarify how these components are made, diffused, received, and adjusted over space and time; and how they fall into decrease and neglect. The next theory is Organisation ecology (additionally hierarchical demography and the populace environment of associations) is a hypothetical and observational approach in the sociologies that is viewed as a sub-field of hierarchical investigations. Organisation ecology uses experiences from science, financial matters, and humanism, and utilizes measurable examination to attempt to comprehend the conditions under which associations rise, develop, and kick the bucket. The environment of associations is partitioned into three levels, the group, the populace, and the association. The people group level is the practically coordinated arrangement of interfacing populaces. The populace level is the arrangement of associations occupied with comparable exercises. The association level concentrates on the individual associations, some examination additionally separates associations into singular part and sub-unit levels (Hassard & Wolfram Cox, 2013).
Other theoretical approach used by the organizations are strategic structure theory. The strategic theory is the self-developed theory for the use of the organization. The management sit and brainstorm the organization, its departments, their functions, the related factors, stakeholders’ association, the organizational goals, and the way to achieve them. The conclusion is used to develop a theory on which the over-all working of the organization will be based. The strategy theory is used just for an individual organization and cannot prove to be successful if applied in any other organization of the same structure and category. The strategy theory is gaining the popularity in many organization and critics are also giving strong and positive comments for the strategy theory and its usage for organizational use. The strategy theory is developed using the facts and figures of the organization which makes it a more adaptable theory for the organization. The steps of the theory will be providing proper guidance to the individuals turning into a team as the theory is aimed towards that only (Heracleous, 2013). Though, there are certain limitation of the strategy theory like, it is developed keeping in mind the organization but the theory and practical application is quite different from each other. Many things can go wrong with the result the theory application can reflect on the organization. The strategy theory is not tested priory which can create a dicey situation in the organization as the people will not know how to efficiently manage the adverse situation that is acting like a challenge for the company. Thus, it is difficult to say that the strategy theory will be a successful theory for the organization it is being developed or not (Jeitschko & Normann, 2012).
The organization actions are dependent on the organizational theory the company is following. After analysing the possible theories, it is clear that a company always need an organisation theory to lead the company effectively and efficiently. The choice of theory will decide the organizational actions. If the company uses the traditional approach and select the deterministic theory for the organization then the possibility of finding success will increase for the company. The organizational actions of the set concept of the deterministic theories will be tested and developed with the aim to find success. Though, it is true that universally accepted theories are developed for universal organizations majorly (Jones, 2007). Such theories are rigid in nature and that forces the organizations of all structures and sizes to take actions as guided by the organizational theory. Though, those organizational actions may not turn out to be fruitful for the organization as these actions may act successful in one organization but work the opposite in another organization. Like, such organizational theories force the company to adapt the innovation and change in market as the change is identified. This is right criteria that is to maintain the pace of business and technology with the competitors, but every company cannot match the market changes and technology changes that frequently as they are changing. This creates hindrance in the normal organizational actions as defined by the organizational deterministic theory and the next step may also get affected by it. Thus, taking the approach of the universally used theories is bit difficult for companies that do not match the size and structure of the developed theory (Machado, 2014).
The strategy theory is developed as per the organization but it also acts as a limitation for conducting the organizational actions. The strategy theory is based on the assumptions that may happen in future with the company, but the market will never remain same and new technologies will enter the market to take away the targeted customers. The strategy theory can better manage such changes and need of innovation as it is comparatively more flexible theory than the deterministic theories. The changes can be adapted as the people associated with the company will be ready for such unintentional changes and innovation needs that may arise while gaining the competitive advantage in the market (Mantere, 2013). Being flexible is the best quality of strategy theory but actions taken after that may or may not work for the organizational success. A company alone do not conduct business there are many associated factors that are related to the company and get affected by any decision or change adapted by the company. the organizational actions are not pre-defined which may act as a confusion for the associates as they are not aware of the next step. Thus, with the adaptation of the strategy theory a person has to be always identifying the need of changes and how that change will affect the company and its organizational objectives and then the actions need to be decided to make the change turn into profitability for the organization (Omeike, 2015).
The theories are developed with the aim of helping the management in handling the organizational actions effectively but every theory has some limitations that need to be identified by the organization and accordingly the theory should be adapted and implemented in the organization. The choice of the organizational theory can be an individual theory or a mix of one or more theories. The main point is that paradigm of organizational theory is a debatable issue amongst the critics, but presently theories in an organization act as a rule book that justifies the organizational acts conducted by the management and people associated with the organization (Yanow, 2015).
Conclusion
Traditionally or futuristically, every company has some defined organizational objectives and they all work to achieve those objectives effectively and efficiently. The organizational theories allow the management to easily define the steps that the member of the organization need to take for achieving the organizational goals. The above-given essay defines various aspects of deterministic theory and strategy theory. The aim is to critically analyse both on the basis of their success and limitation in the business world and in the market place, It is identified that both theories have their limitations and success stories that tell how important it to incorporate organizational theory in an organization. The paradigm is good till it helps the organization in achieving its goal and not acting as a burden on the organization. The organization can combine theories that can help in better achieving the organizational goals. The strategy or deterministic theory, both are good to identify the organizational actions a company should take. The problem arises when it is not done efficiently. Hence, the paradigm war is justified as it may lead to some new researches and the use of organizational theories are also important for the organization and the people associated with the company.
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