San Diego State University Active Learning Journal Essay

1.How would each theory define the problem of workplace bullying differently? Describe an example for each.

Scientific Management

Theory Y

COMM 406
Week 3
Rationality, Decision Making &
Ab(uses) of Information
Learning Outcomes
• Describe the different forms of rationalities and decision-making
models.
• Apply Scientific Management principles to contemporary organizing
practices.
• Analyze and critique the universalization of scientific management.
Rationalities (plural)
• Used colloquially as an insult.
• Many different forms of rationality, but usually epitomized by
bureaucracy .
• Alternatives exist to the legal/rational system. For example, Palancas
is a term used in many LAC for using personal relationships and
intuition to make decisions.
Rationalities
• Narratives persuade us.
• Metaphors move us.
• Baxter: Writing gives us the perception that something is “done;”
“solidified;” “real”
• Basque region of Spain prioritizes F2F communication
Scientific Management
(Taylorism)
• Training and education of managers has
steadily increased over the decades.
• Frederick Winslow Taylor (engineer in
1900s)
• Time & motion studies
• Principles of Scientific Management
4 Principles of Scientific Management
• Codifying workers’ skills into scientific laws (versus relying on intuition
to accomplish tasks)
• The scientific selection and training of labor
• The unity of work processes through the systematic application of
standards to all employees—managers as well as workers
• The resulting development of a “harmonious and just relationship”
between management and labor
Efficiency
• Applied to “home economics”
• Productivity is not a natural state, humans need
rewards/punishments.
Lillian Gilbreth
Example: Ford Motors
• Ford
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLud5XYfY_c
Classical Management
• Scientific Rationality
• Industrial Revolution
• Authoritarian values and hierarchy
• Bureaucracy
• Division of Labor
TRIANGLE
SHIRTWAIST
FACTORY FIRE
(1911)
Ludlow Massacre (1914)
Human Relations
• Hawthorne Studies
• Social science
• Organization as the sum of relationships
• Human Resources:
• – Maslow’s Hierarchy
• -Likert’s Principle of Supportive Relationships >>
Elton Mayo & The Hawthorne Effect
(1924-1927)
McDonaldization
George Ritzer
Principles of Mcdonaldization
• Efficiency
• Calculability
• Predictability
• Control
• Irrationality
McDonaldization in Creative Industries
What kinds of organizations do not focus on
efficiency?
• Universities?
• Is there a difference between effectiveness and efficiency?
Resisting the Universalization of
Organizational Principles
The “human
dimension”
• Hawthorne Studies (19271932)
• Lighting was the subject
of research, but it turns
out they were studying
the human dimension
Human Resource Management
Theories
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
• Critique of traditional managerial authority
• Model framed in terms of control and influence
Theory X:
• Average worker inherently dislikes work
• So most workers must be coerced to work
• Average worker wants to avoid responsibility
and prefers to be directed
Theory X & Theory Y
• My boss asks me politely to do things, gives me reasons why, and invites my suggestions.
• I am encouraged to learn skills outside of my immediate area of responsibility.
• I am left to work without interference from my boss, but help is available if I want it.
• I am given credit and praise when I do good work or put in extra effort.
• People leaving the company are given an ‘exit interview’ to hear their views on the
organisation.
• I am incentivised to work hard and well.
• If I want extra responsibility my boss will find a way to give it to me.
• If I want extra training my boss will help me find how to get it or will arrange it.
• I call my boss and my boss’s boss by their first names.
• ) My boss is available for me to discuss my concerns or worries or suggestions.
McGregor’s Theory X & Y
• What are some advantages to using this theory?
• What are some drawbacks to Theory X & Theory Y?
• How could you use this instrument in management?
Span of Control & Flow of Information
• Span of Control – number of people one supervises
• Usually maxes out around 7-9 people
• Linkage Formula = N(N-1)/2
• Unlimited information is not always most efficient
• Knowledge management systems were borne from downsizing
Culturally Situated Forms of Knowing
• Refers to the ability to house information in the collective network; as
opposed to individuals
• Luhmann’s autopoiesis
• Denhardt: Critiques information-processing model as oppressive
because it asks How and not Why.
• Morgan & Krone: Techno-scientific language prioritizes certain types
of knowledge over others (science, detached, etc.)
• This shapes normative perceptions and expectations of professionalism
Models of Group Decision Making
• Effective decisions are accurate, quality, external approval
• Communication becomes more important in ambiguous tasks
• Negative/positive biases change based on the decision
• Functional Model:
• Assess the problem
• Specify the goals
• Identify solutions
• Evaluate advantages and disadvantages
Weick’s Sensemaking Theory
• Previous decisions frame future decisions.
• Retrospective sense making
• Equivocality & Equifinality – There is no “one best way to organize”
• Enactment, Selection & Retention = an active process of constructing
the world
A recent gripe,
complaint, or
conflict
“That’s not my job—that’s
your job.”
I took them to mean….
What they really needed
was…..
Fair Distribution of Workload
“You didn’t make the
instructions very clear.”
Clarification, Opportunity for
Questions
“I did my best, and all I get
are criticism.”
Feedback
[Add one of your own here]
The Iron Law of Oligarchy
• Robert Michels (1911) Political Parties
• All organizations gravitate towards oligarchic rule/decision-making
• Petro Georgiou suggests that all organizations are not goal-directed,
but survival directed
Emotions at
Work
• Hochschild’s Emotional
Labor:
• Jobs that entail
emotional performance
• Burnout can result from
suppression
• Bounded Rationality
• Emotions play an
important role in
decision-making
Concertive Control
• Concertive control – “grows out of a substantial consensus about
values, high-level coordination, and a degree of self-management by
members or workers in an organization.
• More controlling than rational managerialism
• Suspend individual desires for collective goals
• ”Value-based discourse” to induce proper behavior (ideas, norms,
rules)