Thompson describes the task environment as that element of the environment related to the organization's degree of goal attainment; that is, the task environment is composed of those elements of the environment related to the organization's basic task.29 for example, when steel was a major component in the production of cars, U.S. Steel was a major supplier for General Motors and Ford Motors Company - U.S. Steel was a major component of their task environment.
The organization system works by taking inputs, converting them into through puts, and delivering outputs to its task environment. Inputs consist of the human, informational, material and financial resources used by the organization. Through puts are the materials and resources as they are transformed by the organization’s technology component. Once the transformation is complete, they become outputs for customers, consumers, and clients. The actions of suppliers, customers, regulators, and other elements of the task environment affect the organization and the behavior of people at work. For example, Onsite Engineering and Management experienced a threat to its survival in the mid – 1980s by being totally dependent on one large utility for is outputs. By broadening its client base and improving the quality of its services (that is, its outputs) over the next several years, Onsite became a healthier, more successful small company. Transforming inputs into high-quality outputs is critical to an organization’s success.
The Formal and Informal Organization
The open system view of organization may lead one to view the design of an organization as a clock work with a neat, precise, interrelated functioning. The formal organization is the official, legitimate, and most visible part that enables people to think of organization in logical way. The snake pit organizational metaphor mentioned earlier has its roots in the study and examination of the informal organization, which is unofficial and less visible. The informal elements were first fully appreciated as a result of the Hawthorne studies, conducted during the 1920s and 1930s. It was during the interview study, the third of the four Hawthorne studies that the researchers began to develop a fuller appreciation for the informal elements of the organization are depicted in Figure 1.2.
Potential conflict between the formal and informal organization makes an understanding of both important. Conflict between these two elements erupted in many organization during the early years of the twentieth century and were embodied in the unio-management strife of that era. The conflicts escalated into violence in a number of cases. For example, during the 1920s supervisors at the Homestead Work of U.S. Steel were issued pistols and boxes of ammunition “just in case” it became necessary to shoot unruly, dangerous steelworkers. Not all organization are characterized by such potential formal-informal, management-labor conflict. During the same era, Eastman Kodak was very progressive. The company helped with financial back for employees’ neighborhood communities, such as Meadowbrook in Rochester, New York. Kodak’s concern for employees and attention to informal issues made unions unnecessary within the company.
The informal elements of the organization are frequent point of diagnostic and intervention activities in organization development, though the formal elements must always be considered as well because they provide the context for the informal. 31 These informal elements are important because people’s feelings, thoughts, and attitudes about their work do make a difference in their behavior and performance. Individual behavior plays out in the context of the formal and informal elements of the systems, becoming organization behavior. The uncovering of the informal elements in an organization was one of the major discoveries of the Hawthorne studies.
Six focus Organizations
Organizational behavior always occurs in the context of a specific organizational setting. Most attempts at explaining or predicting organization and give less weight to external environmental considerations. 32 Students can benefit from being sensitive to the industrial context of organizations and from developing an appreciation for each organization as a whole. 33 In this vein, six organizations are each featured in the Thinking Ahead and Looking Back sections of three chapters. Cisco System is illustrated in this chapter. We challenge you in each chapter to anticipate what is in the Looking Back feature once you read Thinking Ahead.
The U.S. economy is the large in the world, with a gross domestic product of more than $10.9 trillion in 2003. Figure 1.3 shows the major sectors of the economy. The largest sectors are service (44 percent) and product manufacture of nondurable goods (21 percent) and durable goods (8 percent).Taken together, the production of products and the delivery of services account for 73 percent of the U.S. economy. Government and fixed investments account for the remaining 27 percent. Large and small organizations operate in each sector of the economy shown in Figure 1.3.
The private sectors are an important part of the economy. The manufacturing sector includes the production of basic materials, such as steel, and the production of finished products, such as automobiles and electronic equipment. The service sector includes transportation, financial services, insurance, and retail sales. The government sectors, which provide essential infrastructure, and nonprofit organizations are also important to our collective well-being because they meet needs not addressed in these economy sectors. We have chosen organizations that can reflect the manufacturing service, retail, and nonprofit sections of business. These six organizations are Cisco Systems, The Coca-Cola Company, Pixar Animation Studios, Virgin Group, Ltd., Whole Foods Market Inc., and Canine Companions for Independence.
Each of these six organizations makes an important and unique contribution to the manufacturing or service sectors of the national economy and/or to our national well-being. These organizations are not alone, however. Hundreds of other small, medium, and large organizations are making valuable and significant contributions to the economy health and human welfare of the United States. Brief examples from many organizations are used throughout the book. We hope that by better understanding these organizations, you may have a greater appreciation for your own organization and others within the diverse world of private business enterprises and nonprofit organizations.
CISCO SYSTEMS Which is more impressive: Cisco Systems’ 2003 sales of $18.9 billion or Cisco’s 2003 cash and investments balance of $20.7 billion? 34 While the internet and technology sector bubbles destroyed many companies and humbled others, Cisco’s bread-and butter business of selling the routers and switches that power the Internet continues to grow. In addition, Cisco is actively working to expand the worldwide on-line market from its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. In 150 countries like Afghanistan, 10,000 Cisco academies are training more than 400,000 future network professionals to help their communities enter the Information Age. Networks are at the heart of Cisco’s business and are essential for business, education, government, and home communications.
Cisco has had deep roots in technology from its founding in 1984 by a group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Cisco has grown to 36,000 employees worldwide, and its engineers have factored prominently in the development of Internet protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. We take many of these networking technologies for granted today. The firm currently pours 18 percent of annual revenues back into research and development, an investment it hopes will pay dividends in the future. Cisco operates on twin core values of customer focus and corporate citizenship, which are expressed through global involvement in education, community, and philanthropic efforts.
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY Invented by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, Coca-Cola got its name from two ingredients – coca leaves and kola nuts. Within four years after druggist Asa Chandler purchased The Coca-Cola Company in 1891, the soda fountain drink was available in all states, and in Canada and Mexico by 1898. The firm went public in 1919 and expanded overseas with the slogans, “The Pause that Refreshes” in 1929 and “It’s the Real Thing” in 1941. Nearly nine decades later, The Coca-Cola Company(Coke) is “it” – the world’s top soft-drink company with its number – one - selling
Thompson describes the task environment as that element of the environment related to the organization's degree of goal attainment; that is, the task environment is composed of those elements of the environment related to the organization's basic task.29 for example, when steel was a major component in the production of cars, U.S. Steel was a major supplier for General Motors and Ford Motors Company - U.S. Steel was a major component of their task environment.
The organization system works by taking inputs, converting them into through puts, and delivering outputs to its task environment. Inputs consist of the human, informational, material and financial resources used by the organization. Through puts are the materials and resources as they are transformed by the organization’s technology component. Once the transformation is complete, they become outputs for customers, consumers, and clients. The actions of suppliers, customers, regulators, and other elements of the task environment affect the organization and the behavior of people at work. For example, Onsite Engineering and Management experienced a threat to its survival in the mid – 1980s by being totally dependent on one large utility for is outputs. By broadening its client base and improving the quality of its services (that is, its outputs) over the next several years, Onsite became a healthier, more successful small company. Transforming inputs into high-quality outputs is critical to an organization’s success.
The Formal and Informal Organization
The open system view of organization may lead one to view the design of an organization as a clock work with a neat, precise, interrelated functioning. The formal organization is the official, legitimate, and most visible part that enables people to think of organization in logical way. The snake pit organizational metaphor mentioned earlier has its roots in the study and examination of the informal organization, which is unofficial and less visible. The informal elements were first fully appreciated as a result of the Hawthorne studies, conducted during the 1920s and 1930s. It was during the interview study, the third of the four Hawthorne studies that the researchers began to develop a fuller appreciation for the informal elements of the organization are depicted in Figure 1.2.
Potential conflict between the formal and informal organization makes an understanding of both important. Conflict between these two elements erupted in many organization during the early years of the twentieth century and were embodied in the unio-management strife of that era. The conflicts escalated into violence in a number of cases. For example, during the 1920s supervisors at the Homestead Work of U.S. Steel were issued pistols and boxes of ammunition “just in case” it became necessary to shoot unruly, dangerous steelworkers. Not all organization are characterized by such potential formal-informal, management-labor conflict. During the same era, Eastman Kodak was very progressive. The company helped with financial back for employees’ neighborhood communities, such as Meadowbrook in Rochester, New York. Kodak’s concern for employees and attention to informal issues made unions unnecessary within the company.
The informal elements of the organization are frequent point of diagnostic and intervention activities in organization development, though the formal elements must always be considered as well because they provide the context for the informal. 31 These informal elements are important because people’s feelings, thoughts, and attitudes about their work do make a difference in their behavior and performance. Individual behavior plays out in the context of the formal and informal elements of the systems, becoming organization behavior. The uncovering of the informal elements in an organization was one of the major discoveries of the Hawthorne studies.
Six focus Organizations
Organizational behavior always occurs in the context of a specific organizational setting. Most attempts at explaining or predicting organization and give less weight to external environmental considerations. 32 Students can benefit from being sensitive to the industrial context of organizations and from developing an appreciation for each organization as a whole. 33 In this vein, six organizations are each featured in the Thinking Ahead and Looking Back sections of three chapters. Cisco System is illustrated in this chapter. We challenge you in each chapter to anticipate what is in the Looking Back feature once you read Thinking Ahead.
The U.S. economy is the large in the world, with a gross domestic product of more than $10.9 trillion in 2003. Figure 1.3 shows the major sectors of the economy. The largest sectors are service (44 percent) and product manufacture of nondurable goods (21 percent) and durable goods (8 percent).Taken together, the production of products and the delivery of services account for 73 percent of the U.S. economy. Government and fixed investments account for the remaining 27 percent. Large and small organizations operate in each sector of the economy shown in Figure 1.3.
The private sectors are an important part of the economy. The manufacturing sector includes the production of basic materials, such as steel, and the production of finished products, such as automobiles and electronic equipment. The service sector includes transportation, financial services, insurance, and retail sales. The government sectors, which provide essential infrastructure, and nonprofit organizations are also important to our collective well-being because they meet needs not addressed in these economy sectors. We have chosen organizations that can reflect the manufacturing service, retail, and nonprofit sections of business. These six organizations are Cisco Systems, The Coca-Cola Company, Pixar Animation Studios, Virgin Group, Ltd., Whole Foods Market Inc., and Canine Companions for Independence.
Each of these six organizations makes an important and unique contribution to the manufacturing or service sectors of the national economy and/or to our national well-being. These organizations are not alone, however. Hundreds of other small, medium, and large organizations are making valuable and significant contributions to the economy health and human welfare of the United States. Brief examples from many organizations are used throughout the book. We hope that by better understanding these organizations, you may have a greater appreciation for your own organization and others within the diverse world of private business enterprises and nonprofit organizations.
CISCO SYSTEMS Which is more impressive: Cisco Systems’ 2003 sales of $18.9 billion or Cisco’s 2003 cash and investments balance of $20.7 billion? 34 While the internet and technology sector bubbles destroyed many companies and humbled others, Cisco’s bread-and butter business of selling the routers and switches that power the Internet continues to grow. In addition, Cisco is actively working to expand the worldwide on-line market from its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. In 150 countries like Afghanistan, 10,000 Cisco academies are training more than 400,000 future network professionals to help their communities enter the Information Age. Networks are at the heart of Cisco’s business and are essential for business, education, government, and home communications.
Cisco has had deep roots in technology from its founding in 1984 by a group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Cisco has grown to 36,000 employees worldwide, and its engineers have factored prominently in the development of Internet protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. We take many of these networking technologies for granted today. The firm currently pours 18 percent of annual revenues back into research and development, an investment it hopes will pay dividends in the future. Cisco operates on twin core values of customer focus and corporate citizenship, which are expressed through global involvement in education, community, and philanthropic efforts.
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY Invented by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, Coca-Cola got its name from two ingredients – coca leaves and kola nuts. Within four years after druggist Asa Chandler purchased The Coca-Cola Company in 1891, the soda fountain drink was available in all states, and in Canada and Mexico by 1898. The firm went public in 1919 and expanded overseas with the slogans, “The Pause that Refreshes” in 1929 and “It’s the Real Thing” in 1941. Nearly nine decades later, The Coca-Cola Company(Coke) is “it” – the world’s top soft-drink company with its number – one - selling
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