Introduction Organizational theory FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT tutorialoutlet
Introduction Organizational theory, which draws on many disciplines, is a tough subject and it is reasonable to ask why it is important enough to take the time to become familiar with it. Knowledge of organizational theory is important because it:( 1) makes organizations more understandable;( 2) reveals how authority and decision making are organized and distributed;( 3) explains why some police departments are less or more open to change and innovation;( 4) makes assumptions, one way or another, about followers;( 5) incorporates notions about the environments that the police department faces( e. g., political and legal) and how these can impinge on the department; and( 6) provides an essential tool for leaders in deciding how the work will be processed and the structure and relationship of the work units needed to accomplish it. Formal Organizations Formal organizations are not a recent innovation. 1 Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar used them to conquer, the pharaohs employed them to build pyramids, the emperors of China constructed great irrigation systems with them, and the first popes created an organization to deliver religion on a worldwide basis. 2 The extent to which contemporary America is an organizational society is such that we are born in organizations, educated by organizations, and spend most of our lives working for organizations. We spend much of our time … playing and praying in organizations. Most of us will die in an organization and when the time comes for burial, the largest organization of all— the state— must grant official permission. 3 The basic rationale for the existence of organizations is that they do those things that people are unwilling or unable to do alone. Parsons notes that organizations are distinguished from other human groupings or social units in that, to a much greater degree, they are constructed and reconstructed to achieve specific goals; corporations,