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"AGE OF UNREASON, THE" (CHARLES HANDY).
Term Paper ID:23205
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Essay Subject:
Critical review of work on organizational theory: learning, leadership, open systems, computers.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Critical review of work on organizational theory: learning, leadership, open systems, computers.
Paper Introduction:
Charles Handy's book, The Age of Unreason, examines the nature of learning and applies Handy's insights into the prices of learning to the business organization. He indicates that the normal way of thinking about learning is wrong and that, instead, a different conception should be imposed, a conception more in keeping with a progressive form of learning that would benefit the organization and the individual alike. Handy also sees a particular need for making this change at this time, given the changes he sees coming over the business organization in light of new technologies and other changes in the workplace. Society needs new kinds of organizations, new approaches to work, and new forms of education to cope with the changing nature of society.
Handy is in many ways testing the boundaries of existing organizational theory, and his own approach can be seen as a
Text of the Paper:
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The shamrock isthe Irish national emblem and is a small cloverlike plant with three leavesto each stem. Telecommuting is a use of the computer tochange fundamentally the nature of the office and the way workers relate tothe office and to one another. The open-system model today isapplied to areas such as operations research, organization development,human resource systems, management information systems, and sociotechnicalsystems. The first leaf is the core workers, the professional corebecause it is more and more made up of qualified professionals,technicians, and managers. In both sectors,every entrepreneur and executive faces administrative problems on a dailybasis. Much of administration theory is dedicatedto analyzing the process of change and to showing how to respond to changewithin the organization. Inthe open system, these external organizations are one of the targets ofinformation and energy and are expected to bring back goods and services asneeded. Weare all born to learn, but we fail to maintain this truth because the wheelstops turning. There are closed models and openmodels of the organization. The computer wave continues now into the administrative functionsof decision-making by offering both support for decision-making activitiesand even by taking over some decision-making activities entirely. Society needs new kindsof organizations, new approaches to work, and new forms of education tocope with the changing nature of society. Wecome to think of learning as finding the right answer, and the right answeris something that has been discovered by others and that we commit tomemory. Another part of the trend is seen in theincreasing use of telecommuting as part of the organizational structure.This is also an element in the empowerment of the work force to a greaterdegree than was previously possible. Federalism thus becomes a model for theprivate organization as for the public. Theorists today see change as accelerating insociety, and they offer particular prescriptions for how such change willaffect the business environment and how administrators might cope with thedeveloping situation. There is a greater need than ever for the wheel to be lubricated sothat it keeps turning because the changing business organization iscreating a greater need for learning to cope with the shifts taking place.The organization of the future and the leadership style of the future willbe more firmly supportive of one another than has been the case in therecent past. Computers were designed and implemented first for the day-to-day operations of the organization--record-keeping, billing, inventory,scheduling--and then moved into the areas of strategic planning and programdesign. This scheme clearly reflects the trends we can see all around ustoday, trends toward downsizing on the one hand and increasing temporaryand apart-time employment for workers on the other. In the closed model we looked inward, and inthe open model we looked outward for our prestige. Handy alsosees a particular need for making this change at this time, given thechanges he sees coming over the business organization in light of newtechnologies and other changes in the workplace. There is a perception of decline thathas affected all considerations of the future, and managers seem more andmore to view themselves as having to catch up to Japan in particular. The organization can be conceived ofas: 1) taking in various forms of information, energy, and materials fromthe environment; 2) acting on these inputs by transforming them; and 3)sending out to the environment the transformed information, energy, andmaterials. Open systems thus exchange information, energy, andmaterials with their environments. At some point in our history, we made a transition from the closedsystem to the open system. This wheel oflearning is meant to rotate around and around, but it can get stuck. The organization is now seen more and more as a decentralized.The organization is also conceived of as a wheel with a number ofindependent parts, each of which contributes to and receives something fromthe whole. The open-system model appeared around 196 andhas become more important ever since. Handy indicates the importance of learning in the organization of anyform, and he describes a theory of learning which takes advantage of theway people actually learn. This is only partof the effect of the introduction of computers into the workplace. The telecommuter to a great degreechooses his or her own hours. Handy points to some of the dynamics ofthe present organization and the ways in which learning and leadership willhave to become staples of the system in order to adapt to even more rapidand comprehensive change in the future. Handy does not try to be comprehensive so much as topoint to trends and to spur changes in thinking to address these trends.He is effective in showing how the small changes we see now will befollowed by even bigger environmental shifts in the near future. Charles Handy's book, The Age of Unreason, examines the nature oflearning and applies Handy's insights into the prices of learning to thebusiness organization. The two models contrastwith one another on a number of dimensions. He indicates that the normal way of thinking aboutlearning is wrong and that, instead, a different conception should beimposed, a conception more in keeping with a progressive form of learningthat would benefit the organization and the individual alike. Decision-making is a key administrative function, one on which every action withinthe organization ultimately depends. Handy is in many ways testing the boundaries of existingorganizational theory, and his own approach can be seen as a developing inthe evolution of organizational theory. It has been found that simply importing Japanese techniquesis not effective, and what is needed is a rethinking of the entireorganizational structure, from the sense of mission infusing theorganization to operational issues. The whole organization is in turn interdependent with itsexternal environment. Handy's analysis points the way to changes that are coming andemphasizes the need for an ongoing form of learning to keep pace with thechange and to prepare the worker to live in the new environment that iscoming into being. Thecomputer revolution has touched nearly every facet of the businessorganization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.----------------------- 8 Handy thinks of learning as a wheel that goes around and around,and in a proper world we learn, apply that learning, reflect on theapplication, and develop a new theory which we then test. Leadership is required at everyjuncture, from the analysis of the problem to its solution and theimplementation of that solution. One type of developing open system organization is described by Handyas the Shamrock organization, so called because it has four components likethe leaves of a shamrock. The computer promises a variety ofmeans for achieving these goals. (199 ). ReferenceHandy, C. Organizational theory explains the working oforganizations and the dynamics of their structure and operation.Organizational theory is broader in its application and subject matter thanadministrative theory, which is more specific in its emphasis on controland decision-making as a leadership matter, while organizational theoryinvolves the broader dynamics of all organizations. We can see that in the United States especially, managershave been looking for a new way to structure the organization and a new wayto manage it in order to regain the sort of competitive power that once wasthe hallmark of the American system. This core is smaller, as in the downsizedcorporations of the United states, and more of the work is contracted outto the organizations that constitute the second leaf of the shamrock. Handy notes that the world of work is changing because organizationsare changing in both the private and the public sectors. The open system has been adapted more and more because of changedassumptions about human nature and about the effectiveness of differentorganizational structures. The increase in telecommuting is part of alarger rethinking of the meaning of the central office. Muchof the concern with Japanese business and manufacturing now centers onquestions of how to adopt Japanese techniques to the formation of the neworganizational structure and how to manage that structure in the Americanenvironment. Prestige in the closed modelderives from internal status, from one's office and rank, while in the openmodel prestige derives from professional ability and reputation. Handy sees a fourthleaf in the increasing tendency to get the customers to do the work, thoughsince customers are not paid they cannot be a fourth part of the formalstructure of the shamrock. Most education has been a form of rotelearning, and knowledge is imparted rather than discovered or learned. Handy sees this as a part of a shift in the waywe talk about the organization and about related issues. One source of problems is a changed business environment, and sincethe business environment is always in a state of evolving change, it isimportant for administrators to monitor such changes and to be prepared tocope with them as they occur. The third leaf is the flexible labor force, the part-time andtemporary workers who are at present the fastest growing segment of theemployment population. An open system exchanges information and matter withits environment. The age of unreason. Managers have always sought ways ofmaking the decision-making process more rational, effective, and responsiveto changed environmental circumstances.
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