ÖRGÜT KURAMI VE TASARIMI

General systems theory and holism have gained popularity among organizational scholars in the post war period. Contingency theory can be denoted as the first comprehensive approach to relate organizations with their external environment.

Traditionally organizational environment is defined as all elements that exist outside the organizational boundaries and an organizational domain is the chosen environmental field of action

Environmental complexity is a measure of the number and the degree of dissimilarity of the factors surrounding an organization. It simply refers to the number of interactions of organizations with many sectors or elements within those sectors.

It is possible to state that principles of classical management are most fit with the organizations operating in a stable environment since achieving maximum efficiency is a prerequisite to survive.

Imagine a chain of hospitals, which has several health care facilities, located in different cities of a country. Which sectors should be considered primarily when analyzing the external environment? State can be viewed as an important actor that provides and regulates health care services in most of the countries. Therefore, a health care organization has to monitor government sector and establish good relations with the authorities

Environmental complexity is a measure of the number and the degree of dissimilarity of the factors surrounding an organization. It simply refers to the number of interactions of organizations with many sectors or elements within those sectors.

This means it is quite simple to predict the future and to organize internal activities accordingly under such environmental conditions. Therefore, it is not so meaningful to adopt a structural design that can increase level of creativity and innovation for such organizations. It is possible to state that principles of classical management are most fit with the organizations operating in a stable environment since achieving maximum efficiency is a prerequisite to survive. These mechanic structures are characterized by high levels of formalization- rules, procedures, guidelines, instructions and written communication-, routine tasks – standardization of production processes-, vertical design focus to increase control, rigid culture which favors accomplishments of predefined tasks and competitive behavior towards rivals. Whereas, it was observed that the electronic manufacturers in the same research preferred completely different organizational design. Learning and creativity become vital when organizations face with turbulent environments

In Thompson’s model, Institutional level should be open because its task is to relate organization with its broader context. However, technical level should be closed and organized rationally. Managerial level should act as a mediator between the other two levels according to Thompson

Organizations establish buffer units or departments to control uncertainty and to protect their technical cores from external effects. The units which have buffering roles are responsible for absorbing environmental uncertainty. These departments apply systematic procedures during the exchange of resources -supplies, raw materials, labor- between an organization and its environment.

The units which have boundary spanning roles 1) determine and bring information about changes in the environment into the organization and 2) send critical information to the context representing the organization. These units act as mediators between the internal and external environments of organizations. Research and development departments and market research-departments are the distinctive examples of these units having boundary spanning roles

Low-moderate uncertainty environments have to be formal and centralized, but many departments should exist to manage environmental complexity. Integration among units and boundary spanning seem to be particularly important due to the environmental stability. It is not necessary to organize extensive planning activities in stable-complex environments.

There are various strategies to manage dependency relations with the actors in the external environment:

a. Acquisition of suppliers

b. Developing long term contracts with the critical suppliers.

c. Interlocking directorates – to assign some members of board of directors to the      sup­plier firms’ boards.

d. Founding joint ventures with the critical firms in terms of resource flow.

e. Joining trade associations.

f. Lobbying.

Hannan and Freeman applied principles of evolutionary biology to explain the relation between interorganizational dynamics and environment. Organizational form refers to formal structure, technology, normative order, goals and human resources. Population ecology theory tries to explain why there are diverse forms of organizations. Population means a group of organizations having the same structural characteristics which depend on same resources to survive and have similar outcomes

Technical system refers to the units, departments or parts in organizations where the main operations are carried on such as assembly line in a factory, software development units in an IT company and clinical units in a hospital- consultation rooms, operation theatres, radiology, and laboratories. Technical systems must be isolated from possible external effects to work properly.

Organizations establish buffer units or departments to control uncertainty and to protect their technical cores from external effects. The units which have buffering roles are responsible for absorbing environmental uncertainty. These departments apply systematic procedures during the exchange of resources -supplies, raw materials, labor- between an organization and its environment. Departments such as human resource and procurement are the well-known examples of these buffering departments.

Adapting to an organic structure and flexible managerial approach may not be sufficient to cope with uncertainty. James Thompson who made contributions to the field highlights that organizations are not completely closed structures in his famous book Organizations in Action. He divided organizations into three levels: institutional level, managerial level, and technical level.

These are the characteristics of organizations operating in high uncertainity according to Duncan's model: 1. Participative decentralized 2. Many departments differentiated, extensive boundary spanning 3. Many integrating roles 4. Extensive planning, forecasting, high speed response.

The main problem for the managers is to find ways to control dependency relations in the external environment. There are various strategies to manage dependency relations with the actors in the external environment: a. Acquisition of suppliers. b. Developing long term contracts with the critical suppliers. c. Interlocking directorates – to assign some members of board of directors to the supplier firms’ boards. d. Founding joint ventures with the critical firms in terms of resource flow. e. Joining trade associations. f. Lobbying.

Big and old organizations will lose their abilities for adaptation to external changes because of structural inertia according the population ecology theory. The term structural inertia means state of being indifferent to external changes. There are internal and external causes of structural inertia according to Hannan and Freeman.

Having social ties with the key decision makers and the other organizations can enable flow of resources into an organization. Famous French sociologist Pierre Bordieu and other network researchers define social capital as network relations of an actor that can provide benefits.