APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATION

For a long time organizing has meant designing organization structures. There are a number of ways to describe organizational design as well as a number of ways to conceptualize the historical development of organizational design. However, approaches to organization can be presented in the form of classical approach, behavioral approach, and contingency approach.

(1) Classical Approach

The classical approach to organization design refers to ideas that were expressed in the early 1900s. These ideas propose that certain principles of organization should guide managers who are attempting to design organizational structure.

Under classical approach Max Weber's Bureaucracy Theory is considered to be very important. Bureaucracy was the ideal system wherein positions and tasks were clearly defined, division of labor was precise and clear, objectives were explicit, and a clear chain of command was maintained.

(2) Behavioral Approach

A second approach to organization design is the behavioral approach, which evolved from the human relations movement. The behavioral approach recognized the weakness and limitations of the mechanistic characteristics of classical approach. Behavioral approaches of organization design reflect the social and psychological implications of organizational life. Two behavioral models of organizing are :

(a) Socio-technical System
(b) Likert's System 4 Approach

(3) Contingency Approach

An alternative view, termed the contingency approach, is based on the situational factors. Situational factors play a role in determining the best organizing design for any particular circumstance. The researchers and practitioners who have contributed to the ideas of contingency design have suggested a number of factors or variable influence the design decision. Following are the factors that affects the Contingency Approach:

(a) Technology

Technology is the conversation processes used to transform inputs into outputs.There are three basic forms of technology:

(1) Unit or Small Batch Production
(2) Mass or Large Batch Production
(3) Process Production

(b) Environment

The environment approach is the latest and most widely accepted view of organization. It emphasizes that the structure of an organization is the function of the environment within which it operates.

(c) Organizational Size

The size of an organization affects its design. Organizational size is determined by the total number of full-time or full-time equivalent employees. A team of researchers at the University of Aston, England, yielded a number of basic generalizations.

(d) Organizational Life Cycle

Size of the organization is not always constant. Many organizations progress through a four-stage organizational life cycle. The first stage is the birth, second is the youth, third stage is midlife ans the final stage is characterized as maturity.