TABLE OF CONTENTSeduteachonline.wiki.trevecca.edu/file/view/#4410 Student... · 2011-08-24 ·...

#4410 - Systems Management

Student Guide

Updated July 2011

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introductory Essay ................................................................................................................2

Learning Outcome ................................................................................................................3

Using the Open System Model‖ by Michael I. Harrison .....................................................4

Key Features of the Model ...................................................................................................7

Basic Organizational Information ......................................................................................10

Key Concepts of General Systems Theory .........................................................................15

Weisbord‘s Six Box Model ................................................................................................16

Worksheet #1 .....................................................................................................................17

Worksheet #2 .....................................................................................................................18

Input/Output Model ...........................................................................................................19

Worksheet #3 .....................................................................................................................20

Worksheet #4 .....................................................................................................................21

Reward for Results .............................................................................................................24

Organization Climate Questionnaire ..................................................................................25

Alcohol Rehabilitation Center Case Study ........................................................................28

Worksheet #5 .....................................................................................................................30

Worksheet #6 .....................................................................................................................31

Worksheet #7 .....................................................................................................................33

Assessing the Feasibility of Change and Choosing Appropriate Interventions .................34

Change Agent Checklist.....................................................................................................39

Planning For Your Changes ...............................................................................................42

Barriers to Change .............................................................................................................44

Force-Field Analysis for Problem Solving ........................................................................45

Example of Force-Field Analysis.......................................................................................48

Force-Field Exercise ..........................................................................................................49

Worksheet #8 .....................................................................................................................51

The Bureaucrat‘s Prayer .....................................................................................................53

General Orientation Overview ...........................................................................................54

―Love, Justice, and Order‖ by Dr. Henry Spaulding ..........................................................58

Textbooks

Primis Catalog (Management)2nd

ed., by Bartol and Martin

Reframing Organizations, 4th

ed., by Bolman and Deal

Harvard Business Review Articles –

Please use printed instructions to find HBR articles on the web.

Zaleznik, Abraham. “Managers and Leaders: Are they Different?‖ Harvard Business Re

view Jan. 2004: 74+

Mintzberg, Henry. ―The Manager‘s Job: Folklore and Fact.‖ Harvard Business Review

Mar/Apr1990: 163+


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INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

No man is an island, entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the

main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory

were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; Any man’s death dimi-

nishes me, because I am involved in mankind and, therefore, never send to know for

whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. (John Donne—Devotions XVIII)

The above quote points to the fact of the interconnectedness of all of humanity, of the

relationship of the singular individual to the universal whole. It views humanity from a systems

perspective. This module explores systems analysis—an important perspective for understanding

and managing complex organizations. The organizations you work with are actually complex

systems made up of numerous interacting subsystems. In managing complex systems, it is impor-

tant to understand that the parts of the system (subsystems) affect one another and do so in

somewhat predictable ways. Thus, managers who have a systems analysis perspective will be

better able to predict outcomes of their actions relative to the organization as a whole, and even

use these predictions as a basis for making the best decisions. Managers who do not have systems

perspective often view organizational problems and decisions as single issue events—without

understanding systematic causes and consequences.

While we daily interact on a continual basis with numerous systems, unless we pos-

sess an awareness of systems theory, it is not uncommon to consider our experiences as frag-

mented or isolated incidents within a variety of environments. A systems perspective facilitates

the recognition of the continuity among our experiences and should thereby lead to a heightened

awareness of the unity of our existence, and, ideally, to a more fulfilling lifestyle.

In preparation for each class, it is essential that you do all the readings and homework

activities for the week assigned. As the in-class activities are based on the reading and homework

assignments, you will not be able to participate fully if you have not completed these assign-

ments.

As you progress through this module, you should find the activities and readings in

the text to be directly related to your project thesis as you plan for change in an organization.


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LEARNING OUTCOMES

The following learning outcomes are projected:

1. The student will acquire a basic understanding of concepts associated with systems analysis

and will understand the history of the use of systems analysis.

2. Using systems analysis, the student will examine an organization or agency (preferably the

one associated with his or her project thesis).

3. The student will be familiar with the Organization Climate Questionnaire and will apply the

same to the setting of his or her project thesis.

4. The student will be familiar with the Change Readiness Assessment Form and its relation-

ship to the Force Field Analysis and will apply both instruments to the organizational set-

ting associated with the project thesis.

5. The student will apply concepts of ―systems theory‖ to the preparation of his or her project

thesis.

The course requirements listed in this handbook are subject to faculty modification. The

syllabus provided by the faculty member offers the official statement of course requirements,

evaluation, and grading.


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USING THE OPEN SYSTEM MODEL

by Michael I. Harrison

1

A model of organizations as open systems is presented that can help practitioners choose

topics for diagnosis, develop criteria for assessing organizational effectiveness, and decide what

steps, if any, will help clients solve problems and enhance organizational effectiveness. A list of

Basic Organizational Information to gather at the start of a diagnosis is provided, and methods

are discussed for gathering and analyzing data in both broad and focused diagnoses.

The Organization as an Open System

The open systems approach provides practitioners with an abstract model that is applicable

to any kind of organization and to divisions or departments within them (Beer, 1980; Hall, 1982;

Katz and Kahn, 1978; Kotter, 1978; Miles, 1980; Nadler & Tushman, 1980). One useful version

of this model is shown in Figure 1.

System Elements

Here are the main elements in the model and their key subcomponents:

Inputs (or resources) – This includes the raw materials, money, people (―human resources‖), in-

formation, and knowledge that an organization obtains from its environment and that contribute

to the creation of its outputs.

Outputs – This includes the products, services, and ideas that are the outcomes of organizational

action. An organization transfers its main outputs back to the environment and uses others inter-

nally.

Technology – This includes the methods and processes for transforming resources into outputs.

These methods may be mental (e.g., exercising medical judgment), as well as physical (e.g., drug

therapy), and mechanical (e.g., computerized data processing).

Environment – The Task Environment includes all the external organizations and conditions that

are directly related to an organization‘s main operations and its technologies. They include sup-

pliers, unions, customers, clients, regulators, competitors, markets for products and resources,

and the state of knowledge concerning the organization‘s technologies. The General Environment

includes institutions and conditions that may have infrequent or long-term impacts on the organi-

zation and its task environment, including the economy, the legal system, the state of scientific

and technical knowledge, social institutions such as the family, population distribution and com-

position, the political system, and the national culture within which the organization operates.

_______________________________ 3

Michael I. Harrison, Diagnosing Organizations, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1987, pp. 23-48, 133-

138. Reprinted by permission.


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Purposes – This includes the strategies, goals, objectives, plans, and interests of the organiza-

tion‘s dominant decision makers. Strategies are overall routes to goals, including ways of dealing

with the environment (e.g., strategy for expanding operations into the construction business);

goals are desired end states (e.g., becoming the leading construction firm in the South), whereas

objectives are specific targets and indicators of goal attainment (e.g., 5% growth per year). Plans

specify courses of action toward some end. Purposes may be explicit or implicit in the decision

makers‘ actions. They are the outcomes of conflict and negotiation among powerful parties with-

in and outside the organization.

Behavior and processes – This includes the prevailing patterns of behavior, interactions, and rela-

tionships between groups and individuals—including cooperation, conflict, coordination, com-

munication, controlling and rewarding behavior, influence and power relations, supervision, lea-

dership, decision-making, problem solving, planning, goal setting, information gathering, self-

criticism, evaluation, and group learning.

Culture – This includes shared norms, beliefs, values, symbols, and rituals relating to key aspects

of organizational life, such as the nature and identity of the organization, the way work is done,

the value and possibility of changing or innovating, and relationships between lower and higher

ranking members.

Structure – This includes enduring relations between individuals, groups, and larger units—

including role assignments (job descriptions; authority, responsibility, privileges attached to –

positions); grouping of positions in divisions, departments and other units; standard operating

procedures, established mechanisms for handling key processes such as coordination (e.g., com-

mittees, weekly meetings); human resources mechanisms (career lines, reward, evaluation proce-

dures); actual patterns (e.g., informal relations, cliques, coalitions, power distribution) that may

differ from officially mandated ones.


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Key Features of the Model

The model contains several important ideas for diagnosis:

1. External conditions influence the flow of inputs (resources) to organizations, affect the

reception of outputs, and can directly affect internal operations—for instance, when

regulatory agencies define production standards. Figure 1 depicts the possibility for direct

impacts on internal operations by showing a broken, permeable boundary around the organ-

ization. Feedback from outputs to inputs occurs when responses by customers or clients to

products or services affect resource flows—for instance, when demand for cigarettes

dropped among American men because they recognized the health hazards of smoking.

2. Organizations use many of their products, services, and ideas as inputs to organiza-

tional maintenance or growth (as shown in Figure 1 by the feedback loop within the or-

ganizational boundary). A computer firm, for example, may use its own machines and

software, and a university may employ its doctoral students as instructors. The human con-

sequences of work—including members‘ satisfactions with the quality of their working life

and their motivations to contribute to the organization—are another form of output that has

important internal impacts.

3. Organizations are influenced by their members as well as their environments. The

employees and clients who enter an organization may contribute to its operations, resist

them, or change them from within. In organizations in which the main job involves educat-

ing, classifying, or treating people, the same people who enter it are ultimately transferred

back to the environment—hopefully healthier, wealthier, or wiser. While these clients are

being treated or receiving services, they may change or shape the very practices that were

designed to influence them. Current values and standards increasingly urge managers to

consider what is good for their employees and clients and not to treat them as inanimate re-

sources (e.g., Business Week, 1981a).

4. The eight system elements and their subcomponents are interrelated and influence

one another. An organization‘s culture and structure affect members‘ behavior, but their

behavior also shapes the structure and the culture. Environments shape purposes, but organ-

izations also shape their environments. Practitioners should therefore be on the watch for

non-obvious relations between system features so that they can better anticipate the likely

impacts of changes in some part of the organization. They should consider the possibility,

for example, that managers may acquire a new computer system to enhance efficiency in

record-keeping and accounting, but that once the system is installed, people will start look-

ing for new ways to use it. Thus, technology may shape objectives as well as responding to

them.

5. Organizations are constantly changing as relationships among their system elements

shift. An organization‘s responses to internal and external changes de-


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pend on members‘ interpretations of these changes and their decisions about how to deal

with them. Information about internal and external developments flows through both offi-

cial and unofficial channels. Small changes in one part of the system may not require more

than routine adjustments in other elements, but major changes in one element can set off a

series of changes in others. For instance, if a firm hires people with somewhat less training

than past recruits, current procedures for planning and training new employees may still be

used with slight adjustments. On the other hand, if the firm sets up a branch overseas and

begins to hire people who have radically different backgrounds than those employed at

home, major shifts may be needed in the technology, structure, and processes in order to

adapt to the employees‘ skills, experience, and work styles.

6. An organization’s success depends heavily on its ability to adapt to its environment—

or to find a favorable environment in which to operate—as well as on its ability to tie

people into their roles in the organization, conduct its transformative processes, and

manage its operations (Katz & Kahn, 1978). These ―system needs‖ do not necessarily cor-

respond to the interests or priorities of top management.

7. Any level or unit within an organization can be viewed as a system. So far the model

has only been applied to the total organization, but a major division or branch within an or-

ganization can also be viewed as a system having all of the elements and features men-

tioned above. Even a single department or work group within a department can be analyzed

as a subsystem embedded within the larger systems. The broader organizational conditions

shape the operations of such sub-units but do not fully determine them.

Using the System Model

The open system model provides practitioners with a comprehensive yet flexible guide to ex-

amining the main features of an organization and understanding their relationships.

Basic organizational information. Drawing on the model, we generated the following list of basic

information about a client organization (or sub-unit) to gather at the beginning of a diagnosis.

After obtaining the overview provided by this information, consultants can decide what topics, if

any, they want to study in greater depth. The basic information that is most readily available

should be gathered during scouting, and the rest of this information should be collected as quick-

ly as possible after contracting to conduct a diagnosis.

Using the system model in broad diagnoses. Practitioners who intend to conduct a broad diagno-

sis can first obtain as much of the Basic Organizational Information as possible and then gather

data in greater depth on each of the eight system elements and their relationships.

Using the model in focused diagnoses. To apply the model to more narrowly focused diagnoses,

practitioners should first gather the Basic Organizational Information so as to better understand

the context of the focal problem or issue. Then they can choose the appropriate level(s) of analy-

sis, the system elements most directly related to the focal problem, particular subcomponents

within these elements, and the units in which data will be gathered. In data gathering and analy-

sis, practitioners should examine the impacts of all eight system elements on the focal problem.


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Suppose, for example, that the head of a firm that was having trouble retaining top quality engi-

neers in its research and development division asked an internal consultant to study the division‘s

compensation policies.


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Basic Organizational Information:

1. Outputs – main products or services, volume of sales, production, services delivered, etc.;

human ―outputs‖ (indications of satisfaction and commitment such as absenteeism, turn-

over).

2. Purposes – official statements of goals and mission; actual priorities as indicated by

budget allocations to division, programs (e.g., percentage of budget allocated to research

and development).

3. Inputs – financial assets, capital assets including real estate, physical plant, equipment

(amount, condition, e.g., age, degree of obsolescence, state of repair); revenues and allo-

cations from funding sources (e.g., for public agencies); human resources—numbers of

employees by job category, social and educational backgrounds, training and previous

experience.

4. Environment – affiliation and ownership (public versus private, affiliation with larger bo-

dies and nature or regulation by them); industry; task environment, including major mar-

kets, customers, clients; suppliers, competitors, regulators, distributors, etc.; availability

of funds for growth and expansion (internal and external borrowing, grants and budget

prospects for public agencies); physical and social surroundings (e.g., city center versus

suburban location, transportation, access to services, neighborhood safety).

5. Technology – type of production (unit, batch, mass, continuous process), level of automa-

tion, use of sophisticated information-processing technologies; main procedures used to

treat or process people in service organizations; data on operational failures, accidents,

waste, down time, etc.

6. Structure – major divisions and units; number of levels of hierarchy; basis for grouping of

units (e.g., by functions, markets), coordination mechanisms; spans of control (number of

subordinates reporting directly to each supervisor); spatial distribution of units, em-

ployees, and activities, unions and other forms of employee representation, grievance

procedures; human resources policies and procedures (recruitment, selection, orientation,

training, placement and promotion, pay, health, safety, benefits); recent union contracts

and other obligations affecting human resources management (e.g., directives relating to

hiring minorities); informal power blocks and coalitions.

7. Behavior and processes – main processes for high-level decision-making, strategy formu-

lation, and planning; major types of conflicts—e.g., labor relations, conflicts between di-

visions; strength of unions and degree of militancy, union involvement in issues other

than compensation; communication styles (e.g., oral, written, meeting-oriented).

8. Culture – symbols of organizational identity (logo, slogans, current advertising cam-

paigns, physical appearance of corporate headquarters and branches); myths (stories of

founders, historic successes); rituals (outings, sporting events, celebrations, annual re-


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views and plans); jargon (frequently used terms and phrases); dominant styles of dress,

décor, lifestyle; clients‘ working styles (e.g.., taking work home, working overtime).

9. System dynamics – overall financial condition—profits, losses, deficits; growth and con-

tractions (e.g., layoffs, consolidations of units) of inputs, outputs, operating budget; major

changes in any of above features.

Focusing on the division as a whole, the consultant could examine current compensation

policies (a subcomponent of its structure) and the relations between these policies and all eight

system elements. Important relations to environmental factors, for instance, would be evident in

the ability of the current benefits package to compete with that of other firms recruiting from the

same labor pool. Processual impacts would show up in the kinds of behavior and activities that

were rewarded (e.g., were promotions going to more innovative engineers or to those who just

met deadlines and handled routine problems?).

Redefining presented problems. The systems model can also help practitioners redefine

the problems or challenges initially presented by clients. Redefinition occurs whenever consul-

tants assume that presented problems may be symptomatic of broader, underlying conditions and

then examine these conditions. In broad studies, the decision to examine all system elements and

their relations implies an assumption that presented problems, such as falling revenues, reflect

complex relations between system elements, and will probably require interventions that change

these relations. In more focused diagnoses as well, the examination of the links between a pre-

sented problem and all system elements can reveal underlying causes or suggest ways to solve

the problem that were not considered by the client. The division manager struggling with high

turnover among engineers, for example, may not have considered the possibility that a reward

system that discouraged innovation and initiative could cause the more creative engineers to look

elsewhere for challenging work.

By discovering such unrecognized linkages, consultants can help clients break out of fa-

miliar ways of interpreting and responding to problems and may discover solutions that are more

feasible than those previously considered (e.g., reward creative work, rather than raising salaries

across the board). Although helpful, the open systems model will not suggest exactly how to re-

define a problem or how to go about solving it. Insights will typically derive more from past con-

sulting experience and training, from ideas generated by members of the organization, and from

the leads provided by some of the more explicit diagnostic models discussed in subsequent chap-

ters.

Data collection. Practitioners can begin gathering the Basic Organizational Information

listed above during site visits and initial meetings with clients during scouting. Statistics on top-

ics such as budgets, work force composition, financial position, and the scope of operations can

be found in organizational documents or can be prepared for the practitioner as soon as the con-

tracting stage has been completed. Official statements of purpose and charts of the organizational

structure should also be obtained. Site visits can provide some impressions of the organizational

culture, such as the corporate image presented to visitors and employees by buildings, equipment,

and furnishings (e.g., ―high-tech‖ versus ―tried and true‖ communications equipment; signs of


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prosperity and expansion versus signs of retrenchment and cost-cutting). Subsequent investiga-

tions will be needed, however, to determine whether these images reflect everyday practice. Bul-

letin boards and newsletters provide additional unobtrusive indications of organizational culture

and processes. For instance, notices about sporting teams whose membership cuts across ranks

point to informal contacts between ranks and may indicate a de-emphasis of status differences

among employees.

High-level managers or their assistants are usually asked to provide basic information.

Then further interviews with top managers, department or division heads, and a sample of other

members can provide more adequate data on those system features that were not adequately cov-

ered initially, such as organizational processes or members‘ assessments of how well things work

in the organization. A schedule like the General Orientation Interview in Appendix A could be

used to cover characteristics of units and some broader organizational factors, or a schedule

could be created that concentrates on organization-wide features. Interviews with informed out-

siders (e.g., journalists or customers) and external documents (newspapers, government reports,

etc.) can provide additional data sources on the organization and its external relations.

Measurement problems. Because some of the factors covered in the Basic Organizational

Information list and the General Orientation Interview are abstract and hard to measure, practi-

tioners must often content themselves with non-rigorous measures. For instance, when analyzing

basic information about the organizational culture of a firm, a practitioner might make a judg-

ment as to the orientation toward employees conveyed in newsletters or other documents (e.g.,

hard-nosed and competitive versus caring and supportive) without systematically coding the con-

tents of the documents or interviewing managers and employees about human resources policies.

Use of more rigorous but time-consuming methods could only be contemplated if the topic were

particularly critical to the diagnosis. In like manner, practitioners often have to settle for global

assessments of very complex conditions. When interviewing top management, for example, prac-

titioners may ask for general assessments of the organization‘s overall financial condition (rang-

ing from excellent down to critical), the competitiveness of the environment, and its degree of

threat or munificence.

Consultants can learn a great deal about their respondents‘ viewpoints and can identify

controversial or problematic issues for further study by comparing their respondents‘ interpreta-

tions of such complex organizational and environmental conditions. They can also gain insights

of this sort by comparing respondents‘ descriptions of ostensibly objective phenomena, such as

the lines of authority or reporting. If, for example, departmental managers draw different organi-

zation charts of the same division, this diversity points to ambiguity and possibly to conflict

about the lines of authority and the division of labor in that division. By using two or more types

of data on the same topic (e.g., descriptions of corporate goals in the report to stockholders and in

interviews), practitioners can also illuminate the perspectives and concerns of individuals and

groups and develop their own independent judgments about topics on which participants hold

divergent views.

Summarizing and analyzing data. The lists of Basic Organizational Information and of

System Elements can serve as accounting schemes within which consultants can organize and


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summarize their diagnostic findings. One straightforward approach is to make a separate card or

file for each system element and then to enter information into appropriate files, cross-

referencing them as needed, and noting the source of the information. A typical entry in the

Technology file for a diagnostic study of a high school might read as follows:

Teaching techniques – most classes are lectures and discussions conducted by teacher, sup-

plemented by homework exercises and projects. Remedial help available in Math and Eng-

lish. Labs in sciences. Microcomputer lab for word processing after school and for elective

course in Programming. Two language labs per week in French and Spanish. Minimal use of

audiovisual equipment, field trips, and so on.

Administrative: All filing is manual; electric and manual typewriters, photocopier, mimeo-

graph in office; two phone lines.

Source: Assistant Principal.

To summarize responses to interview based on a schedule like the General Orientation Inter-

view, practitioners may group together responses to each question that make the same point and

then record each type of response and the number of people giving it. If, for example, eight em-

ployees in a branch of a fast food chain were interviewed, a typical entry in the summary might

read as follows:

Are there any difficulties and barriers to getting work done here or doing it the way you‘d like to?

annoying customer complaints about food—taste, quality, and so on (3)

pressures from supervisor to work faster, come in on weekends (2)

none (2)

we often run out of buns (1)

Practitioners may choose to present the entire range of responses as feedback in order to stimu-

late analysis of the operations and suggestions for their improvement, or they may summarize

findings about organizational strengths and problems in a feedback report. In the hypothetical

case above, if feedback was to be provided to the supervisor, the former method would probably

be preferred, so that the two people who complained about the supervisor would not be singled

out for attention.

The system model itself can also be used to analyze and present data about relationships be-

tween elements. A graphic approach that aids both analysis and feedback is to place all eight

elements in a circle, list their important subcomponents, and draw color-coded lines between

those elements or subcomponents that promote some focal condition, such as job satisfaction,

and those that hinder it. Data supporting the inferences in the figure can be recorded separately

and used appropriately in feedback.


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KEY CONCEPTS OF GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY

Subsystems or Components. A system by definition is composed of interrelated parts of ele-

ments. This is true for all systems—mechanical, biological, and social. Every system has at least

two elements, and these elements are interconnected.

Holism, Synergism, Organicism, and Gestalt. The whole is not just the sum of the parts; the sys-

tem itself can be explained only as a totality. Holism is the opposite of elementarism, which

views the total as the sum of its individual parts.

Open Systems View. Systems can be considered in two ways: (1) closed or (2) open. Open sys-

tems exchange information, energy, or material with their environments. Biological and social

systems are inherently open systems; mechanical systems may be open or closed. The concepts of

open and closed systems are difficult to defend in the absolute. We prefer to think of open-closed

as a dimension; that is, systems are relatively open or relatively closed.

Input-Transformation-Output Model. The open system can be viewed as a transformation model.

In a dynamic relationship with its environment, it receives various inputs, transforms these inputs

in some way, and exports outputs.

System Boundaries. It follows that systems have boundaries which separate them from their envi-

ronments. The concept of boundaries helps us understand the distinction between open and

closed systems. The relatively closed system has rigid inpenetrable boundaries; whereas the open

system has permeable boundaries between itself and a broader suprasystem. Boundaries are rela-

tively easily defined in physical and biological systems, but are very difficult to delineate in so-

cial systems, such as organizations.

Negative Entropy. Closed, physical systems are subject to the force of entropy which increases

until eventually the entire system fails. The tendency toward maximum entropy is a movement to

disorder, complete lack of resource transformation, and death. In a closed system, the change in

entropy must always be positive; however, in open biological or social systems, entropy can be

arrested and may even be transformed into negative entropy—a process of more complete organ-

ization and ability to transform resources—because the system imports resources from its envi-

ronment.

Steady State, Dynamic Equilibrium, and Homeostasis. The concept of steady state is closely re-

lated to that of negative entropy. A closed system eventually must attain an equilibrium state with

maximum entropy—death or disorganization. However, an open system may attain a state where

the system remains in dynamic equilibrium through the continuous inflow of materials, energy,

and information.

________________

1Wortman, Max S., Jr. and Fred Luthans. Emerging Concepts in Management. Macmillan, 1975, p. 325. Reprinted

with permission.

Feedback. The concept of feedback is important in understanding how a system maintains a

steady state. Information concerning the outputs or the process of the system is fed back as an in-


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put into the system, perhaps leading to changes in the transformation process and/or future out-

puts. Feedback can be both positive and negative, although the field of cybernetics is based on

negative feedback. Negative feedback is informational input which indicates that the system is

deviating from a prescribed course and should readjust to a new steady state.

Hierarchy. A basic concept in systems thinking is that of hierarchical relationships between sys-

tems. A system is composed of subsystems of a lower order and is also part of a suprasystem.

Thus, there is a hierarchy of the components of the system.

Internal Elaboration. Closed systems move toward entropy and disorganization. In contrast, open

systems appear to move in the direction of greater differentiation, elaboration, and a higher level

of organization.

Multiple Goal-Seeking. Biological and social systems appear to have multiple goals or purposes.

Social organizations seek multiple goals, if for no other reason than that they are composed of

individuals and subunits with different values and objectives.

Equifinality of Open Systems. In mechanistic systems there is a direct cause and effect relation-

ship between the initial conditions and the final state. Biological and social systems operate diffe-

rently. Equifinality suggests that certain results may be achieved with different initial conditions

and in different ways. This view suggests that social organizations can accomplish their objec-

tives with diverse inputs and with varying internal activities (conversion processes).


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WEISBORD’S SIX-BOX MODEL

OUTSIDE ENVIRONMENT

―Everything Else‖

What constraints and demands does it impose?

M.R. Weisbord, Organizational Diagnosis, © 1978, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., Read-

ing, Massachusetts. Reprinted with permission.

1. PURPOSES

What ―business‖

are we in?

3. RELATIONSHIPS

How do we manage

conflict (coordinate)

among people?

With our technologies?

2. STRUCTURE

How do we divide

up the work?

5. LEADERSHIP

Is someone keep-

ing the boxes in

balance?

6. HELPFUL MECHANISMS

Have we adequate coordinating

technologies?

4. REWARDS

Is there an incentive

for doing all that

needs doing?


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WORKSHEET #1

Organizational Analysis Employing Weisbord‘s Six-Box Model

1. Purposes: What business are we in? What is the primary reason why the organization ex-

ists?

2. Structure: How do we divide up the work? What is our organizational structure?

3. Relationships: How do we manage conflict (coordinate) among people? With our technolo-

gies?

4. Rewards: Is there an incentive for doing all that needs doing? What types of rewards are

employed and when are they given?

5. Leadership: Is someone keeping the boxes in balance? What leadership style is employed?

6. Helpful mechanisms: Have we adequate coordinating technologies? What mechanisms as-

sure proper communication and adherence to procedures?


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WORKSHEET #2

INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL

Apply this analysis to the department or subsystem of your problem.

Department or area:___________________________________________________

INPUTS OUTPUTS

1.__________________ 1.____________________

2.__________________ 2.___________________

3.__________________ 3._________________

Sources of Feedback:

_ 1._____________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._________________________________________________________________

Outputs – How satisfied are consumers –

your customers, patients, clients, with each output?

1.______________________________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________________________

3.______________________________________________________________________

Main

Function

Or

Task


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INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL

Inputs from the environment:

Market information,

needs, competition, etc.

to the environment

Legal and social

restraints, influences Pr oducts

and

Human, financial, and Services

Knowledge resources

PROCESSING

Human Subsystem

Plans Inputs Technical Subsystem

Informational Subsystem

Economic (finance) Subsystem

Inputs from inside the organization: Information

People – talents and money

Money to the organization

Material

Equipment

Outputs


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WORKSHEET #3

SWOT ANALYSIS Title:________________________________

Strengths Weaknesses Current capabilities that are superior Areas in current capabilities that

to those of the competition and help prohibit the component from

the component meet a top-ranked achieving competitive advantage,

customer need or give the component meeting top-ranked customer needs,

a significant advantage over the achieving adequate levels of profit-

competition in the marketplace ability or market penetration, or ful-

filling its vision.

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

Opportunities Threats Trends, events, and ideas that we can Possible events outside of our con-

capitalize on to increase future profits trol that we need to plan or decide

and our competitive position. These may how to mitigate. These may include

include emerging market segments, new the entrance of a new competitor,

technology, new programs or services, competitor actions, legislation, or

geographic expansions, a faltering regulations that will increase costs,

competitor, cost reduction, and increasing or a declining program or

market penetration. Market.

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •


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WORKSHEET #4

Organizational Structure Exercise

Your group is to give considerable thought to designing an organization as functional, product,

hybrid, or matrix as assigned by the instructor. Begin by determining the type of organization,

e.g., human services, retail, manufacturing, financial, technical services, government, etc. Next,

determine the size of the organization in terms of quantifiable data such as number employed,

output, population served, market segment, etc. Then proceed to complete the following exercise.

1. Name and mission of the organization:

2. Environment of the organization:

3. Number of people employed and number of shifts operational:

4. Goals and objectives of the organization:

5. Structural design of the organization (functional, product, or matrix):

6. On a separate sheet of paper, draw the organizational chart associated with the organization.

Note: As professional consultants, prepare to defend your decisions to the remainder of the class.


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REWARDS FOR RESULTS

1. Subscription to professional publication 43. Special projects

2. Increased responsibility 44. Promotion based on performance

3. Personal name plate, badge, tag 45. Take to lunch once in a while

4. Less scrutiny 46. Keep informed about what‘s going on

5. Personalized business cards 47. Public recognition

6. Feeling of accomplishment on the job 48. Time off

7. Choice of break times 49. Cross-training opportunities

8. Job enrichment 50. Recognition for good attendance

9. Choice of shift 51. Frequent performance discussions

10. Trust and honesty by boss 52. Paid time for self-improvement

11. Photo in annual report 53. Delegate more

12. Outside training/education opportunities 54. Membership in civic organizations

13. Increase authority 55. Favorable overtime

14. Better equipment/tools 56. Support or back-up of decisions

15. Memo in file for good performance 57. Acknowledgment on special days

16. Raises that are fair 58. More ―winners‖ hired on team

17. Quicker decisions by manager 59. Self-development plans discussed

18. Recognition as an individual 60. Committee/task force assignments

19. Rotate first choice for vacations 61. Certificates for special achievements

20. Approve requests without nit-picking 62. Re-classify job

21. Allow personalization of work area 63. Consistent administration of policies

22. Specific praise and reinforcement 64. Good working environment

23. Change title 65. More involvement in problems

24. Allow completion of tasks 66. Less criticism/negativism

25. Flex time change scheduled hours 67. Vacation choice based on attendance

26. Less paperwork 68. Increased participation on the job

27. Privacy in office space/work area 69. Speed up career development

28. Good/reserved parking spot 70. Participation in management meetings

29. Ask opinions/respect judgment 71. Choice of service awards

30. Added staff when needed 72. Recognition in wider circles

31. Participation in choice of equipment/tools 73. Open communication with feedback

32. Special team-identity items 74. Letters of commendation

33. Represent organization outside 75. More freedom

34. Opportunity to set own goals 76. Review performance objectively

35. Choice of days off 77. Choice of assignments

36. Challenging assignments 78. Personalized award, plaques

37. Make group-leader 79. _______________________________

38. Bonus for exceptional performance 80. _______________________________

39. Feature in in-house publication 81. _______________________________

40. Allow to use my own methods 82. _______________________________

41. Opportunity to learn new skill 83. _______________________________

42. Free passes to events 84. _______________________________


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ORGANIZATION CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE

Organization climate has become an increasingly popular concept for describing the generalized

perceptions which people employ in thinking about and describing the organizations in which

they work. Climate is an ―umbrella concept‖ in that it is a way of summarizing numerous specif-

ic, detailed perceptions in a small number of general dimensions. Benjamin Schneider offers the

following definition of the term:

An organization‘s climates are the concepts people share about the organization. As con-

cepts, climate perceptions, are meaningful abstractions of sets of cues, the cues being the

many specific events, conditions, practices, and procedures that occur in the daily life of

an organization. As concepts, climate perceptions help individuals reduce information

overload and function as frameworks against which people identify behaviors that will

adapt them to their situation (1974).

Although climate has usually been used to describe organizations, the term can also be used to

describe people‘s perceptions of groups or job assignments in which they work. It can also be

used to describe non-work social systems, such as families, clubs, and dyadic relationships.

Completing the Questionnaire

First complete the questionnaire, describing the ideal and then the actual state of the organiza-

tion, as you see it. (The ―organization‖ can be this class, a work group, your employer, or any

other organization.) Then compute your ideal and actual scores on the six dimensions of climate

given at the end of the questionnaire. Compute the gap between ideal and actual states on each

dimension.

_________________________ Benjamin Schneider and C. J. Bartlett, Experiences in Management and Organizational Behavior, c 1975 by St.

Clair Press. Used by permission.

This version of the questionnaire is not presented for research purposes. Those interested in the

total set of items should contact Benjamin Schneider, Department of Psychology, University of

Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.


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ORGANIZATION CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE

Using the spaces in the left-hand column, first describe the ideal practices and procedures you

would like to see in this organization. Next, using the spaces in the right-hand column, describe

what you believe actually happens now in this organization. Put a number in the space beside

each statement according to the following key: 1 = almost never; 2 = infrequently; 3 = some-

times; 4 = frequently; 5 = very frequently.

Ideal Actual Actual

1. This organization takes care of the people who work for it.

2. Members enjoy keeping up with national and international

current events.

3. People in this organization ask each other how they are do-

ing in reaching their goals.

4. Management effectively balances people problems and pro-

duction problems.

5. There are definite ―in‖ and ―out‖ groups within the organ-

ization.

6. This organization encourages employees to exercise their

own initiatives.

7. This organization takes an active interest in the progress of

its members.

8. Members of this organization have a wide range of interests.

9. More experienced members of the organization take time to

help new members.

10. The management runs a people-oriented organization.

11. Members of this organization always have grievances no

matter what is done.

12. This organization willingly accepts the ideas of its mem-

bers for change.


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13. This organization recognizes that its life depends upon its members.

14. Members keep themselves informed on many topics be-

sides their immediate job-related activities.

15. People in this organization speak openly about each other‘s

short-comings.

16. There is a sense of purpose and direction in this organi-

zation.

17. Members are prone to overstate and exaggerate their ac-

accomplishments.

18. Management does not exercise authoritarian control over

members‘ activities.

Scoring:

Add Ideal Actual Gap

Scale Items: Total Total (Ideal-Actual)

Organizational Support 1, 7, 13 ______ ______ ______

Member Quality 2, 8, 14 ______ ______ ______

Openness 3, 9, 15 ______ ______ ______

Supervisory Style 4, 10, 16 ______ ______ ______

Member Conflict 5, 11, 17 ______ ______ ______

Member Autonomy 6, 12, 18 ______ ______ ______


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Discussion Questions:

1. Where did the greatest gaps occur? Why?

2. Where did the smallest gaps occur? Why?

3. What insights did you gain regarding your organization‘s climate?


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ALCOHOL REHABILITATION CENTER CASE STUDY

You have been hired as a team of consultants to work with an alcohol rehabilitation program

which is having problems. Assume the information below is accurate (although incomplete).

The Alcohol Rehabilitation Center Program has been operating for about six months un-

der state and local monies. All of the twenty-five paid employees are CETA employees.

Approximately twenty other persons work for the program on a voluntary basis. The pro-

gram components include: 1) a halfway house for alcoholics who are ―bottoming out,‖ 2)

an educational program to train county personnel (mental health, law enforcement, child

abuse, helpline, etc.) to deal with alcohol abuse and alcoholics and 3) a social service

program to coordinate county resources to better serve the recovering alcoholic. The

problem is a controversial one. Some of the controversies and problems include:

1. Some members of the community do not want the halfway house located in their area.

2. The program is run by a program manager, but there is also a quasi-policy-making

Board of Directors.

3. About 20 percent of the paid staff are considering leaving the program. The reasons

include ―burnout‖ and complaints that the program manager is arbitrary and authorita-

rian.

4. Other staff members report the manager is quite effective and easy to get along with.

5. Approximately fifteen community agencies (including welfare, police, alcoholics

anonymous, child abuse) are directly affected by the program and intermittently com-

plain they do not have as much impact on the program as they would like.

6. The paid staff is highly committed to the concept of the program, and many of them

are recovering alcoholics.

7. Each paid staff member receives the same salary ($12,000 per year).

8. Several of the original program planners are on the Board of Directors and are con-

cerned about the program: their focus of concern is the program manager.

9. There are continual rumors surrounding the program (from within and without the

program); the information from these rumors varies, depending on the source of the

information.

10. The program was conceived so that decision-making was based on consensus; in real-

ity, the manager has the most decision-making power, although several staff members

also have power and influence.


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11. The staff members who work with the halfway house believe the housing component

is the most important. Those that work with the educational program think education

is most important, while the social service staffers think their aspect is the most sig-

nificant part of the program.

You have been called in by three members of the Board of Directors who say the program will

not be refunded unless the problems are solved. Given this information, discuss the problems

(with your team of consultants) and write an organizational diagnosis. The analysis should be one

that your team could present to the Alcohol Rehabilitation Program staff (Worksheet 5).

After you have done this, make a list of what further information you would need to know about

the Alcohol Rehabilitation Program to make a more accurate and thorough diagnosis (Worksheet

6). Decide on at least one way to get each type of information you would need. Write this down

(Worksheet 6).

Given what you know about the program and based upon your diagnosis, what intervention

would you use with the program to help solve the problems? Be specific (Worksheet 7).


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WORKSHEET #5

Alcohol Rehabilitation Center Case Study

On this sheet, develop a diagnosis of the problems in the Alcohol Rehabilitation Center. The di-

agnosis should be based on systems analysis.


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WORKSHEET #6


Make a list of further information you would need to know in order to make a thorough diagnosis

of the Alcohol Rehabilitation Center.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.


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WORKSHEET #6, CONTINUED

Make a list of how and from whom you might get each type of information below. Each way of

data gathering should correspond to the number (listed other side) of the information needed.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.


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WORKSHEET #7


Write down a plan of intervention your team of consultants would use with the Alcohol Rehabili-

tation Center. These should be sequential. Next to each step, give a rationale for why you would

choose to do this.

Intervention Strategy Rationale

Step

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

6. 6.

7. 7.

8. 8.

9. 9.


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ASSESSING THE FEASIBILITY OF CHANGE

AND CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE INTERVENTIONS

Interpretive and Process Issues

Consultants need to consider the following issues during diagnosis in order to decide what steps,

if any, will help clients solve problems and enhance organizational effectiveness.

1. Does the organization need basic changes? When performance gaps and other signs of

ineffectiveness show up in diagnoses, consultants and clients should decide whether small

system adjustments or basic changes are needed and then choose feasible routes toward

either form of improvement. The periodic adjustments in procedures that most organiza-

tions use to cope with surprises and environmental fluctuations are typical of small sys-

tem adjustments that do not fundamentally alter any system elements. Retailers, for ex-

ample, temporarily hire extra help during the Christmas rush, and most organizations go

through troubleshooting episodes during which members drop everyday matters and de-

vote themselves to meeting a deadline or resolving a crisis. In like manner, managers may

adjust rules and standard operating procedures slightly to cope with problems without

making any fundamental changes.

In contrast, basic changes such as structural reorganizations (e.g., eliminating or creating

positions), processual changes (e.g., increasing participation in decision-making), and

technological changes (e.g., computerizing record-keeping) substantially alter practices

within one or more system elements and often have consequences that are felt at many

organizational levels and within many systems elements. Such changes often reflect re-

vised goals, strategies, and plans, and usually require difficult decisions about reallocating

funds and other resources.

Basic changes are needed when current ways of shifting routines and procedures to cope

with problems have become insufficient or are likely to become outmoded in the near fu-

ture. Troubleshooting procedures and other system adjustments are inadequate if an or-

ganization has fallen into a state of permanent crisis, lurching from one troubleshooting

episode to another, or if the short-term solutions to crises create long-lasting havoc in the

organization (Sayles, 1979, pp. 160-162). Moreover, basic changes are probably needed if

symptoms of ineffectiveness such as quality problems, operating inefficiencies, and low

morale persist despite many efforts to use ―quick and easy‖ techniques to deal with these

problems.

2. Is there readiness for change? Members of an organization and external stakeholders of-

ten realize that ―something must be done‖ to change an organization when they are faced

with mounting signs of ineffectiveness—such as declining sales, poor quality, eroding

budget support, labor unrest, internal conflict, or failures to exploit opportunities—or

when they adopt new goals and strategies that call for changes like growth, diversifica-

tion, and innovation. Such shifts in priorities can occur as a result of changes in man-


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agement or in response to the example of other organizations that pioneer a new tech-

nique, like robotics, or create new opportunities (e.g., by creating a new market). Diag-

nostic feedback that shows clients and other members that organizational problems are

more acute or more widespread than they had thought may also increase readiness for

change if the recipients of the feedback are not threatened by the prospect of change.

3. How will members and external stakeholders react to proposed interventions? In consi-

dering possible steps to improve effectiveness, consultants need to consider whether

clients, other members, and external stakeholders are likely to cooperate with an interven-

tion or resist it. In particular, during diagnosis consultants should try to determine wheth-

er key decision-makers and other powerful groups are likely to support particular inter-

ventions and provide the backing and resources needed to implement them successfully.

They should also examine the extent to which possible interventions are likely to encoun-

ter resistance because they threaten people‘s power, prestige, job security, or other inter-

est. Typical sources of resistance include:

• community groups that oppose institutional expansion into residential neighbor-

hoods

• regulatory bodies that require evidence that new programs or products meet envi-

ronmental, equal opportunity, or safety standards

• managers who are skeptical about the efficacy of an unfamiliar intervention, like the

introduction of flexible working hours, and worried about its costs

• unions and employees who fight proposals for redefining job responsibilities, con-

solidating jobs or units, or rolling back wages

• people whose prestige or power depends on current procedures or arrangements

• managers who fear that sensitivity training or other process interventions will pry

into their personal lives and feelings

If diagnosis suggests that a particular form of intervention may encounter serious resistance by

clients, members, or outside stakeholders, then consultants should try to find other steps toward

improvement that are less threatening and better fit the expressed needs and concerns of these

groups, rather than trying to expose and confront resistance (Harrison, 1970). They might, for

example, suggest that management consider retraining and relocating employees whose jobs

would be eliminated by merging two divisions, rather than firing them.

4. Does the organization have the capacity to implement the changes? Even if there is no

active resistance to a proposed intervention, the client organization may not have the ca-

pacity to make these changes. To assess the capacity to make particular


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change, practitioners can check whether each system element can be expected to make the

contributions required for the change to be made successfully. To make this assessment,

consultants can ask themselves questions such as these:

Does the organization have the resources—people, funds, talent, knowledge, etc.—

and technology needed to make the change or can it obtain them?

Can current structural and technical arrangements be adapted to accommodate and

facilitate the change?

Will dominant behavior patterns, processes, beliefs, and values (culture) support the

new kinds of behavior that the change will introduce?

Will the environment provide the necessary support, permission, and resources to

make the change feasible?

In assessing capacity, practitioners make judgments about the probable fit between cur-

rent practices and proposed changes. For example, when Sears Roebuck decided to offer

a wide range of financial services such as insurance, personal loans, and automatic teller

machines, observers (e.g., Business Week, 1981b) questioned whether its managers, who

were steeped in the culture of mass-market retailing, could learn to adapt to the business

style of the insurance and financial services industries. In addition, the question was

raised whether the divergent retailing and financial services operations could successfully

be integrated within a single organizational structure.

5. Will the proposed changes achieve the desired results without having undesirable conse-

quences? Before recommending changes, practitioners should make a final accounting of

the probable benefits and risks of each possible intervention. By considering the likely

impacts of proposed changes on all systems elements and on the interactions among

them, consultants may check whether the change is likely to have the desired conse-

quences without creating other, unintended consequences that would undercut its bene-

fits. Interventions are more likely to succeed if they fit the conditions in the client organi-

zation, including:

members‘ characteristics (e.g., preferences for pay versus more vacation time)

organizational and technical conditions (e.g., equipment, division of labor)

external constraints (e.g., consumer preferences)

organizational culture (informal norms, values, and beliefs)

In a case involving 21C Scientific Instruments, for example, the consultant sought to tap

the talents of division managers and help the firm move from a paternalistic management

style that rewarded loyalty to the firm toward a more performance-oriented style. To do so

the consultant might have proposed increasing the authority and autonomy of division

managers. But this intervention could have


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had very undesirable consequences: Pressures by division manages for greater efficiency

and productivity and the firing or relocation of veteran employees would have created

shock and hostility among remaining employees, who were accustomed to job security

and limited pressure for performance. These developments could have led to low morale,

labor unrest, and conflict between managers attached to the old, paternalistic style of

management and those who championed expanding and streamlining operations—no

matter what the costs for current employees.

Consultants should weigh the likely positive and negative effects of any interventions that

might produce lasting improvements in effectiveness. Then they can recommend the

beneficial interventions that are least likely to encounter serious resistance or have other

undesirable consequences and that require the lowest levels of support and commitment

from members (see Harrison, 1970). If these steps succeed, more ambitious interventions

can be considered subsequently.

Methodological Issues

Assessing support and resistance to change. In examining readiness for change and the likely

consequences of implementing some change, practitioners should bear in mind that people‘s atti-

tudes toward a proposal are not very good predictors of how they will behave if it is actually im-

plemented (see Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975, on the difficulty of predicting behavior from attitudes).

Social pressures from peers or supervisors may make people hesitate to reveal their true feelings.

Moreover, after change has occurred, members may change their attitudes as they discover that

its costs and benefits differ greatly from what they anticipated. Despite these drawbacks, attitu-

dinal data may reveal previously unnoticed hostility toward proposed changes. In addition, inter-

views with powerful individuals, including influential leaders who lack formal authority, may

indicate whether they will support or resist an intervention.

Because of the difficulty of predicting people‘s actions from their attitudes, consultants seeking

to assess readiness for change and its likely consequences should also examine the ways in which

members reacted in the past when changes were introduced. If practitioners and clients carefully

consider the specific nature of past interventions and the ways in which they were introduced,

they may be able to discover the most feasible types of changes and the best procedures for intro-

ducing them.

Testing for capacity, readiness, and consequences. The complexity of organizational relations

and the indeterminacy of future behavior make it very difficult to anticipate people‘s reactions to

change and the consequences of particular interventions. As a result, consultants and managers

sometimes take a more experimental approach to implementation. They may, for instance, im-

plement a change in stages, beginning with some preliminary activity (such as an off-site meeting

with top managers to plan changes) in order to learn from members‘ reaction to each stage how

they may react to subsequent stages. By developing contingency plans for responding to possible

developments at each stage, consultants can prepare to recommend appropriate steps to imple-

mentation.


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Another variation on this approach is to introduce an intervention as an experiment in one or

more units within an organization. After a period of running-in and an assessment of the conse-

quences, the innovation can be modified in light of this experience and then diffused to other

parts of the organization. Managers often take this approach when introducing costly technologi-

cal changes or introducing structural changes, such as job enrichment, in which routing jobs are

made more complex and challenging. Unfortunately, managers in both the public and private sec-

tors sometimes agree to introduce such a pilot program in order to show that they are forward

looking, although, in fact, they have little intention of extending the program to the rest of the

organization. An additional drawback to the experimental programs is that the enthusiasm

created by the newness and uniqueness of the program may be lost when the change is introduced

widely and becomes well established.


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CHANGE AGENT CHECKLIST

Introduction

As a change agent, it is imperative that you are extremely well prepared to effect the proposed

change. To assist in this preparation, the following checklist is provided. As you cover these

items, they may trigger additional questions. Use the checklist to your best advantage.

YES NO

MANPOWER PLANNING

1. Have those affected by the change been adequately informed?

2. Has the information they have been given been kept up to date?

3. Could any of the changes proposed be seen as a threat to individuals/groups?

4. Are the proposed changes likely to alter the working relationships between indi-

viduals? Between working groups?

5. Are there any likely changes in working practices or in working conditions which

could be misunderstood?

6. Is there any training/retraining required?

7. Will it be necessary to hire additional manpower? How many and what capacity?

8. Are there any likely changes in status, i.e., between craft and non-craft workers?

9. Is there a history of success or failure in introducing changes which might affect

attitudes?

10. Are managers aware of what is going on and are they enthusiastic/committed?

11. Will the quality of working life be affected?

12. Has every opportunity to consult been taken, when this will provide support for

the change or remove unnecessary anxieties?

MATERIALS PLANNING:

1. Are new materials required?

2. If so, are the people familiar with them skilled in their use?


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3. Are the materials up to standard?

4. Is the source of supply secure?

5. Are the delivery dates secure?

6. Will the quality of product be affected?

CAPITAL/EQUIPMENT PLANNING:

1. What capital equipment (desks, computer, files, machinery, etc.) is necessary?

2. Are delivery dates secure?

3. Are maintenance arrangements O.K.?

4. Are there any safety hazards?

5. Is anyone‘s skill made obsolete by the new process?

6. Are there new fuel/power requirements or communications requirements?

7. Can operators be trained elsewhere/only on site?

8. Will the quality of product be affected?

9. When will the machines be fully operational?

10. When will full productivity be possible?

METHODS/PROCEDURES PLANNING:

1. Are new methods/procedures sufficiently in place and understood?

2. Has everyone affected been identified and informed?

3. Has adequate time been allowed for the new methods/procedures to be absorbed?

4. Will the methods/procedures change people‘s working relationships?

5. How will this affect the old ways people got things done if some of the old ways

need to continue alongside the new?


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MONEY: Assuming that the major capital expenditure has been taken care of:

1. Has the cost of any overtime required to make up for lost production time been

calculated?

2. Has a decision been made on changes on the wage structure in the department in

question, and have any consequential effects been calculated and budgeted for?

3. Has the cost of the new materials required and the disposal of the surplus old ma-

terials been calculated?

4. Has the cost of any small auxiliary equipment been estimated?

5. How dependent is cash-flow management on maintaining the purchasing schedule

for materials and machines?

6. What unexpected happenings could cause an impact on cash-flow and what con-

tingency plans have been made to deal with them?

7. What mechanisms are available for financial and budgetary monitoring of the

change, in order to give early warnings of what financial action may be necessary?


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PLANNING FOR YOUR CHANGES

Think about the problem associated with your project. Consider the impact of change if you were

to implement a plan to correct the situation. Use the checklist that follows.

(If some of the items don‘t apply, disregard them. If you think of more items, add them.) Above

all, be honest with yourself in your evaluations. If for some reason your problem doesn‘t apply to

this analysis, advise the seminar leader of your exception.

1. The change I‘m analyzing is:

2. Who will be affected by the change? Employees, customers, suppliers, upper levels, inter-

facing groups, the public, etc. How much will each group be affected? What is the best

that could happen? What is the worst? Etc.

3. Extent of information about the change? Can we give full information? Do we want to?

Why or why not? What will limit the information we can give? What do they know or

suspect now? What background is needed to understand the change? Can we face up to

the disadvantages, or do we have to gloss over them? If we don‘t communicate, what will

that in itself communicate?

4. Participation in the change decision? Do we really want participation in the change deci-

sion? Why or why not? What do we stand to lose? To gain? Could we get participation in

the basic decision? In the implementing decisions? Are we skilled enough to get partici-

pation? Are we trying to make it look like their decision when it really isn‘t? Etc.

5. Trust in the initiator? Who will be seen as the initiator? What is his ―internal credit rating,‖

or trust level? Would our channels be believed? What is our track record for being hon-

est? For giving all the facts? Etc.

6. What past experience have they had with change? How have similar or related events im-

pacted them? What memories will we be bringing back? Will we be stirring up good feel-

ings or bad feelings? Etc.


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7. How will the change affect the social groups involved in the change? What will be the

favorable impacts? The unfavorable? How will it affect existing social groupings? How

will new people be introduced, or new associations change the existing social arrange-

ments? Etc.

8. How will the change affect individual personalities? How will most of the people affected

react to the change? Who is likely to quit over the change? Who is likely to take this up

as a ―cause‖? Who won‘t care? Why? Etc.

9. How can we test the assumptions we have made above? What is our ―confidence level‖

about them? Which are key assumptions, which if wrong will make us very wrong?

10. What do your answers to the questions above tell you about our attitudes? Consider your

attitudes toward sharing information, getting participation, building a climate of trust,

perceiving other‘s points of view, etc. Do you want to make any changes here?

Note: What we wish to avoid are unexpected reactions to a change we make. If this occurs, our

analysis wasn‘t good enough.


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BARRIERS TO CHANGE

It Always Takes Longer than you thought it would.

To overcome this barrier:

Stick to your vision constantly.

Build in and reward short-term successes.

Talk constantly about your vision and about change.

Acknowledge the long-term requirement.

Unrealistic Expectations, i.e., everyone wants everything now!


Encourage and support others for taking responsibility for executing the vision in

their respective areas.

Establish regular multiple communication channels.

Refuse to be the problem solver/answer person.

Build up others.

Talk about and reward team accomplishments.

Skeptics and Critics


Allow people the freedom to be critical.

View criticism as feedback; feedback is a gift!

Drown skepticism in the enthusiasm of short-term progress.

Enlist the aid and support of critics.

Suspend your own assumptions and listen to critics.

Procrastination


Break vision-supporting actions into small doable steps.

Keep the pressure on for small actions.

Applaud small accomplishments

Imperfection


Expect and prepare yourself for failures.

Learn from your mistakes.

Use the mistakes to refocus on your vision.

Give attention to your own attitude.

Don‘t equate success with perfection.


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FORCE-FIELD ANALYSIS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

This package contains some Force-Field Analysis memory joggers to use in solving problems for

yourself or with others. In using the worksheets it is critical that you clearly state the particular

situation you want changed and then complete the rest of the items in sequence.

Before you begin, it may be helpful to review the following major points about Force-Field

Analysis.

DEFINITION: A systematic method for understanding competing forces that increase or de-

crease the likelihood of successfully implementing change.

PURPOSE

analyze a problem situation into its basic components

identify the key elements of the problem situation about which something can realistically

be done

develop a systematic strategy for problem solving which minimizes ―boomerang‖ efforts

and irrelevant efforts

create a guiding set of criteria for the evaluation of action steps

to provide a framework for developing change strategies aimed at decreasing Restraining

Forces and increasing Driving Forces

ASSUMPTION

Any problem situation constitutes a level of activity which is different from that desired. It could

be:

the behavior of an individual or group

the current state or condition of an organization

a particular set of attitudes

a frame of mind

The level of activity is the starting point in problem identification and analysis.


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ACTIVITY LEVEL

This results from a number of simultaneous pressures and influences acting upon the individual,

group, or organization in question. The influences, called ―Forces‖ by Kurt Lewin, may be both

external and internal to the person or situation in question. Lewin identifies two kinds of Forces:

Restraining Forces which inhibit or oppose the occurrence of the particular activity of

concern.

Driving Forces which promote the occurrence of the same activity.

FORCE FIELDS

The restraining and driving forces push in opposite directions and the stronger of the two will

tend to characterize the problem situation. Changes in the strength of either of the fields can

cause a change in the activity level of concern.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT

1. Define the Desired State.

2. Define the Present State.

3. Construct the diagram.

a. Draw a horizontal line at the bottom of the page

b. Draw two parallel vertical lines connected to the horizontal line.

1.) A broken line at the far right. Label it ―Desired State.‖

2.) A solid line just to the left of center. Label it ―Present State.‖

c. On the left side of the Present State line, list the forces that will influence movement

toward the Desired State. Label these ―Driving Forces.‖

d. On the right side of the Present State line, list the forces that will prevent movement

toward the Desired State. Label these ―Restraining Forces.‖

e. Draw an arrow from each force listed to the Present State line.

USING A FORCE-FIELD ANALYSIS

Force-field analysis is a process of problem-solving developed primarily by psychologist Kurt

Lewin. By asking a series of questions, we can identify ―forces‖ working to maintain the problem

as it exists—restraining forces—and forces working to change—driving forces. Actions can then

be decided on based on the strength of each driving and restraining force.

What is important in this activity is identifying those forces that influence the problem(s) your

agency may be experiencing.

As an example of how force-field analysis can be used, imagine:


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1. Mr. Smith is a smoker who wants to stop smoking. He smokes two packs of cigarettes a

day. This is a problem.

2. Restraining forces might be:

a. He‘s been a smoker for ten years.

b. There is social pressure to be a smoker.

c. His body is physically addicted to nicotine.

d. His wife is a smoker.

e. His co-workers are smokers.

f. He thinks he enjoys smoking, although he knows it is unhealthy.

3. Driving forces might be:

a. His children have asked him to stop smoking.

b. The price of cigarettes is going up.

c. He has developed a hacking cough.

d. When he jogs, his chest hurts.

e. He knows it is unhealthy.

f. His best friend, Burt, stopped smoking.

g. His father is in the hospital with possible lung cancer after being a heavy smoker for

25 years.

Mr. Smith then looks at the strongest driving forces and can design ways to increase their effects

and likewise find ways of decreasing the strength of restraining forces. This is the beginning of

an action plan.


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Example of Force Field Analysis

Desired State: Stop Smoking

Present State: Smokes 2 packs a day

Driving Restraining

Forces Forces

His children have asked him |

To stop smoking. |

|

He‘s been a smoker for ten years |

|

The price of cigarettes is going up |

|

There is social pressure to be a

smoker.

|

He has developed a hacking cough |

|

His body is physically addicted. |

|

|

When he jogs his chest hurts |

|

His wife is a smoker

|

He knows it is unhealthy |

|

His co-workers are smokers |

|

His best friend, Burt, stopped smoking |

|

He thinks he enjoys smoking

although it is unhealthy

|

His father is in the hospital with possible |

lung cancer after being a heavy smoker |

for 25 years |

|

|

Present Desired State

State State


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NOTE: The length of the line indicates strength of the force. The goal is to increase/enhance

driving forces and reduce/neutralize restraining forces.

Force Field Exercise Desired State: Meet customer commitments

Present State: Not providing service/facilities

on a timely basis (where and when

customer wants it)

Driving Restraining

Forces Forces

|

|

|

|

|

| |

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

Present State Desired

State

Objective: Meet customer commitments by providing service/facilities on a timely (where and

when the customer wants it) basis.


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RESTRAINING FORCES/DRIVING FORCES

1. Lack of knowledge of Company organization including Company segmentation (coopera-

tion, coordination, identification, communication)

2. Preventing duplication of effort (make job easier, less time restrictions, memory of past

negative and positive experiences)

3. Paychecks

4. Attitudes

5. Uncertain about references, i.e., routines and sources to go to for technical information

such as references or personnel

6. Competition

7. Customers‘ schedule and satisfaction including reducing customer complaints

8. Integrity of service (build good company image)

9. Lack of proper administration

10. Building interdepartmental and departmental relationships

11. Pressure from superiors

12. Conflicting priorities, i.e., workload, force availability, improper short and long range

planning

13. Personal accomplishment including aiding in your own career pathing and chances for

promotion

14. Lack of technical knowledge


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WORKSHEET #8

Force-Field Analysis

1. State the problem:

2. Describe the ―desired state‖:

3. Restraining Forces: What forces operate to keep problem alive? (brainstorm)

4. List restraining forces in order of strength.

5. Which forces do you have some control over or an effect on?

6. Driving Forces: What forces operate to change the problem?

7. List driving forces in order of strength.

8. Which of the driving forces do you have some control over (effect on)?


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9. Try to identify relationships between the restraining forces; for example, the same factor

(personnel or climate) may be seen as both a driving and restraining force.

Relationships:

1.

2.

3.

10. Brainstorm actions/steps you can take to increase the driving forces.

11. List resources needed.

12. List resources available.

13. Brainstorm action steps to reduce restraining forces.

14. List resources needed.

15. List resources available.


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THE BUREAUCRAT’S PRAYER

Oh Thou who seest all things below,

Grant that Thy servants may go slow;

That we may study to comply

With regulations ‗til we die.

Teach us, O Lord, to reverence

Committees more than common-sense;

Impress our minds to make no plan

And pass the baby when we can.

And when the Tempter seems to give

Us feelings of initiative,

Or when, alone, we go too far

Recall us with a circular.

‗Mid fire and tumult, war and storms,

Sustain us, Blessed Lord, with forms,

Thus may thy servants ever be

A flock of perfect sheep for Thee

—Anonymous

THE BUREAUCRAT‘S LIMERICK

The art of composing a ‗Minute‘

is to take half an hour to begin it,

Making sure it endorses

Alternative courses,

And there‘s nothing quite definite in it.

—Col. Lyndall F. Urwick

______________________________ From: Ernest Dale, Readings in Management: Landmarks and New Frontiers, McGraw Hill, 1965. Reprinted with

author‘s permission.


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GENERAL ORIENTATION INTERVIEW

I. The Person and His or Her Job

(Individual Level)

1. What do you do here? Please tell me about your past experience in the organization and your

current job. (Probe for job title, description of work, department, or unit in which person

works, previous positions in organization, time spent in them.)

2. What is it like to work here? (Probe for feelings about work and atmosphere, e.g., fun, fru-

strating, competitive.)

II. Work Roles, Technology, and Outputs

(Individual and Group Levels)

1. What tasks does your unit (group, department, division) perform? What are the main tech-

niques and means used to do these things?

2. What are the main outputs of this unit—product, services, ideas? What units in the organiza-

tion or outside it receive these outputs?

3. How does your job fit into the work done here? With whom do you have to work (inside and

outside the organization) to get things done? How do you communicate with them—informal

discussions, meetings, telephone, written reports, computer links, and so on?

4. What kinds of problems do you have to handle to work? When problems occur, how do you

handle them? (Probe for solutions that are well known versus need to discover solutions.) Do

you run into many variations and unexpected situations in your work, or is it fairly similar

from day to day?

5. Are there any difficulties and barriers to getting the work done here or doing it the way you

would like to?

III. Group Structures and Processes—Controls,

Coordinating Mechanisms (Group and Organization Levels)

1. How is the work coordinated within the unit? (Probe for the kinds of controls used, e.g.,

budgets, direct supervision, quality control, period evaluations, MBO, etc.)

2. Are goals and objectives spelled out for your unit? If so, how? (Probe for the specification of

specific targets versus general direction and for the ways in which specified.)

3. How do you know when you have done a job well? (Probe for nature of criteria, type of feed-

back, and time involved in feedback.)


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IV. Environment—Relations to Units within

the Organization (Group and Organization Levels)

1. What other units do you have to work with to get the work done? How are contacts with oth-

er units coordinated?

2. What kinds of things does your unit need to get from other units—funds, approval for action,

materials, people, information, and so on? How do you get these things?

3. Are relations to other units pretty smooth and trouble-free or do uncertainties and problems

arise? (If so, please describe them.)

V. Environment—External Relations

(Group and Organization Levels)

1. What kinds of contacts does your unit have with external groups or organizations? (see also

Question II-2) What markets or fields (areas) does your unit work/compete in? What kinds of

things do people in your unit need to know about what is going on outside the organization?

(Probe for important technological conditions, if not mentioned.) How do they find out?

2. What are the main kinds of resources—people, materials, services, funds, and information—

you get from these groups? On which groups are you most dependent?

3. Do you run into problems and challenges in obtaining or supplying these resources and in

dealing with external groups and conditions? If so, please describe them and explain how you

handle them.

VI. Structure (Group and Organization Levels)

1. How is the work in this unit organized and how does the unit fit into the whole organization?

(Probe for formal structure, e.g., who is the head of the unit? To whom does the head report?

Who reports to the head? If appropriate, ask respondent to draw an organization chart for the

unit and to show its relationship to the rest of the organization.)

2. What are the main rules or procedures in your unit that everyone has to follow? How well do

they seem to work?

3. What arrangements are there for taking care of people‘s health, safety, and retirement needs

here?

4. Are there opportunities for obtaining additional skills or training while working here?

5. Is there a union here? If so, what is the climate of union-management relations? How in-

volved is the union in issues other than salary and benefits? (Probe for union involvement in

issues such as changes in job titles, work arrangements.)

6. What other (informal) groups are there besides the official unit? (Probe for work teams, cli-

ques, links between and within departments, groups of employees from similar ethnic back-

grounds, and so on.)


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VII. Processes (Group Level)

1. How do the informal groups you mentioned affect the way the work is done here? Do they

get along with one another?

2. Do you feel a part of any of these groups? If so, if you came up with a new idea or worked

especially hard, how would the other people in your group(s) react?

3. Who is your supervisor—the person who is directly responsible for your work? How closely

do you work with the supervisor? What is it like to work with him or her?

4. What is it like to work with the other people in your unit? (Probe for behavior indicating

quality, nature of interpersonal relations, e.g., chat a lot, versus keep to themselves; help out

one another.)

5. How do people find out about what is going on in the unit and in the organization as a whole?

(Probe for informal and official communication channels and their use.)

6. How are the decisions made in your unit? What about the organization/division as a whole—

how are the decisions made that affect your unit?

7. How much say do you have in decisions affecting your work? To what extent does your su-

pervisor consider your opinions or consult you when making decisions affecting you? (Probe

for variations by types of decisions)

8. Who are the really influential people in your unit? Who really controls what goes on in the

organization as a whole?

9. What do you have to do to get ahead around here? Do you get rewarded for doing your job

well? (Probe for kinds of rewards—pay, promotion, praise, feeling of doing well—and the

kinds of behavior which are rewarded in the unit and the organization.)

10. When people within the unit disagree about things, how are these differences resolved? (e.g.,

―The boss decides alone, we discuss all the sides of the question until we have the best solu-

tion, we compromise,‖ and so on.)

VIII. Culture and Processes


1. Can you give me an example of one of your unit‘s major successes or achievements? What

about a failure? (Probe for criteria for deciding that something succeeded or failed.)

2. What would you say is the overall mission or purpose of your organization? (or, what does

your organization say it stands for?) How does the organization pursue its mission? (Probe

for differences between official and actual purposes.)

3. Do you feel that your unit is operating effectively? What do you mean by effective?


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X. History of Unit/Organization


1. We have talked a lot about the way things are done today in your unit. Could you tell me

something about how they got this way? How have things changed since this unit got started?

(Note timing of changes.)

2. What about the organization as a whole? How has it changed?

XI. Problems and Challenges


1. What do you see as the main challenges that will be facing your unit and your organization

during the next two or three years? Do you have any suggestions for how to handle them?

2. What do you feel are the main strengths of your unit? What are the strengths of the organiza-

tion as a whole? What are the main problems in the unit? What are the main problems in the

organization (or division) as a whole?

3. What things seem to be most in need of change in your unit? What about the organization as

a whole? (Probe for reasons for mentioning these problems.)

XII. Individual Satisfactions

1. (If not already evident—) In general, how satisfied are you with working here? What things

make you feel most satisfied? What are the things with which you are least satisfied?

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LOVE, JUSTICE, AND ORDER:

MANAGEMENT AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

Henry W. Spaulding II, Ph.D.

Professor, Theology and Philosophy

Trevecca Nazarene University

Two concepts dominate the earliest picture of the world in the scripture: ―formless void‖ and

―darkness.‖ These concepts indicate a basic disorder which prevailed in the world prior to the

creative hand of God. We are told that when God acted, he separated the light from the darkness,

the water from the land, plants from animals, etc. Genesis 1:16 says in striking fashion. ―God

made the two great lights—the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night…‖ God

brings order to the chaos. The earliest confessions of the church affirm that God is the ―almighty

creator of heaven and earth‖ or ―all governing, creator of all things visible and invisible.‖1 God

creates, brings and sanctifies order. Properly understood order is a good thing.

Eli Black, a rabbi who had become chairman of the United Brands Company who committed

suicide, is the subject of a 1986 article in Christian Century. Such an incident raises the question

of whether it is possible to combine business with social conscience. Could it have been this very

tension that literally ripped Eli Black apart? This leaves the question—Can a sensitive person, a

person with high moral standards, survive in an uncompromising world? It is in response to this

question that Bachelder, the author of the article, asks another question, ―Can an uncompromis-

ing business world that devours its

_____________ 1John H. Leith, ed., Creeds of the Churches (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1963): 30.

2Robert S. Bachelder, ―The Lost Soul of American Business,‖ Christian Century (December 24-31,1986):1171.


59

Eli Blacks survive?2

The rest of the article is an attempt to reflect upon the ―moral-

cultural‖ climate of American business. Is it possible to organize or manage while at the

same time being shaped by the deep wells of the Christian tradition? This question is

worth considering and the answer will be determined by the clarity with which we are

able to articulate a God who brings order.

The purpose of this essay is to reflect on management from a Christian perspective. Man-

agement is the process of finding a just order in the midst of the chaos that often appears in life.

In fact, the search for order is grounded in the God who creates. Management can be, when unit-

ed with Christian principles, a manifestation of a profound faith. It is toward this end that the ref-

lections of this essay will be directed. Love, justice, and order as they are given substance by the

Christian can provide the vision for management.

The Rebuilding of the Temple:

A Case Study

The scripture shows us that God acts in history. It is because of this that we can often look to

its story for clues in regard to issues which confront our lives. We can often see in the way the

story is told clear insights into the way we can order our lives. For example, we can see in the

call for a census in the book of Numbers the importance of organization. The prophetic critiques

of Amos point to the need for honesty in business. The book of Proverbs often gives specific ad-

vice in regard to the ―nitty-gritty‖ concerns of life, including business. In order to illuminate our

concern with a Christian perspective on management, we will look at a particularly important

period in history. We will do this, so we can see in the very texture of the story models of order

and management.


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The Captivity was an extreme crisis in the history of Israel. First, the Assyrians assaulted the

Northern kingdom and finally destroyed it in 722 B.C. Second, the Babylonians toppled the

Southern kingdom in 587 B.C. Lamentations opens a window on this period of Israel‘s history:

How lone sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has be-

come, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the prov-

inces has become a vassal. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;

among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her, they have become her enemies.

(1:1-3)

The writer admits in anguish that ―the Lord handed me over to those whom I cannot withstand.‖

(1:14b) The gripping power of the dissolution of Israel and the destruction of the temple were

deep scars in the psyche of the nation.

The Jews were dwelling in forced captivity during much of the sixth century B.C. Persia had

conquered Babylon, and in 539 B.C. Cyrus became the king of Persia. His rule was characterized

by a new humanitarianism. He inaugurated his reign by granting that all captives be allowed to

return to their native countries. Thus, the Jews were allowed to take their sacred vessel with them

and return home. The book of Ezra says that, ―the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Per-

sia, so that he sent a herald throughout all of his kingdom, and also a written edict.‖ (1:1b) The

task ahead was clear—the rebuilding of the Temple.

The story of the rebuilding of the Temple takes many turns; here is part of the story. We meet

the people of Israel in captivity as the Babylonian empire comes to an end. It is when Cyrus, the

King of Persia comes to power that he allows the Hebrews to return.3

When they returned home to begin the task it was with great expectation and significant local

opposition. All of this along with the magnitude of the task brought the work to a grinding halt. It

was under the inspiration and leadership of the prophets Haggai, Zephaniah, and Zerubbabel that


61

the temple was finally completed. Temples, whether in the scripture or now, require organization,

resources, people, and vision. The story of the rebuilding of the temple provides an opportunity

to look at all these elements.

Several themes emerge in the process of the return that might serve as clues in our at

tempt to think about management and faith: a the persistent opposition to rebuilding the

temple and the walls, b) the disappointment of some who remembered the glory of the

previous temple, c) the pervasive power of foreign monarchs, d) the importance of lead

ership, and e) the role of faith. Perhaps, the listing of these themes can suggest on the

face of it the extent to which faith and management intersect. The rebuilding of the tem

ple called for vision and work on a scale that in many ways led to a complete reorienta-

tion of faith for the people of Israel. This clearly suggests that faith is an integrative fact-

or for Israel. The conviction of this essay is that faith can and should be an integrative

factor for management. It is toward this end that we turn our attention to the theological

underpinnings of management

________________ 3The building of the temple took place in four stages. First, the order came from Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to

their land. This mission was led by Shesbazzar, who began to rebuild the temple. The building of the temple came to

a halt due to local opposition. Second, another return was under Darius I, which was led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua.

They also encountered opposition, but with the help of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they were also able to

complete the temple. Third, still another return was under Artaxerxes I, which was led by Ezra. He brought a copy of

the Mosaic law with him, and this led to a call for spiritual renewal. Fourth, one more group returned under Artax-

erxes II, which was led by Nehemiah. He came to build the walls, partly to establish the purity of the community.


62

A Theological Vocabulary for

Management

We began this essay by reflecting upon the significance of creation/order in the Christian tra-

dition. It was further indicated that management is one aspect of life where Christian reflection

on order might prove helpful. There are no passages in the scripture that mandate a particular

type of management philosophy. There are no specific commands which one might bring to the

aid of any specific kind of management philosophy. But the scripture does suggest that we are to

deal with others as God has dealt with us. This gives us the idea that we might find in the very

texture of the scriptural story a vocabulary for management. The purpose of this section is to

suggest a few of those ideas.

1. Order. The idea that God brings order is important to the Christian story. The scripture

warns us regarding the consequences of subverting the intended order of God. When the serpent

entered the scene, he worked to confuse God‘s ordained order. We see the importance of order in

the very fabric of the religious and social life of Israel.

Our case study reveals the importance of order. The first place where this can be seen is in the

new order that arises out of Cyrus‘s rule. But the significance of that order should be noted in a

person like Ezra. It is under the leadership of men who understand the importance of order that

the task is advanced.

2. Relation. Life is defined by the character of its associations. The scripture reminds us that

humankind is not intended to be alone. Human beings are created in the image of a God who is in

relation—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This fundamental relationship is reflected in all of crea-

tion. It is a reminder that things are connected.


63

Clearly, the story of the rebuilding of the Temple emphasizes the importance of relationship.

It is not possible to build a Temple without understanding its relation to the faith of Israel. It is

also clear that those people who arrive again to Jerusalem must understand the relationship to

those who are already present. There is already a relationship with the Persians. The happiness

that we enjoy in life is a product of the clarity with which we negotiate its relationships. It is im-

portant to see the depth at which all relationships are dependent upon the image of a related God.

3. Purpose. The story of God is told in terms of purpose. History is the unfolding of God‘s

purpose for his people. The meaning of life is told in terms of its purpose. Essentially, life is pur-

poseful to the extent that it lives in conscious dependence upon God. Something has purpose to

the extent that it moves toward an end. The Christian faith affirms the basic purpose of life. The

world is born out of the creativity of God; it‘s purpose is to reveal God. Humankind is created to

glorify God. Clearly, this purpose is woven into the very fabric of the scripture story.

The rebuilding of the temple is shaped by a sense of purpose. It is not just another building; it

is a symbol of faith. The story of the rebuilding of the temple is told in terms of fulfilling the

purpose for which God had established his people.

4. Respect. The nation Israel always needed to remember its origin. This is indicated in the

final exhortations of Moses to the Hebrews, ―A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went

down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number and there he became a great nation,

mighty and populous.‖ (Deut. 26:5) Slavery in Egypt was always a part of the psyche of Israel.

They had been slaves, but now by the grace of God they had been elected to be his people. There

are many implications of this, but none so powerful as the imperative to treat others with respect.

Time and time again the people are reminded to treat aliens with respect. While the rights af-


64

firmed of women fall short of modern expectations, Israel is to treat women with respect. All of

this arises out of the reflection on the nature of God.

The rebuilding of the temple is shaped in part by respect. It is because Cyrus respected people

that he embarked upon his policy which allowed the Hebrews to return. It was as the law was re-

covered and respected that the new community was formed. This picture of Jerusalem is shaped

by a vision of a time when faithfulness and righteousness characterize the city. It is important to

note that it will also be a time when respect characterizes all human relationships.

5. Fairness. The final idea that we will examine is fairness. This terms carries with it the in-

tention to treat people in a manner consistent with their behavior. It is also understood in terms of

a recognition of another‘s essential dignity. Yet, we need for God to treat us in a way that we do

not deserve, with grace. Still, human relationships are more often characterized by ―an eye for an

eye.‖ The scripture tells stories where people receive better than they deserve. In fact, this hope

shapes much of the scripture story and the Christian life.

Just as each idea has been interpreted in relation to the rebuilding, so must fairness. It took

sacrifice on everyone‘s part to see the temple rebuilt. This meant that rich as well as the poor

must contribute to the new temple. Since all would worship in the temple, it was only fair for

each to sacrifice. Haggai alluded to this delicate balance:

You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I

blew it away. Why? Says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all

of you hurry off to your own houses. Therefore, the heavens above you have withheld

the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. (1:9-10)

Fairness can be shaped by an expectation of privilege. After all, it is only fair that we be given a

temple. But the story unfolds in another way. It will require a renewal of the covenant, sacrifice,


65

and vision. In order for the temple to be rebuilt, the complex situation will need to be negotiated

among the people and the powers. The virtue of fairness is rarely easy, but it is always better.

This section has treated five terms as an attempt to locate a vocabulary of management.

Therefore, management must be understood as an attempt to bring order to a situation. It is es-

sential that this order be materially linked with the reality which is ordered. Management must be

fully aware of and shaped by the essential relations. We are beings-in-relation. Since we are so

constituted, any attempt to manage which is informed by the Christian tradition must account for

the ―true humanity‖ of people. Management must be purpose-driven. It is essential to understand

that this must be understood as more than task-oriented. From the Christian point of view the on-

ly kind of management which can be justified is one that begins to understand the purpose of

God. Likewise, we must see that any understanding of management must be guided by fairness

and respect. These values are defined by God, but they include our relations with one another.

Whether it is rebuilding the temple or managing the people, a Christian understanding includes

the vocabulary of faith suggested above.

This essay has attempted to sketch out some theological foundations for management. My ba-

sis thesis is that the Christian faith is for all of life. This means that worship is both in the tem-

ple/church and in the world where faith meets the conflicts which test its validity. A manager

who professes Christ will be different from his secular counterpart. This is due, in part, to his/her

relationship with Christ. Such a life will yearn for love, justice, and order. And it will be the kind

of management that seeks to define these values in light of the Judeo-Christian heritage.

Moses is one of the great heroes of the Bible. He led the people of Israel out of Egypt. He

was the man who struggled with the people during all the wilderness wanderings. He interceded

for the unfaithful people who built a golden calf. He wept over the seeming inability of the


66

people to understand as they sought to secure themselves. Yet, he would not be allowed to enter

the Promised Land. Still, God by his grace allowed him to see it from Mount Nebo. The closing

lines of Deuteronomy say this about Moses:

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face

to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to per-

form in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and

for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed

in the sight of all Israel. ( Deut. 34:10-12)

Moses was uniquely gifted by God for the task. Yet, he offers us all hope that it might be possi-

ble to manage and lead in a way characterized by love, justice, and power. This is, at least, a goal

for which our best efforts can be expended.


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Questions for Further Reflection

1. How do you think that one can adequately translate his/her values into a management philos-

ophy?

2. Do you think that there is a tension between effectiveness and the Christian faith?

3. When does order become problematic in management?

4. Do you think that good managers are born or made?

5. What characteristics of a manager/leader are most important from your perspective? What

does this say about your value structure?


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Trevecca Nazarene University

Management and Human Relations Department

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