Images of Organization

Submitted by WorkCreatively on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 07:06

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Title	Images of Organization
Publication Type	Book
Pub Year	1986
Authors	Morgan, G.
Publisher	Sage Publications, Inc
Keywords	bureaucracy, discipline, disposability, domination, humanness, machine, meaning, neo-Taylorism, productivity, psychic prison, unemployment
Notes	neo-Taylorism, machine"History may well judge that Taylor came before his time. His principles of scientific management make superb sense for organizing production when robots rather than human beings are the main productive force, when organizations can truly become machines." (p. 33) bureaucracy, psychic prisonAs we examine the bureaucratic form of organization, therefore, we should be alert to the hidden meaning of close regulation and supervision of human activity, the relentless planning and scheduling of work, and the emphasis on productivity, rule following, discipline, duty, and obedience. The bureaucracy is a mechanistic form of organization, but an anal one too. And not surprisingly, we find that some people are able to work in this kind of organization more effectively than others. If bureaucracies are anal phenomena encouraging an anal style of life, then such organizations will probably operate most smoothly when employees fit the anal character type and can derive various hidden satisfactions from working in this context." (p. 209) domination"Throughout history organization has been associated with processes of social domination where individuals or groups find ways of imposing their will on others. This becomes clearly evident when we trace the lineage of the modern organization from its roots in ancient society, through the growth and development of military enterprise and empire, to its role in the modern world." (p. 275) disposability, unemployment"In the world today, individuals and even whole communities find themselves being thrown away like empty orange peels when the organizations they serve have no further use for them. Individuals find themselves permanently unemployed even though they feel they have many good years of useful work ahead of them." (p. 279)
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