Introduction to Organizations and Management

According to the Oxford dictionary, organizations refer to an organized group of people with a particular purpose, while management refers to the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. Hence, simply put, a management plans, organizes, leads, and controls the efforts of an organization to lead it to its purpose.

This week, part of our introduction to organization and management required us to learn more about team roles within a management, critical thinking, identifying the different groups of organizations and understanding the various roles a manager can hold in an organization.

According to Belbin’s suggestion that organisations are made up of individuals undertaking different roles, an organization can only be able to run well if there is a good mix of people with different team roles.  Should an organization be made of only Resource Investigators, it results in a management often being over ambitious or optimistic and losing interest once the initial enthusiasm has passed. However, if a shaper was also part of the team, he could drive the team on and ensure a constant effort is put into realizing the purpose of the organization.

Although this may be true, it would mean that the organization would require a minimum of 9 members for it to run smoothly. I believe that people can take up multiple roles within an organization so that management teams are more concise as 2 opinions would be easier to work with compared to 9 different opinions. For instance, my dad’s company is a family business run by himself and his 3 brothers. Due to their different personalities and working styles, they each have taken up multiple roles on Belbin’s list to ensure a successful organization. This is the same scenario for Fayol’s theory on the 6 managerial activities as well as Mintzberg’s theories on managerial roles, where in the context of my dad’s company, each brother could have been informational, interpersonal or decisional depending on the scenario they have been put in.

Organizations are a part of our lives as they are everywhere, from hospitals to charities to banks to Multi National Corporations (MNCs). The reason they exist is because we use the services provided by these organizations, in other words, their output. Have they created an impact on us? MOST DEFINITELY! The idea of not having pizza delivered to my doorstep, or the inability to call for taxi on a rainy day, or texting a loved one are just few examples of how organizations have made life convenient for us. However it is not always a good thing as we start becoming lazy and dependent on an organizer’s service, that when taken away, we feel lost. Hence, for all the importance and simplicity an organization brings to us, one must understand that being independent is important and too much of a good thing always comes with repercussions.

I hope through my 1st post, I have clearly explained about Organizations and Management as well as displayed Critical Thinking. (470 Words) 

Material Links: 

1. http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/people/organisation-and-management-structures.html#axzz2qxkGKwbF

2. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/

3. http://www.mas.org.uk/management-advisory-service/managing-the-organisation.html

4. Organizational diagnostic factors in family business: Case studies in Thailand , Michita Champathes Rodsutti, Piyarat Makayathorn