Leadership and Organization Assignment 1
Assignment 1
Type your answers to this assignment onto this page, using blue font to distinguish your words. Your answers should immediately follow the questions or items you are asked to address.
1. In Chapter 2 of Reframing Organizations, the authors describe four significant properties of organizations:
Organizations are complex
Organizations are surprising
Organizations are deceptive
Organizations are ambiguous
a. Describe the management implications associated with each of these properties
Organizations are complex because of the ever growing technology, the type of work involved, the skillsets of people, the hierarchical structure of the organization, and the development of relationships outside the organization. The most complex component of any organization is the people whose behavior is difficult to predict. Each person within the organization brings with them interpersonal needs, desires and motivations that impact performance in both positive and negative ways. Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2003). An example of a complex organization within the United States is the Veterans Health Administration. They operate 152 VA Medical Centers and approximately 1400 community-based outpatient clinics and employs an estimated 280,000 people. The VA reported 92 million outpatient visits and 902,000 inpatient admissions during 2013. List of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. (n.d.). (2015).
Organizations are surprising in that any predicted impact of an organizational decision can be unreliable due to the interpretation of others. An organization’s leader’s actions can be misinterpreted by others, sometimes with unexpected results. Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2003). For example, the military installation where I work organized an “active shooter” exercise that involved city and county law enforcement agencies and included several local hospitals. In turn, my organization volunteered as the active shooter site. Employees were briefed on what to expect and how to
Type your answers to this assignment onto this page, using blue font to distinguish your words. Your answers should immediately follow the questions or items you are asked to address.
1. In Chapter 2 of Reframing Organizations, the authors describe four significant properties of organizations:
Organizations are complex
Organizations are surprising
Organizations are deceptive
Organizations are ambiguous
a. Describe the management implications associated with each of these properties
Organizations are complex because of the ever growing technology, the type of work involved, the skillsets of people, the hierarchical structure of the organization, and the development of relationships outside the organization. The most complex component of any organization is the people whose behavior is difficult to predict. Each person within the organization brings with them interpersonal needs, desires and motivations that impact performance in both positive and negative ways. Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2003). An example of a complex organization within the United States is the Veterans Health Administration. They operate 152 VA Medical Centers and approximately 1400 community-based outpatient clinics and employs an estimated 280,000 people. The VA reported 92 million outpatient visits and 902,000 inpatient admissions during 2013. List of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. (n.d.). (2015).
Organizations are surprising in that any predicted impact of an organizational decision can be unreliable due to the interpretation of others. An organization’s leader’s actions can be misinterpreted by others, sometimes with unexpected results. Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2003). For example, the military installation where I work organized an “active shooter” exercise that involved city and county law enforcement agencies and included several local hospitals. In turn, my organization volunteered as the active shooter site. Employees were briefed on what to expect and how to