Hayden Schrader
12/6/12
SCOM 350
Final Organizational Analysis
The theory that I thought was most evident in the way my group and the
Northend Greenway interacted was through Systems theory and its many concepts.
Systems theory replaces the idea of the organization as a “machine” with the
idea that it is an “organism”. The organization is seen as living within its respective
and relevant environment, regulating inputs and outputs to fight entropy, and
adapting in order to remain successful (chapter 4). I witnessed the Northend
Greenway exemplifying and promoting all of these characteristics while being a
member of this organization. The first meeting we had with Suzi made it clear to us
that we weren’t just another part of some machine, she explained to us the
objectives of the event and we were encouraged to come up with ideas and methods
to meet those objectives in anyway we saw possible. We were an “open system”, we
took ideas from outside the organization and from the relative environment of
Harrisonburg and used them to improve our methodologies, and this made sense,
we were providing something for the people of Harrisonburg so it was only natural
that we listen to what they were looking for. We would brainstorm during meetings,
employees, volunteers and students, all bouncing ideas off one another, trying to
come up with the most effective methods for making our event a success. This was
“dynamic homeostasis” at work, the idea that through the negative and positive
feedback of our meetings and discussions, we could fight the tendency to remain
locked in the status quo and come up with new and effective ways to achieve out
goal, which was to generate interest and public support for the Northend Greenway.
This also brings in the concept of Equifinality, or the belief that there isn’t just one
right way of accomplishing a certain goal. We used multiple strategies for gaining
public support in the Harrisonburg environment; we went around to local
businesses and explained to them how the Greenway would help bring in more
customers, we appealed to the city council and won a huge grant that would go
towards construction costs, we even got the EMU community involved which will be
important for the future construction phases of the project. If we experienced a dead
end in one direction, we took off in search of another way to achieve our goals.
Another aspect of Systems theory that applied to our methods of
communication and organizing within the Northend Greenway organization was in
the area of conflict and how to deal with it. Although we generally agreed upon most
decisions during our meetings with Suzi and her colleges, sometimes conflict was
difficult to avoid. We had instances where multiple types of conflict were present at
one time or another; interpersonal conflict would often occur between our class
group about when/where to schedule meetings or who would be responsible for
what tasks and so on. Intragroup conflict sometimes occurred between our class
assigned group and the groups of volunteers (and employees for that matter) that
were present at the conferences we had at the Greenway’s headquarters. All the
groups had the same end goal in mind, and all of us were dependent on each other
for achieving that goal. But because each group had a different perspective on what
would work/what wouldn’t work, conflict at some level was inevitable.
This brings me to my last point about the conflict present at the Northend
Greenway. The point being that because we were able to use the conflict to
formulate solid, effective ideas and make all parties involved in the Greenway feel
more confident about where the project was headed, we didn’t need to resolve the
conflict, only manage it.
The next aspect of Systems theory that I believe applied directly to my
experience with the Northend Greenway was that of Contingency theory. The theory
basically states that there is “no one best way to structure and manage an
organization”, but that those things depend on the environment that the
organization is surrounded by and the factors that the environment brings with it
(chapter 4). It specifies two systems of management, Mechanistic and Organic. The
mechanistic model is used in organizations that are surrounded by a stable
environment and is characterized by specialization of workers, clearly defined roles
and vertical communication (chapter 4). The organic model is used by organizations
that deal with an ever-changing environment and unstable conditions. The
Greenway definitely operates out of the latter of the two models. Because of the
highly variable nature of the Greenways’ work, every member of the organization
needed to be able to adapt and deal with different situations. That often meant
explaining the route (and its benefits) to Harrisonburg residents and business
owners, raising money through local fundraisers, dealing with the city council, etc.
These were skills that all Greenway employees and volunteers needed to be able to
perform. The other aspect of the organic model that was present was the emphasis
of horizontal communication over vertical communication. Although there had to be
someone in charge of the meetings, the communication that took place was based
more on “consultation rather than giving orders” (chapter 4). We always were
included in the debate about how to overcome a specific problem or achieve a
specific goal and the decentralized structure of the organization allowed us to do so
in a timely and efficient manner. We rarely had to navigate the vertical chain of
command in order to seek permission to propose an idea or strategy, for one
because that command chain didn’t really exist, and two because by the time we
received permission, that strategy might have lost its effectiveness with the relevant
environment. Instead we relied on free-flowing communication and the ability to
implement our strategies and report back to the organization the overall level of
their effectiveness, only then deciding whether or not to continue using them or
going back to the drawing board and rethinking our approach. One instance of this
occurred when we came up with the idea to create an information stall at the next
farmer’s market event in downtown Harrisonburg to raise awareness for the
Greenway. After my group and I attended one and learned that most of the
participants used motorized vehicles to transport their goods and services to the
location (which the Greenway would not assist them in doing), we concluded that
this would most likely be a waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere
and eventually decided against the idea, after gaining the support of the other
organizational members. Overall the Northend Greenway constituted an organic
model of contingency theory because it “matched certain characteristics with the
demands and nature of the environment it was surrounded by” (Lawrence and
Lorsch). The organic management model allowed us to adapt quickly to the evershifting components of the Harrisonburg environment.
The last concept of Systems theory that influenced how my group interacted
with our organization and its constituents was through double loop learning and
how the Greenway exemplified a learning organization. Double loop learning, or
generative learning occurs when the organization thinks ”outside the box” and
invents new ways of dealing with problems, often drawing upon outside influences
to do so. The way the Greenway took our numerous ideas and helped us all learn
(Greenway included) from our respective successes and failures shows that they
absolutely employ this idea in their organizational structure. In fact, I would say
that the Greenway couldn’t exist without it.
The fact is that because their objective is so new to the environment by
which they are surrounded, the only way for them to be successful is to constantly
challenge the status quo and come up with innovative ways to garner support for
their goal. In the text, Senge says that if organizations are to survive, “they must
provide an atmosphere where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured,
where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning
how to learn together”. If there were a quote to sum up my groups organizational
communication experience with the Northend Greenway, this would be it. All three
of these components were present in our interaction with Suzi and her co-workers,
and because of this I have the utmost confidence that they will continue to learn and
not only survive, but thrive and eventually reach their end objective.