Social Informatics Essay Example

Social Informatics Essay Question 1.The following four characteristics are common to all organizations:Common goal: All individuals in the organization are working towards achieving a common goal.Coordination of effort: The formulation and enforcement of policies, rules and regulations ensure the attainment of this characteristic.Hierarchy of authority: Otherwise known as Chain of Command, this control mechanism ensures that the right people are doing the right things at the right time. The integrity of this characteristic is maintained by adhering to the Unity of Command principle.Division of labor: This occurs when individuals performing separate but related tasks pursue a common goal.Question 2.The difference between line and staff positions is that the former perform tasks that are strategic in nature while the latter perform tactical tasks. Line managers occupy formal decision-making positions within the chain of command while staff personnel do background research and provide technical advice and recom mendations to their line managers.Question 3.Closed Systems are likened to traditional military or mechanical systems. They are self-sufficient entities and largely ignore environmental influences.Open Systems, on the other hand, are likened to the newer model systems- biological and cognitive. They emphasize interaction between organizations and their environments.Question 4.The organizational metaphors presented in this reading include military or mechanical, biological and cognitive.   They help us better understand complex organizations especially as the military/mechanical model, which was successful for the older narrowly, defined jobs begin to fail the modern organization. The application of the biological and cognitive model in today’s organizations are able to produce goods and services and at the same time be cognitive of the environmental opportunities and obstacles.Question 5.Lawler’s eight substitutes for hierarchy include work design, information system s technology, financial data, reward system practices, supplier-customer contact, training, vision/values and emergent leadership. These substitutes can reduce or eliminate the need for direct supervisory control, which would involve the twelve functions of motivating, record keeping, coordinating, assigning work, making personnel decisions, providing expertise, setting goals, planning, linking communications, training/coaching, leading and controlling. Lawler notes that the traits embedded in the eight substitutes â€Å"technology, work interdependence, work complexity and required knowledge clearly influence the opportunities for adopting an organizational approach that is based on minimal hierarchy and high involvement† and thereby enable management of today’s flatter organizations.Question 6.Kreitner and Klinicki define organizational effectiveness as the fulfillment of the four generic criteria of goal accomplishment, resource acquisition, (healthy) internal proce sses and strategic constituencies satisfaction. They choose this definition amid the various available definitions because it applies equally well to large or small and profit or non-profit organizations.Question 7.Experts recommend a multidimensional approach to organizational effectiveness because no single criterion applies to all stages of the organizational lifecycle, neither will any satisfy competing stakeholders. A mix and match approach is taken by well-managed organization to suit the unique requirements of the organization. In order to define these unique requirements, the strategic team provides input and this is reviewed in concert with the organization’s mission and philosophy. The different approaches of goal accomplishment, resource acquisition, internal processes and strategic constituencies can then be applied in the appropriate combination based on the organizational situation.