Organizations

Obviously one of the threshold questions in the field of organizational studies is defining exactly what is meant by the term “organization.” There are a wide variety of definitions with the words and emphasis changing depending upon the academic school of thought. The simple neoclassical definitions of an organization include a group of persons with a common objective and a structured process in which individuals interact to pursue and achieve common objectives. There is a subtle, yet very important, difference between these definitions, both of which include common group objectives, in that the latter formulation includes the necessary assumption that an organization must have a “structured process” relating to the interactions among its members beyond the members simply coming together to pursue a shared interest or purpose. In fact, other definitions place even greater emphasis on the processes that are part of organizations by mentioning relationships, power, objectives, roles, activities, communications, and other factors that come into play whenever persons work together.Organizations are also defined by reference to the way that interpersonal relationships between the individuals in the organization are structured. For example, an organization has been described as a system for differentiating among its members with respect to authority, status, and roles so that outputs can be predicted and controlled, and ambiguity and unforeseen consequences can be minimized.Putting all this together an organization can be thought of as a group of people that share a common goal or set of goals who intentionally come together to organize themselves so they can cooperate with each other and coordinate their activities in such a way that allows them to achieve their common goals and create something that is of value.Our working definition of an organization suggests and reinforces the close relationship between human needs and the viability of organizations. While an organization is initially formed to respond to a specific human need that exists at the time that the organization is launched subsequent events, such as the satisfaction of the need or a diminution of its importance, may cause the organization to become obsolete or if the organization is to survive it must undergo a substantial transformation to retain its usefulness in its larger environment