learning organizations and bureaucracies

Chapter 4 includes a discussion of Senge's notion of learning organizations. I find this approach appealing because it suggests organizations can change--they don't have to keep making the same mistakes. One key aspect of learning organizations is a shared vision. SJSU is trying to do this with Vision 2010. Initially, there was quite a bit of buzz about Vision 2010, especially linked to SJSU's 150th anniversary. But lately, the project seems to have lost steam, as evidenced by the 2-year old update page on the strategic plan associated with the initiative. Still, with a new president coming in, many of us are hopeful that SJSU will change its bureaucratic ways.

Aloha123 talked about one of the advantages of bureaucracies--differentiation. That is, all organization members have specific jobs they're supposed to do to keep the organization going. Then the organization's structure serves to integrate these different tasks into a unified whole. Lotusblossum noted that scientific management is used in the consulting she does, with her company identifying exactly how long it takes to complete a task and the best way to do it. This can be a useful way to make organizations more efficient. But are people machines? What happens when we leave out the human factor? SantaCruz linked scientific management with the division between blue collar and white collar work. Interestingly, scientific management principles are applied to both types. For example, consider the importance of lawyers to have billable hours. ad_pe_comm144 also discussed the division of labor and its positive contributions to organizations, such as dividing tasks within and between teams. Paula discussed the strategies she uses to appear to be working, as with quickly bringing up a work screen on her computer to hide that she'd been IMing. Of course, employees have been trying to appear like they were working long before computers came on the workplace scene. This is the human side that scientific management often ignores.

The blogging continues . . .

--Professor Cyborg