Organizational Metaphors Essay

The two metaphors that I am about to describe to you are machines and organisms. I am also going to note what each metaphor suggests about how humans and their behavior are perceived in the organization. I will also let you know the similarities and differences in the two metaphors. Also conclude on how the ability to switch between metaphors might enhance effective leadership and organizational behavior. The machines one tends to think of inputs and outputs, standardization, productivity, measurement, and control. The organization tends to want the workers to just perform the mechanics of the job. They want them to not think about what to do, just perform with manpower. They just wanted them to be the energy to propel the organizational machine. The jobs they were required to perform were more simplified so that the workers were cheap and easy to train, supervise, and replace. This helped them to interchange workers as they needed at any given time. The human behavior perceived in this machines metaphor was they were just there to do their job and they had no input in what was being done. This metaphor showed me how an organization can perceive a worker in their job functions. Some organizations make their employees feel that they are just a body there doing the work that needs to be done. The organism metaphor is a living system existing in a wider environment depending on the workers various needs. There is no one best way to design or manage an organization. The flow of information between different parts of the systems and its environment is the key to the organization’s success. It is important to maximize the fit between individual, team and organizational needs. This metaphor represents the organization as an ‘open system’. Organizations are seen as sets of interrelated sub-systems designed to balance the requirements of the environment with internal needs of groups and individuals. This metaphor informed me how a worker can be perceived as an organism in a system. They can learn and adapt to different things in the job functions. As far as the similarities in organisms and machines, they both want their businesses to be profitable. The differences are organisms are more receptive to environmental feedback than machines. Machines tend to be more efficient and do things in an orderly way. Machines can only be replaced or repaired; they cannot develop. In knowing what one’s employees are as far as the metaphors of the organization, you will then be able to adapt to each set of employees in their job functions. If one would know what metaphor they pertain to, one will know how to lead them in the right direction in advancement in their job performance. Let’s say one would have an employee that doesn’t have as much self-esteem as the other employee, you would have to handle them more carefully than with the employee that has more self-esteem. You would just need to motivate and encourage them in a positive way so that they know they can achieve anything that comes up. Organizational metaphors can determine how we think about organizations and affect how we work and make decisions. Morgan (2006) has explored and developed the art of reading organizations and letting us comprehend the conflict and complexity of the organization. If managed in ways that link strategic thinking, active executive search, and careful organizational development, leadership transitions can advance the purposefulness of the organization. Leaders take their roles on boundaries, thus regulating the flow of uncertainty from a fast changing wider environment such that their units have focus and a calmer context within which to do work. We must see that organizations exist in the socioeconomic environment the way fish exist in the ocean, and the way we exist in the physical environment. In knowing the similarities and differences in each metaphor, the manager of the organization will be able to use the organism in the area that it is needed the most and also use the machine in the area where it is needed the most. The organism can adapt to different environments and the machine can perform repetitively the same functions. The metaphors are most valuable in the organization once you train and coach ones employees, you will know which metaphor is best used within the organization.