After looking back at my philosophy of organizational effectiveness that I stated at the beginning of the course, I think a few of my ideas have definitely changed. One thing that has changed is my beliefs on the Goal Attainment Approach. Originally I thought it was a bad theory simply because I figured that setting a goal and being judged based on whether or not you reach that goal was not fair. However, I have come to understand that goals can in fact be good and that they are a necessary part of creating an effective organization. While I can see the importance of goals, I still would not say that I believe a person should be judged solely on whether or not they reached a specific goal. Individuals and organizations can do many positive things that increase the effectiveness of an organization without necessarily reaching a specific goal. My main philosophy of organizational effectiveness originally was based off the internal approach, with the idea that an effective organization is made up of people who genuinely care about and trust each other. I still believe in this idea, but based on what we've studied in this course there are a few other components that are important to organizational effectiveness.
The first component I have found to be important is a clear organizational structure. It is important that stakeholders understand the complexity, formalization, and centralization of an organization. By understanding how complex an organization is individuals can understand their role much better. For example, the University of Minnesota athletic department has a very complex structure, with many different vertical hierarchies. People within each subunit understand their role and work together with other subunits to create an effective organization. Formalization is also an important component of organizational structure. A highly formalized organization has nearly every rule and procedure written out, while some organizations do not need this much formalization. Understanding that organizations are all different, I feel that in order to be effective an organization should be somewhat formalized and decentralized to a certain extent. Everyone within the organization should be able to have an opinion, and at least have a say in decisions. At the end of the though process however an upper management group should probably be in charge of the final decision.
Leadership in my opinion is one of the key components of creating an effective organization. Throughout the readings and class discussions I have learned that there are many different ways in which one can be a leader. Some people just have that "it" factor and perform as a very outspoken, charismatic leader. Others tend to lead by example, and some simply are not leaders. As a leader, especially in the sport industry, people look at you as a reflection of the organization as a whole. Everyone within an organization can be a leader in some way, shape, or form. Having been a part of sport organizations with both good and bad leaders, I have seen characteristics of good leaders that help an organization become more effective. Communication, trustworthiness, organization, and knowledge are characteristics that I strive for as a leader because of the leaders who I have personally been influenced by.
As I look back on what I have gained, as far as knowledge of organization effectiveness this semester, I have begun to understand that there is not one set path to becoming an effective organization. Rather, it is a combination of components such as leadership, structure, power and politics, etc. that create a foundations to succeed and become effective. What makes one organization effective may completely fail within another organization. I still feel that if the people within your organization are happy, trust each other, and have excellent communication the sky is the limit for organizational effectiveness and success.
The first component I have found to be important is a clear organizational structure. It is important that stakeholders understand the complexity, formalization, and centralization of an organization. By understanding how complex an organization is individuals can understand their role much better. For example, the University of Minnesota athletic department has a very complex structure, with many different vertical hierarchies. People within each subunit understand their role and work together with other subunits to create an effective organization. Formalization is also an important component of organizational structure. A highly formalized organization has nearly every rule and procedure written out, while some organizations do not need this much formalization. Understanding that organizations are all different, I feel that in order to be effective an organization should be somewhat formalized and decentralized to a certain extent. Everyone within the organization should be able to have an opinion, and at least have a say in decisions. At the end of the though process however an upper management group should probably be in charge of the final decision.
Leadership in my opinion is one of the key components of creating an effective organization. Throughout the readings and class discussions I have learned that there are many different ways in which one can be a leader. Some people just have that "it" factor and perform as a very outspoken, charismatic leader. Others tend to lead by example, and some simply are not leaders. As a leader, especially in the sport industry, people look at you as a reflection of the organization as a whole. Everyone within an organization can be a leader in some way, shape, or form. Having been a part of sport organizations with both good and bad leaders, I have seen characteristics of good leaders that help an organization become more effective. Communication, trustworthiness, organization, and knowledge are characteristics that I strive for as a leader because of the leaders who I have personally been influenced by.
As I look back on what I have gained, as far as knowledge of organization effectiveness this semester, I have begun to understand that there is not one set path to becoming an effective organization. Rather, it is a combination of components such as leadership, structure, power and politics, etc. that create a foundations to succeed and become effective. What makes one organization effective may completely fail within another organization. I still feel that if the people within your organization are happy, trust each other, and have excellent communication the sky is the limit for organizational effectiveness and success.
Parker, in the beginning of the semester I was the exact opposite of your initial feeling of the goal attainment approach to judging organizational effectiveness. From the beginning I thought it was a decent way to judge organizational effectiveness. But, like you, after going through the semester I realized although it is a good way to judge organizational effectiveness so many other things go into making an accurate judgment. I also agree with you that leadership is a major factor in having an effective organization. A leader should be motivating employees to be doing the best work that they can do. If a strong leader is not present at any level of an organization there will be a lot of dysfunction within the organization and would result in a lack of effectiveness. I find your closing statement very interesting. I feel that the statement is probably correct 99% of the time but there is that chance that within an organization that is happy, trusting, and has great communication they could still be failing as an organization on the whole. They could not be meeting any of their goals. This is why I feel that meeting goals is a big factor in deciding on organizational effectiveness but not the only factor.
Parker I would agree with your new view on goal attainment for organizations. When deciding whether a sport organization is effective or not I believe it is important to make part of this decision based on the attainment of their goals. I believe that where some error is often overlooked is why the goals are what they are. A sport organization could be very effective without reaching any of their goals, if their goals are wrong. When working within the goal attainment approach I believe it is critical to spend adequate amounts of time deciding what the organizational goals are. This is critical because often times the effectiveness of a sport organization is measured by their ability to reach their goals. Having a strong leader or leadership group will make this process that much more successful. Leadership has been discussed for much of the semester and will continue to be an important topic for sport managers of the future.
Parker, I think you make a great point when you discuss how if an organization is complex, it is very important each individual understands their role within the organization. If each member within subunits understand their role they will be able to work more efficiently and attain organizational goals. When dealing with a complex structure it is important to also have a formalized structure. Strict rules, policies, and expectations will contribute to organizational effectiveness. Although every organization doesn’t need to be formalized, I think it should be based on how complex the structure is and how many levels of hierarchy are present. You make another good point when mentioning when having strict rules and policies it is important for the organization to value every member’s opinion. Although at the end of the day upper management will have the final decision, the employee’s opinion might influence or affect their decisions. Last point, I agree with you in that leadership is the key for an organization effectiveness.
Parker, this is a great blog/discussion. I think that you have great ideas and my views of the goal attainment approach has changed as well over the course of this semester. It makes sense that you want to measure it by goals, but I agree that many other aspects need to be looked at to measure effectiveness. I also agree with the way you discussed that everyone needs to understand their role in the organization for it to be effective and efficient. I also agree with having strict rules and policies for the people of the organization to make sure that everything runs smoothly and effectively. It is important to have an open door, so to speak as upper management, where people can express their comments and concerns, but the upper management gets paid to make the tough decisions in the end to make the organization effective or not. Finally, I also agree that you need to have a great leadership style and person for each specific organization to make them effective overall. Someone needs to be taking control and making sure that everyone is doing their job properly and effectively to make the organization effective.
It seems to me that when measuring organizational effectiveness, the goal attainment approach is useful, but shouldn't be the only determinant of effectiveness. Sure you may be meeting all your goals, but at what cost to the organization? Are you meeting them in an efficient manner? Meeting those goals may be costing the organization in employee morale, time, and resources. I think that organizational efficiency also needs to be taken into account when looking at effectiveness.