1. Understanding Contemporary Organisations Week 2 Evolving organisations and evolving understandings
Robert Perey

2. Topics to be covered in this seminar
Housekeeping: Assessments and Turnitin; Learning Guide; Textbook; vUWS; SGSM Skills Workshops; teaching/learning processes.
Key issues that relate to the evolution of organisations, environments and understandings.
Student led discussion of set readings about indicative and recurring topics that relate to organisations
Other topics?

3. The teaching and learning processes
Assumes students are at sophisticated epistemological and ethical levels of development.
Three level model of epistemological development (see Kuhn, Woog and Salner, 2011):
Level 1: Absolute knowing
Level 2: Independent Knowing
Level 3: Contextual Knowing.
Kuhn, L. (2011) 'Utilizing Complexity for Epistemological Development.' Special Issue: Trajectories: Personal Accounts of the Development of Systems Perspectives. World Futures, The Journal of General Evolution, Vol. 67, No’s 4-5, May - July , pages 235 – 265.
Refer to the table: Table 2: Epistemological reflection Model (Baxter Magolda, 1992)

4. Individuals and human organizations are complex.
They are not reducible to component parts, and are forever influencing and being influenced.
This and the next slide revise principles noted last week.

5. Individuals and organizations are complex
Source:

6. For business organizations this means
Present state of the business/organization is now the result of every detail of its history.
What the business/organization will become can only be known if we know every detail of its future development.
The future of a business/organization is open and hence unknowable until it occurs.

7. Evolving conversations generate evolving organisations, environments and understandings
Conversations are the primary medium of communicative interaction between: practitioners; academic theorists (scholars); practitioners, academic theorists and students.
Through conversations organisations evolve as conscious processes of sense making - making and remaking patterns of meaning.
Through conversations environments evolve as conscious processes of sense making - making and remaking patterns of meaning.
Through conversations understandings evolve as conscious processes of sense making - making and remaking patterns of meaning.
Conversations implicate trust and sense making; who talks to whom really matters.
Discuss how your reading of chapter 4 Bovee and Thill illustrates these points.

8. With all levels of focus (individual, organisation, international associations, environments etc) being complex
We can expect to find different perspectives and emphasis in different places.
We can utilize complexity theory to identify patterns of self-organization, dynamism and emergence.
We can recognize that focus on a single level/place will not reduce the multi-dimensionality, non-linearity, interconnectedness or unpredictability encountered.

9. Two significant but entwined histories
1. History of thought (theoretical perspectives and accounts) about practice (history of the discipline)
2. History of practice
History of organization/business studies (processes and structures) thought
History of organization or business studies (processes and structures) practice
History of people management thought
History of people management practice
History of marketing thought
History of marketing practice
History of finance thought
History of finance practice

10. These disciplinary histories and developments parallel histories of thought in a range of disciplines
Economics
Psychology
Anthropology
Sociology
Environmental science
Philosophy (epistemology, ethics)

11. Overview and indicative indications of changing conversations, environments and organizational manifestation
Phase 1
Assumption: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) ‘Some are by nature free, others are by nature slaves. The condition of slavery is both beneficial and just.’
Organizational implication: Masters direct and slaves do
Phase 2
Frederick Taylor ( ) ‘Every act of every workman can be reduced to a science.’
Scientific management
Phase 3
Fineman, Sims & Gabriel ‘The raw materials of organizing - people, their beliefs, actions… are in constant motion.’
The learning organization

12. Overview of contemporary, dynamically evolving, perspectives
Awareness of humanness of all involved
Concern with prejudice
Opportunities for women
Opportunities for people with disabilities
Expanding ecological, sustainable or environmental awareness
Need for greater transparency of organizational processes and practices

13. Discussion of readings - Bovee and Thill
Discuss three ideas from Bovee and Thill, Chapter 4 that you found most interesting.
Discuss what it means to practice good business ethics and name three factors that influence ethical decision making.
Discuss the key differences in the four perspectives on corporate social responsibility that are described in this chapter.
Discuss the role of business in protecting the environment.
Now practice undertaking a case analysis using your learning about ethics and CSR.
Chapter 4 behind the scenes case – at beginning and end of chapter,
Answer the three critical thinking questions that follow conclusion of the case.
(In case still not enough text books: 1. Chapt covers 3 factors that influence ethical decisions: cult diffs, knowledge & org behavior. How have the factors shaped Nike’s actions over the past 2 decades?
2. How does Mark Parker’s phrase ‘sustainable business’ relate to sustainable manufacturing?
3. Is it ethical for NGO’s to put pressure on just one company in an industry when trying to effect change across the entire industry; given that responding to that pressure is likely to coast that one company more then its competitors?)

14. Discussion of readings (cont.)
In small groups (2-3) discuss and list the 5 most interesting ideas for each reading:
Grey, ‘Conclusion’
Montuori, ‘Complex epistemology…’
Be prepared to share your list of 10 points with the class.
Grey: why should studying orgs matter to you?
Montuori: participant epistemology

15. What has changed with the times?
Complexity reminds us that organizational practices and theories evolve. We have looked at complexity understandings of organizations, at questions relating to ethics and business and at reasons why you would study organizations. Putting all of these perspectives together, discuss the ways that these standards have changed:
Standards of legitimacy
Standards of ethically acceptable practice
Standards of employee work conditions
Standards of environmental responsibility
What else??

16. Implications for understanding contemporary organisations?
Implications of a complexity perspective?
Implications of a constructivist view of knowledge / knowing?
Other implications?