Formal Organization: Rational Methods Of Decision Making

Formal Organizations
Name
Institution
Formal Organizations
The current society is indeed filled with a lot of formal organizations even though a significant part of the population is oblivious to this fact. These organizations all have specific rules and bureaucratic ways of conducting their operations which are mainly geared towards or with the aim of achieving a particular goal. The current societies are indeed complex in their structure and also how they conduct their daily operations. Initially, societies would rely on traditional and old beliefs and customs but presently, these traditional ways have been shelved for “rational methods of decision making” (Barkan, 2012). As societies evolve and change, so does their methods of accomplishing tasks and every society seeks for the most efficient ways. Today, people have become accustomed to the many formal organizations because every society adapts to the changes and this flexibility allows for certain but subtle changes to take place. But what does a formal organization represent or how can it be described? Hutchison (2008) defines it as “a collectivity of people with a high degree of formality of structure working together to meet a goal or goals.” He continues to state that this definition is complete because it provides the three key components of a formal organization. These include “a collectivity or people, a highly formal structure, and the common purpose of working together to meet a goal or goals.” Formal organizations differ on a variety of ways including culture, structure, goals, and size. They help to shape the society and also influence how people behave. There are three types of formal organizations and they include utilitarian organizations, normative or voluntary organizations, and coercive organizations. This article will explicitly focus on an organization called SHe is Africa. SHe is Africa is a voluntary organization that seeks to empower both the girl and boy child in Africa. Aside from having clearly outlined goals, this organization also has its own set of rules and procedures as well as a collectivity of people thus qualifying it as a formal organization.
SHe is Africa is part of the larger Boy and Girl child initiative that seeks to ensure neither is left behind as the other is being empowered. In the recent past, the girl child took precedence and every other organization sought to write the obvious wrong. The girl child was indeed maligned and always came second. In Africa, the situation was worse because the girl child was denied her right to education and therefore, subjected to ‘kitchen duties’ right after birth. This trend ensured that thousands if not millions of girls were illiterate and could therefore, not afford to even seek employment. The society’s neglect of the girl child was the chief reason why several organizations sprung up. The call to empower the girl child was heard and unfortunately, in some parts of the world this happened at the expense of the boy child. Our organization sought to right this wrong and decided to join the larger boy and girl child initiative as SHe is Africa. Influencing change is indeed difficult mainly because the society is filled with different people whose perspectives are also different.
The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines conditioning as “a simple form of learning involving the formation, strengthening, or weakening of an association between a stimulus and a response.” In an organization such as SHe is Africa where employees are not paid for their services, it is indeed a lot more difficult to motivate or to stimulate productivity. It is indeed possible to have an organization and have most of the employees uninspired and socially strained. In SHe is Africa, there are strict yet flexible rules and procedures for conducting business. Aditionally, the organization considers itself a community and therefore, strives to build on the togetherness of the group while seeking to strengthen the social ties between members. There are several steps needed to qualify as a member and once these are over, a potential recruit is introduced to the family and put on probation for a month. During this time, one gets to learn about the organization and its operations. The mission of the organization is not to simply ensure the girl and boy child dreams are protected but that the social ties in the society grow stronger. According to Gino (2015), people spend a lot of time at work, however, only a few people feel their jobs are “fulfilling or engaging as they could be.” At SHe is Africa, every employee is expected to learn and practice the organization’s family mantra. With the insistence and constant reminders of the above, the organization ensures that it influences, determines, and ensures people socialize and truly regard each ot...