This question has two parts; be sure to answer both. First, describe the four common elements of organizations proposed by Edgar Schein. Next, imagine that you work for a nonprofit animal-rescue organization, Animalia, Inc. Describe how each of the four elements relates to that organization's activities and operations. Animalia has several full-time employees, plus many volunteers (including veterinarians) who rescue and care for hurt and abandoned animals.
What will be an ideal response?
Organizational psychologist Edgar Schein proposed the four common elements of (1) common purpose, (2) coordinated effort, (3) division of labor, and (4) hierarchy of authority.
The common purpose unifies employees or members and gives everyone an understanding of the organization's reason for being. At Animalia, Inc., the common purpose is to rescue animals that have been hurt and/or abandoned.
The common purpose is realized through coordinated effort, the coordination of individual efforts into a group or organization-wide effort. Animalia, Inc. has central offices and phone numbers that people can call to report abandoned animals. People in the home office coordinate the volunteers who go out and rescue the animals, as well as those who care for the animals once they are brought in.
Division of labor, also known as work specialization, is the arrangement of having discrete parts of a task done by different people. Animalia, Inc., has different people performing different tasks. For example, volunteers in the home office take calls, while specially trained animal-catchers go out to catch the animal so that it can be treated. Trained veterinarians who volunteer for the organization provide treatment for the animals who are hurt.
The hierarchy of authority, or chain of command, is a control mechanism for making sure the right people do the right things at the right time. Animalia, Inc., will have a CEO or key manager, who may divide the nonprofit organization into several workgroups: fundraisers, marketers, civilian volunteers, veterinarian volunteers, and so on.
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