Compare and contrast the interactional/interpretive perspective and the critical perspective on formal organizations citing examples from the Beacon Center to illustrate your points.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Theories of organizations within the interactional/interpretive perspective on organizations are quite diverse, but they all share three basic premises: (1) Organizations provide members with a sense of connection and meaning; (2) organizations reflect the worldviews of the creators; and (3) organizations are social constructions of reality created by ongoing interactions and emerging relationships. Critical theorists share the interactional/interpretive perspective's bias about the role of human interaction and meaning making in human behavior, but critical theory undertakes, as its central concern, a critique of existing power arrangements and a vision for change suggested by this critique. More specifically, critical theories see organizations as instruments of exploitation and domination, where conflicting interests are decided in favor of the most powerful members. Although it may appear that Martha Green administered Beacon Center from an interactional/interpretative perspective, it is probably more accurate to describe her worldview as a critical perspective on organizations. She tried to minimize the power differences in her organization, and when she asked her staff to vote on sensitive issues, she invoked the secret ballot to neutralize any possible power dynamics.