Define and describe each of the characteristics of organizational behavior: resilience, autonomy, self-interest, conservatism, and inefficiency. Examine the case of the period following the September 11, 2001, attacks. Which of these characteristics could have played a role in the advice given to the Bush administration on going to war in Afghanistan and later Iraq?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers should define resilience as the likelihood that once an organization is formed, it becomes embedded in the institutional landscape and will likely remain, despite any inefficiencies or attempts to dissolve it. Answers should describe autonomy as the ability to act without careful scrutiny. This gives the organization much more power, as it often has the ability to execute or ignore certain directives. Self-interest should be defined as actors serving the interests of the organization, not necessarily the national interest. Answers defining conservatism should address the adherence to standard operating procedures and reluctance to change. Inefficiency should be described as a breakdown in communication and/or coordination. Responses to the effects of these characteristics will vary widely, but an example is this: Self-interest led military advisers to advocate for intervention even with incomplete information, while conservatism made it difficult for organizations to adapt to the new(er) threat of terrorism and may have influenced how they believed their organization was best equipped to respond. Inefficiency may have played a role in the lack of information being shared leading up to and following the 9/11 attacks, as well as coordination problems during the wars and poor intelligence on Iraq’s alleged stockpile of WMDs.