Agency-Environment Relations: Understanding Task Environments

1. Agency-Environment Relations: Understanding Task Environments  By Hillel Schmid Let me see how this works. How will the notes look? Let me see how this works. How will the notes look?

2. Organization Environment All external conditions that actually or potentially affect the organization or As conditions and constraints outside the organization that affect its functioning

3. Environment Includes: Individuals, groups, & organizations State & institutional systems Social, economic, cultural, political, religious, technology, military, legal, demographic, geographic, ecological, ethics, beliefs, and behavior norms that influence the functioning of the organization

4. Concept of Enacted Environment The organization does more than observe & interpret: It modifies and influences the state of its environment through its own actions and through information and the creation of meaning. CoCo

5. Defining Domain Identifies points where organization is dependent on inputs from the environment Claims services, technologies, populations Creates unique identity to differentiate it from other organizations

6. Domain Consensus A set of expectations both for members of an organization and for others with whom they interact about what the organization will and will not do

7. Legitimation Means acquiring social support and approval from actors in the surrounding environment, which ensures the organization’s right to survive. This positions the organization to acquire resources.

8. General vs Task Environments General was defined as environmental factors that did not directly impact the organization Task environment referred specifically to areas where negotiate to exchange inputs for outputs There is no longer a distinction due to our “small village” world

9. Examples of the Task Environment Clients of the organization Suppliers of resources, work, capital Competitors for markets and resources Formal and state organizations Legislators and regulators Providers of complementary services

10. Characteristics of the Task Environment Homogeneity vs heterogeneity Richness vs paucity Stability vs instability Organized vs unorganized Certainty vs uncertainty Placidity vs turbulence

11. Organization Adaptation Theories Process of evolution change.. Organizations survive in the conditions of their environment Understanding Internal & External Environment and working toward “fit” Organization learns and adapts

12. Types of Adaptation Theories Contingency Theory Political-Economy Theory Resource Dependency Theory

13. Contingency Theory says: Organizational structures have to be matched with the contextual demands of the contextual features of their environment. Organizations that “fit” with their environment have a better chance of survival Organizations also influence their environment an try to change it

14. Political-Economy Theory says: Organizations must develop two types of resources 1. Legitimacy and Power (Political) 2. Production Resources (Economic) The greater the the dependency on outside resources the more influence on internal processes

15. Resource Dependence Theory Organizational activities and outcomes are accounted for by the context in which the organization is embedded Directors must manage environment as well as agency Must reduce dependency of external organizations and increase their dependency on the agency. Weakness is that this theory ignores: ideology, values, behavior norms, and commitments they evoke. Weakness is that this theory ignores: ideology, values, behavior norms, and commitments they evoke.

16. Ecological Theories Views population of organizations not individual organizations Survival of the Fittest Niche is the resource space that limits the number of organizations Weakness DiscussionWeakness Discussion

17. Institutional Theory Organizations that conform to the requirements and expectations of the institutional environment gain the legitimacy and resources needed to survive and grow, even if they do not intend to realize the rationalized myth Legitimacy is gained from adopting the social values of the society & community

18. Strategies of Adaptation to Task Environment Competition Bargaining Co-optation Coalition Exerting authority and power Disruption Generalism vs. Specialism

19. Ecological or Adaptation? Ecological Theory argues that deterministic processes affect the organization’s survival Adaptation theory argues that organizations learn and react to events and change while influencing the task environment.