Managing & Organising.
Lecture 1 - Managing people in organisations.
We can differentiate managing as a practice, as something that we do, from organisations as
goal-oriented collectives, entities in which we are organized. Management is the process of
communicating, coordinating, and accomplishing action in the pursuit of organisational
objectives. These are pursued by managing collaborative relationships with stakeholders,
technologies and other artefacts, both within as well as between organisations and
managing more or less considerate relationships with those employed as well as with those
encountered as suppliers, customers, communities, and so on.
Management is not a neutral activity, it can not simply be considered in terms of its capacity
to deliver objective gains in productivity / effeciency, but it is also a socio-political activity
which implies the need to adhere to societal, political and ethical responsibilities.
Sensemaking is the process through which individuals and groups give meaning to
something, especially to explain novel, unexpected or confusing events. We are constantly
making sense, revising past rationalisations in the light of new information, knowledge and
events not previously available. Meaning is constructed in an ongoing process in which past
experience informs the present (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014). Sensemaking is primarily
for people within the company, but it can also be for external stakeholders.
There is no management style / approach that will fit all. Managers coan no longer rely on
hierarchy and nominal roles to manage people because managing has become an
increasingly difficult, political, and challenging endeavor. It has become more complex
because people work in complex organisations that are embedded in contexts inscribed by
complex networks. Managers should have an understanding of this complexity.
Sensemaking and Framing.
A manager manages through processes of sense making (figuring out), sense giving(figured
out), and sense breaking (deciding it does not make sense). One of the key roles of a
manager is to frame. They frame the sense that others have of the roles that they play in the
organisation. Managing involves framing: separating that which deserves focus from that
which does not, differentiate the relevant with the irrelevant. Ex: managers will always tell
you that you have the most important job while you both know that is not true.
Framing is everywhere. While the sense you make is always your sense, it is never made in
isolation which means you already had some information before, others might have had an
influence on your sensemaking, stories might go around that are not completely true, etc.
People will not use these cues in the same way, people can make wildly different sense of
the same set of cues.
Framing is a term that comes from film making: a director frames a shot by including some
detail and cutting other elements. A frame defines what is relevant.
framing involves the creation of devices that assign meaning to organizational situations.
These devices are not physical devices, but include metaphors, the repetition of stories,
traditions, etc. Framing occurs not only though sensemaking, but also through
sensebreaking and sensegiving. Framing is what leaders do, especially when they are
seeking to reframe in the case of organisational change. It mobilizes followers through the
judicious use of images, symbols, and language.
,Managerialism.
Managerialism portrays management as a universal solution to all problems. Managerialism
combines management’s tools and knowledge with ideology to establish itself systematically
in organisations, public intitutions, and society while depriving business owners (property),
workers (organisational-economic) and civil society (social-political) of all decisionmaking
powers. Managerialism justifies the application of its one-dimensional managerial techniques
to all areas of work, society, and capitalism on the grounds of superior ideology, expert
training, and the exclusiveness of managerial knowledge necessary to run public institutions
and society as corporations.
Managerial rationality.
Some managers argue that they can make decisions based on management on their
managerial competence, this is called managerialism. The belief in management means
being capable of solving any problem and elevates the necessity of management into an
ideology of the modern world.
Managerialism is essentially a construct that emerged in profit-making organisations as an
expression of economic rationalism (= markets and prices are the only reliable indices of
value, delivering better outcomes that states and bureaucracies). The whole point of
sensemaking in business organisations is to be economically ratijonal, signified by making a
profit.
Rational managers will pretend they have perfect knowledge over the situation, but in reality
they can never have perfect knowledge.
Rationality is always contextually an cognitevely limited, we call this bounded rationality. It
means producting satisfactory rather than optimally rational decisions.
Managing and organisations are constantly changing, this is why managers implement
resistance to this change.
Managerial Rationality vs. Managerialism.
Managerial Rationality (decision Managerialism (framing).
making).
Making logical and efficient decisions within An ideology that management is the answer
a specific constext, using reasoning and to all organizational problems, often without
data to find the best solution. considering the unique context of different
sectors or situations. It tends to universalize
management practices even when they
may not be appropriate.
Focuses on optimising resources, Overemphasizes management tools and
processes, and outcomes. principles, sometimes to the exclusion of
other perspectives.
Seeks to achieve efficiency, consistency, Treats management as the one-size-fits-all
and predictability. solutions, applicable in any fiels (education,
healthcare, government, etc.)
,Changing paradigms - the digital age.
- Digital technologies and a growing international division of labour (you can diversify
the supply chain) between economies make the world economy increasingly
globalized, although subject to pressures to deglobalization from trade wars,
pandemics and political responses to them.
- Contemporary competition is based less on traditional comparative advantage as a
result of what economists call ‘factor endowments’, such as being close to raw
materials, and more on competitive advantages that arise from innovation and
enterprise. Companies get their competitive advantage no longer from things like raw
materials, but it has shifted towards innovation and digitalisation.
- The fourth industrial revolution: algorithmic innovation, the gig economy, digital
nomads, working from home, etc.
This leads to having to manage these technological changes by:
- Responsive organizations should have employees who are capable of
problem-solving rather than having to refer to a higher authority. You need workers
who are capable of applying these new kind of technologies.
- New technologies attach a premium to a flexible, timely approach to customer
requirements
- Different generations and digital capabilities
- From hard to soft power relations
Because of this digitalisation, there are changes in organisation cultures and social relations
at work.
- digitalisation changing experiences of time and space for employees. Think about
working at home.
- digitalisation and its effects and affordances for different generations.
- increasing importance of EDI - equality, diversity, and inclusion
Global shifts.
- growth in AI and smart teams working with intelligent machines and devices.
- organisational and spatial (= occupying space) decomposition of employment.
- changing skill formations globally in an international devision of labour.
CONCLUSION.
- Sense-making is important and part of the managerial skill set.
- Sense-making & framing go hand in hand.
- It is crucial to critically reflect upon sense-making.
- The rational manager doesn’t exist – reality is more complex and goes beyond
capital accumulation.
- Managerialism & Managerial Rationality, two concepts with different meanings (see
table).
- Technological developments & global shift have an impact on managerialism &
sense-making.
, Lecture 2 - Role of globalisation in the management of a company.
Digital organisations.
- digitalisation is the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized from non-digital
sources or originally created as such) to manage organisational processes. But what
does this mean for the company?
- An increase in knowledge-intensive work means that organizations employ –
and manage – different kinds of employees
- Mental rather than manual labor is important
- Employees need to be capable of working with sophisticated databases and
software as well as knowledge-management systems
Digital bubbles (networks).
→ these are networks, digital platforms where people meet. These bubbles enable the
exchang of certain information.
- Electronic media support leads to like-minded networks (bubbles).
- The group together via social media and preferred websites.
- Keyword emotions: the digital network is based on shared imagined experiences of
those who subscribe to it.
- What are produced are bubbles of highly situational emotionality in which reason, in
the classical sense, has little purchase because legitimacy increasingly is inscribed in
a shared sense of emotionality rather than a shared rationality.
Filmpje trump, link met digital bubbles. Aanhangers van trump kunnen we plaatsen in zo een
bubbel, of een digitale bubbel. Deze aanhangers delen hun ideen online en zo krijgen ze
alleen informatie die ze willen horen en worden de ideen van trump versterkt. De speech
waarna de aanhangers het kapitool bestormden ging over het feit dat de verkiezingen waren
vervalst en dat Trump eigenlijk had gewonnen. Dit idee wordt dus door aanhangers gedeeld
en verspreid online om het idee verder te bediscussieren. Door deze discussies kwam de
bestorming omdat het veel makkelijker te organiseren was door het delen van de emotionele
gevoelens online.
Bubbles and Social media.
- These bubbles can also be exploited commercially through building brand loyalty, as
Apple has done so well.
- ‘Rational’ people queue for hours in advance of a new product launch to be one of
the first to own whatever new gadget has emerged.
- Building brand loyalty today involves using social media
- The emergence of a digital platform economy enables broad recourse to a market
type of governance by organizations, using spot contracts, dramatically reducing
transaction costs, making it easier to assess the contribution of providers
- Digital economy employs far fewer people than the old corporates: for instance
- Uber has over one million ‘driver-partners’ in the USA but recognizes far less people
as actual employees.
Lecture 1 - Managing people in organisations.
We can differentiate managing as a practice, as something that we do, from organisations as
goal-oriented collectives, entities in which we are organized. Management is the process of
communicating, coordinating, and accomplishing action in the pursuit of organisational
objectives. These are pursued by managing collaborative relationships with stakeholders,
technologies and other artefacts, both within as well as between organisations and
managing more or less considerate relationships with those employed as well as with those
encountered as suppliers, customers, communities, and so on.
Management is not a neutral activity, it can not simply be considered in terms of its capacity
to deliver objective gains in productivity / effeciency, but it is also a socio-political activity
which implies the need to adhere to societal, political and ethical responsibilities.
Sensemaking is the process through which individuals and groups give meaning to
something, especially to explain novel, unexpected or confusing events. We are constantly
making sense, revising past rationalisations in the light of new information, knowledge and
events not previously available. Meaning is constructed in an ongoing process in which past
experience informs the present (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014). Sensemaking is primarily
for people within the company, but it can also be for external stakeholders.
There is no management style / approach that will fit all. Managers coan no longer rely on
hierarchy and nominal roles to manage people because managing has become an
increasingly difficult, political, and challenging endeavor. It has become more complex
because people work in complex organisations that are embedded in contexts inscribed by
complex networks. Managers should have an understanding of this complexity.
Sensemaking and Framing.
A manager manages through processes of sense making (figuring out), sense giving(figured
out), and sense breaking (deciding it does not make sense). One of the key roles of a
manager is to frame. They frame the sense that others have of the roles that they play in the
organisation. Managing involves framing: separating that which deserves focus from that
which does not, differentiate the relevant with the irrelevant. Ex: managers will always tell
you that you have the most important job while you both know that is not true.
Framing is everywhere. While the sense you make is always your sense, it is never made in
isolation which means you already had some information before, others might have had an
influence on your sensemaking, stories might go around that are not completely true, etc.
People will not use these cues in the same way, people can make wildly different sense of
the same set of cues.
Framing is a term that comes from film making: a director frames a shot by including some
detail and cutting other elements. A frame defines what is relevant.
framing involves the creation of devices that assign meaning to organizational situations.
These devices are not physical devices, but include metaphors, the repetition of stories,
traditions, etc. Framing occurs not only though sensemaking, but also through
sensebreaking and sensegiving. Framing is what leaders do, especially when they are
seeking to reframe in the case of organisational change. It mobilizes followers through the
judicious use of images, symbols, and language.
,Managerialism.
Managerialism portrays management as a universal solution to all problems. Managerialism
combines management’s tools and knowledge with ideology to establish itself systematically
in organisations, public intitutions, and society while depriving business owners (property),
workers (organisational-economic) and civil society (social-political) of all decisionmaking
powers. Managerialism justifies the application of its one-dimensional managerial techniques
to all areas of work, society, and capitalism on the grounds of superior ideology, expert
training, and the exclusiveness of managerial knowledge necessary to run public institutions
and society as corporations.
Managerial rationality.
Some managers argue that they can make decisions based on management on their
managerial competence, this is called managerialism. The belief in management means
being capable of solving any problem and elevates the necessity of management into an
ideology of the modern world.
Managerialism is essentially a construct that emerged in profit-making organisations as an
expression of economic rationalism (= markets and prices are the only reliable indices of
value, delivering better outcomes that states and bureaucracies). The whole point of
sensemaking in business organisations is to be economically ratijonal, signified by making a
profit.
Rational managers will pretend they have perfect knowledge over the situation, but in reality
they can never have perfect knowledge.
Rationality is always contextually an cognitevely limited, we call this bounded rationality. It
means producting satisfactory rather than optimally rational decisions.
Managing and organisations are constantly changing, this is why managers implement
resistance to this change.
Managerial Rationality vs. Managerialism.
Managerial Rationality (decision Managerialism (framing).
making).
Making logical and efficient decisions within An ideology that management is the answer
a specific constext, using reasoning and to all organizational problems, often without
data to find the best solution. considering the unique context of different
sectors or situations. It tends to universalize
management practices even when they
may not be appropriate.
Focuses on optimising resources, Overemphasizes management tools and
processes, and outcomes. principles, sometimes to the exclusion of
other perspectives.
Seeks to achieve efficiency, consistency, Treats management as the one-size-fits-all
and predictability. solutions, applicable in any fiels (education,
healthcare, government, etc.)
,Changing paradigms - the digital age.
- Digital technologies and a growing international division of labour (you can diversify
the supply chain) between economies make the world economy increasingly
globalized, although subject to pressures to deglobalization from trade wars,
pandemics and political responses to them.
- Contemporary competition is based less on traditional comparative advantage as a
result of what economists call ‘factor endowments’, such as being close to raw
materials, and more on competitive advantages that arise from innovation and
enterprise. Companies get their competitive advantage no longer from things like raw
materials, but it has shifted towards innovation and digitalisation.
- The fourth industrial revolution: algorithmic innovation, the gig economy, digital
nomads, working from home, etc.
This leads to having to manage these technological changes by:
- Responsive organizations should have employees who are capable of
problem-solving rather than having to refer to a higher authority. You need workers
who are capable of applying these new kind of technologies.
- New technologies attach a premium to a flexible, timely approach to customer
requirements
- Different generations and digital capabilities
- From hard to soft power relations
Because of this digitalisation, there are changes in organisation cultures and social relations
at work.
- digitalisation changing experiences of time and space for employees. Think about
working at home.
- digitalisation and its effects and affordances for different generations.
- increasing importance of EDI - equality, diversity, and inclusion
Global shifts.
- growth in AI and smart teams working with intelligent machines and devices.
- organisational and spatial (= occupying space) decomposition of employment.
- changing skill formations globally in an international devision of labour.
CONCLUSION.
- Sense-making is important and part of the managerial skill set.
- Sense-making & framing go hand in hand.
- It is crucial to critically reflect upon sense-making.
- The rational manager doesn’t exist – reality is more complex and goes beyond
capital accumulation.
- Managerialism & Managerial Rationality, two concepts with different meanings (see
table).
- Technological developments & global shift have an impact on managerialism &
sense-making.
, Lecture 2 - Role of globalisation in the management of a company.
Digital organisations.
- digitalisation is the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized from non-digital
sources or originally created as such) to manage organisational processes. But what
does this mean for the company?
- An increase in knowledge-intensive work means that organizations employ –
and manage – different kinds of employees
- Mental rather than manual labor is important
- Employees need to be capable of working with sophisticated databases and
software as well as knowledge-management systems
Digital bubbles (networks).
→ these are networks, digital platforms where people meet. These bubbles enable the
exchang of certain information.
- Electronic media support leads to like-minded networks (bubbles).
- The group together via social media and preferred websites.
- Keyword emotions: the digital network is based on shared imagined experiences of
those who subscribe to it.
- What are produced are bubbles of highly situational emotionality in which reason, in
the classical sense, has little purchase because legitimacy increasingly is inscribed in
a shared sense of emotionality rather than a shared rationality.
Filmpje trump, link met digital bubbles. Aanhangers van trump kunnen we plaatsen in zo een
bubbel, of een digitale bubbel. Deze aanhangers delen hun ideen online en zo krijgen ze
alleen informatie die ze willen horen en worden de ideen van trump versterkt. De speech
waarna de aanhangers het kapitool bestormden ging over het feit dat de verkiezingen waren
vervalst en dat Trump eigenlijk had gewonnen. Dit idee wordt dus door aanhangers gedeeld
en verspreid online om het idee verder te bediscussieren. Door deze discussies kwam de
bestorming omdat het veel makkelijker te organiseren was door het delen van de emotionele
gevoelens online.
Bubbles and Social media.
- These bubbles can also be exploited commercially through building brand loyalty, as
Apple has done so well.
- ‘Rational’ people queue for hours in advance of a new product launch to be one of
the first to own whatever new gadget has emerged.
- Building brand loyalty today involves using social media
- The emergence of a digital platform economy enables broad recourse to a market
type of governance by organizations, using spot contracts, dramatically reducing
transaction costs, making it easier to assess the contribution of providers
- Digital economy employs far fewer people than the old corporates: for instance
- Uber has over one million ‘driver-partners’ in the USA but recognizes far less people
as actual employees.
