Exploring the Paradigm Wars in Organisation Theory Essay (Essay Sample)
Your task is to critically analyze the contribution that, strategic choice and determinist theories (Resource Dependency Theory; Institutional Theory; Population Ecology) make to our understanding of organizational action. Which perspective do you find most compelling - strategic choice or determinism? Explain your reasoning.
Detailed instructions:
Write an essay-style response to this question, referring to the current academic literature on this topic. As a general rule, a minimum of three (3) academic references from peer-reviewed journals, in addition to references from the subject core text is required. You may find this resource on Essay Writing helpful.
This essay is a critical review of the influential ideas about the role of managers in shaping organizational outcomes. Most critical essays follow this type of structure:
This essay has analyzed the two noteworthy organizational theories one is Strategic choice theory & the other one is a deterministic theory. It has vividly explained the pros and cons of these two theories with examples. Later the essay suggested the best theory for an organization based on these advantages & disadvantages. But, one should keep in mind that a single theory is not efficient for all circumstances so it is better to choose in between theories in different circumstances to reap the most benefits out of these theories. We know organizational theory deals with rules & regulations in sociology that sees an institution as a separate entity. It examines the activities of several units of institutions & sees the way these activities exert influence on the institution. Numerous experts tried to define the way structural variances in any organization influence its overall productivity & efficiency. In addition to these, these theories carefully analyze the importance of empowering employees for accelerating organization productivity. So after all these careful analyses, it is evident that strategic choice is the most effective theory for any organization as it gives the options of taking decisions to the managers and work for the best interest of its shareholders
Introduction
For many years, there have been numerous debates regarding the organizational theories. A group of experts says strategic theory is the best and the other group of experts says determinist theory is the best. The researchers, that are in favor of Strategic choice are mostly group of individuals from upper hierarchical level of the management and usually have high self-controlling power, have a positive outlook & have the capability to come up with creative plans to alter the current condition of the organization. This group of individuals suggests the mangers’ decisions affect the overall performance & activities of an institution. On the other hand, the people who are in support of determinist theory think that people at the managerial position have to stick by some guiding factors & eventually because of these factors they can’t take autonomous decision for managing activities of the firm and due to these factors people in the administrative positions have no option of taking independent decision (Stacey, 1995). The main difference between strategic choice & determinist theory is in the degree of adaption made in an organization (Hrebiniak & Joyce, 1985).
The essay comprises of three parts. The first section critically analyzes both determinism & strategic choice theories. The second part illustrates the limitations of deterministic theory & Strategic theory. The last segment suggests the most efficient theories amidst all these theories in running an institution.
The Theories
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