CHAPTER 3 AND 4 SUMMARY – ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
CHAPTER 3
Importance of organisational effectiveness
Organisation theory helps to determine which organisation structure will help organisations reach organisational effectiveness. In order to make a proper assessment of organisational effectiveness it is required to use multiple criteria, to use different characteristics for organisations that are not the same and, lastly, that effectiveness has to take the processes and outcomes into account. Organisational effectiveness is described as ‘’the degree to which an organisation attains its short- and long-term goals, the selection of which reflects strategic constituencies, the self-interest of the evaluator and the life stage of the organisation’’ (Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell, 2006).
The goal-attainment approach
The goal-attainment approach is the most widely used manner to measure effectiveness. The goal-attainment approach can be described as:’’An organisation’s effectiveness is judged in terms of whether it achieves its goals’’ (Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell, 2006). To make the goal-attainment approach work, goals need to be identified and measures should be put in place to find out how well the goals are being met. Problems of the goal-attainment approach include; whose goals you apply, the distinction between short- and long-term goals, and whether goals are not contradictive with each other.
The systems approach
‘’In the systems approach, end goals are not ignored, but they are only one element in a more complex set of criteria’’ and can be described as ‘’evaluating an organisation’s effectiveness by its ability to acquire inputs, process the inputs, channel the outputs and maintain stability and balance’’ (Stephen P. Robbins and Neil Barnwell, 2006). Timely replenishment of tangible and intangible goods/ideas is critical for the survival of an organisation. The most apparent problems that occur with the systems approach...