Individual and the Organization Author Book Report

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In today's organizational world, there are other pressures besides those mentioned by Argyris in the previous two pages of this paper. But the pressures are to some extent created and continued due to the necessary subordination to authority and to the chain of command that Argyris has pointed to. Budget pressures experienced in the organization "tend to unite the employees against management," according to author John B. Miner (Miner, 2005, p. 307). The tension from budgetary pressures puts the factory supervisor under certain strains, which can lead to what Miner refers to as "…inefficiency, aggression, and perhaps a complete breakdown on the part of the supervisor" (307).

Beyond that, the finance staff in the organization finds feelings "of success" when they find fault with the employees down in the factory; and when the top management uses the strained budgets as "needlers" the factory supervisors view only the narrow problems in their own department -- not in the entire organization. In his book Miner references Argyris' theory that the healthy adult personality becomes frustrated with a formal organization when there is an "incongruent" relationship between management goals and what individuals really need in terms of feeling good about themselves.

In truth, Miner writes (308), when there is incongruency, healthy employees are apt to become "passive, dependent, and submissive over time." They become this way because Miner believes employees are generally "more mature than the organization assumes they are" and they dislike moving "downward in the organization" (308). Moreover, the frustrated employee may: a) leave the organization ("only to face the same problems elsewhere"); b) or he may "attempt to move to high levels in the organization" (albeit there are a precious few of those opportunities); or c) he may adapt by "…resorting to emotional defense mechanisms" like "escape from reality and psychosomatic illness"; or d) he may simply become "apathetic and uninvolved" (Minor, 308).

As an example of how to avoid the frustrations and emotional problems that employees may experience with the kinds of organizational structures that have been discussed in this report, an article in the Journal of Business Ethics points out that corporate leaders should "create and maintain a positive ethical climate" that relates to the expression of the company's values.

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Individual ethics (IE) and organizational ethics (OE) need to be practiced in the organization, and the best leaders to do that are "younger managers" (who are more influenced by OE than older managers are) (Elango, et al., 2010, p. 543). The "underlying importance" of ethics and values is the fact that they lead to "…certain behaviors, which may…conform to the ethical standards of the corporation" (Elango, 545).

Another way to help an organization keep the individuals in the company positive and involved is by creating strategic entrepreneurships within the company. Entrepreneurships give incentives and challenges to employees to start new approaches to production and marketing. Applying creative challenges to employees helps to motivate them and keep them from falling into cynicism and frustration, according to an article in the Academy of Management Perspectives.

In conclusion, Argyris is correct in his viewpoint that more study needs to be done regarding the formal structure (especially when the chain of command is locked in as a hard and fast rule of power) and how the individual's personality can become negative when the individual's talent and skill is not fully utilized. But there are solutions to this structural problem within organizations, and they involve ethics, values, and the possibilities available to the motivated employee through entrepreneurships within the company's mission and goals.

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