In order to understand the principles of managerial work more deeply, it makes sense to compare two studies with different theoretical approaches to organizational culture. The approach of Gallup Research, arranged by a popular HR consulting group, seems to encourage the convenience of the worker and their enjoyment of the work and the ability to do it. The second reviewed managerial approach focuses on clear types of organizational structures and offers a direct impact on the performance of employees through modeling. Through personal experience of working in a volunteer organization named “Musicians on Call,” it makes sense to compare two vastly different managerial theoretical approaches.
One of the features of Gallup Research is a structural rethinking of the basic principles by which it makes sense to select a workplace. It is the space of collective interaction that is decisive in the internal and external activities of the company (The People Group, 2008). The advantages that the company offers, no matter how advanced it may be, are not decisive in how effectively or smoothly it functions as a result. These factors do not matter, especially when it comes to companies with high-quality or superior situational factors. It is the perception of the company as a group of cooperating employees that makes it possible to qualitatively improve its activities. Participation with the Musicians on Call organization, in which I volunteered, demonstrates just such an approach. The principle of operation of this organization is charitable activities for the psychological support of sick and elderly patients. Musicians on Call are artists who cooperate to tour and perform for these types of patients to provide them with relief and improve their overall attitude toward life.
The discovery made in the Gallup study on the focus on organizing communication seemed new and useful to me from a managerial perspective, and I deeply resonated with this information because of my background experience. It was this feeling that one is in a team of people who really love their work and know how to do it, which I experienced in the process of working in Musicians on Call. My experience in that organization confirms the results of this study, as loyalty to one’s cause is indeed a system-forming element. When a person is engaged in their calling and feels that this is what they do best, this attitude calls for more openness in interactions in the workplace. The reverse is equally true, and a company ceases to function adequately if its employees are dissatisfied with themselves as colleagues. This disrupts communication by creating additional complications and false meanings that interfere with the real productivity of the organization to a significant extent.
My experience of working in an organization is at odds with the principles outlined in McNamara’s article, which suggests four structural types of organizational culture (McNamara, 2000). The structures proposed by the author of this article do not quite fit the model of the organizational structure of the Call Musicians, which is largely based on the altruistic principle that is above a clear hierarchy. This system appealed to me as extremely interesting, although, in my opinion, it cancels the freer and more independent types of micro-organizations where powers are arbitrarily distributed, and diversity and even a certain contradiction are encouraged. Such cases are possible within the club culture, but the company may be united, for example, by the desire to overcome subcultural demographic divisions. Moreover, organizations of a charitable nature, such as Musicians on Call, still seem to be more hybrid since they invite precisely altruistic participation of a free and gratuitous nature.
Gallup Research gave me more relevant information about my organization than McNamara’s article. McNamara (2000) writes that in order to identify organizational culture, it is necessary to emphasize the most characteristic feature, that is, to make a generalization that can simplify the initially more extensive organizational structure. Behavior modeling also seems to be an overly simple way of influencing an organization, limiting the possibility of real creative interaction. Musicians on Call encourage individual initiative and skills for cooperation and communication more than subordination and clear performance by staff of assigned functions. Communication and productivity of interaction between employees is therefore limited, as the thinking of an employee in the workplace becomes patterned and habitual, therefore weaning from creating new creative connections. I think that if I proposed initiatives to disseminate the results of Gallup Research to the members of the organization, this could generate a powerful creative flow that would result in new positive ways of psychological support.
Both articles provide valuable information for management and, taken back to back, make it clear that there are different levels of management influence on an organization. Some organizations influence workers through a high amount of control and the creation of clear roles. Other organizations, such as those described in the Gallup Research, in contrast, offer the promotion of freedom, which in specific cases can greatly increase the effectiveness of the organization. The Gallup Research theory seems more appropriate for creating free thinking in specific organizations where creativity and the dynamic of generating original ideas are encouraged. The theory presented in the McNamara (2000) article is suitable for many organizations and makes it possible to choose methods of influencing employees. However, it seems somewhat limiting compared to the essentially philosophical idea of Gallup Research, which encourages independent thought and individual comfort. In essence, these two approaches could be synthesized by representing the two sides of managerial involvement in direct control over the work of employees.
References
McNamara, C. (2000). Organizational culture. Free Management Library. Web.
The People Group. (2008). Based on Gallup research: What makes a great workplace? Web.