Sociology contributes to the study of organizational behavior and organizational theory by analyzing interpersonal relations between people and organizations. These relations revolve around communication, leadership, conflict resolution, organizational structure and culture. These are the essential elements that create organizational behavior. Sociology provides a basic understanding of how these elements are interconnected to create a particular order that defines the organization’s behavior.
Organizations have been evolving during the period of industrialization. During the second half of the 20th century, sociologists were interested in understanding the basis of organizational structure (Scott, 2004). Organizations emerged as distinctive institutions with unique characteristics that defined their mode of operations. Since then, the interest in learning and understanding how organizations work has been growing significantly among sociologists. Analysts have been studying organizations by grouping them according to their characteristics, behavior, and structure. Sociologists have also been focusing on understanding the consequences of organizational structures by investigating organizations’ performance and their impact on society (Scott, 2004). As a result, several theories have been developed to explain the nature of organizations. For instance, contingency theory explains an organization’s and its environment’s relationship (Scott, 2004). The transaction cost approach explains how organizations carry out their transactions, while the resource-dependency theory explains how organizations adapt to the political and economic environments.
I am part of a decentralized organization where the power process is horizontal. Unlike many organizations where the top officials are responsible for the final decisions, my organization gives every member a chance to contribute to the decision-making process. This has created a sense of unity and teamwork because everyone is part of the decision-making process. Additionally, most workers are employed on a contract basis, and those with satisfactory performance can renew their contracts. This organization conforms to features of most organizations that emerged during the past half-century.
Reference
Scott, W. R. (2004). Reflections on a half-century of organizational sociology. Annu. Rev. Sociol., 30, 1-21.