WELCOME STUDENTS.
👉UNIT 1:
The Organization as a Social System: It is considered a social system because it is made up of individuals whose interactions form a structure that transcends its particular members.
Elements of the System: Material, immaterial, and human resources are identified, which must be rationally coordinated to achieve objectives.
Interaction with the Context: The organization is not an isolated entity; it is an "open system" that acquires its reason for being by actively participating in society and adapting to its external context.
Systemic Approach: It proposes studying organizations as a "dynamic whole" where performance and integration are fundamental for organizational design and decision-making.
Society is composed by different organizations that have different objectives. Society spends most of its life in various organizations: primary school, secondary school, university, the club, the church, religion to which people belong, and many more existing organizations.
ORGANIZATION:
It´s a social system composed by groups of people who, through the use of resources it develops a system of interrelated and coordinated activities to achieve a common objective.
There are numerous classifications of organizations: according to their structure, size, location, etc. According to the purpose for which they were created, two types of organization are observed: for-profit and non-profit.
• For-profit: includes companies whose purpose is to make or earn money.
• Non-profit: are those whose purpose is related to social, environmental, cultural, or humanitarian aspects.
Although structurally they are different, they all have something in common: they are social systems, made up of groups of people who relate to each other, making use of resources and developing activities to achieve objectives.
Therefore:
An organization, whatever its nature, must plan its activity and allocate its resources in a way that allows it to achieve its objectives as efficiently as possible.
ITS CLASSIFICATION:
- Accoding to its structure:
Informal organizations: arise as a consequence of personal relationships and friendships among their members, the degree of interaction among them, common interests, the existence of natural leaders, failures in communication channels, etc.
Example: Friends who organize a camping trip or meet on Saturday nights, a group of workers from a certain sector who get together to have a coffee and talk about a specific topic.
According to its object:
Public organizations: are made up of a set of organizations and institutions that are responsible for managing State resources at its three levels—national, provincial, and municipal—while permanently keeping in mind the well-being of society. For example: education, health, housing, economy, environment, foreign affairs, security, justice, labor, defense.
Private organization: represented by individuals, and the objectives can be of various kinds, meaning that their activities can be diverse; commercial, industrial, extractive, service-related, etc.
According to its purpose:
For-profit organizations: these are entities whose objective is oriented toward obtaining economic benefits, as well as other benefits they expect to achieve, such as market positioning or recognition from consumers or users.
Non-profit organizations: their purposes are directed toward their members or the general public. They focus on meeting the needs of a large number of people, such as cultural, social, sports, business, research and development, assistance, etc.
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According to its chain of command:
Vertical organizations: are organizations where authority carries a lot of weight, and in which communication is based on discipline and the demand of a chain of command that arises from hierarchy; there are subordinates, and this does not allow any modifications because it represents the very essence of authoritarian institutions. Example: public security, armed forces, etc.
Horizontal organizations: they are born from the decision of a group of people. Participation, dialogue, debate, etc., correspond to the spirit of their creation, meaning they respond to a democratic style. Example: trade union organizations, political groups, etc.
According to its duration:
Permanent organizations: most organizations seek to adapt to changes and develop continuously in order to remain and grow in the market.
Temporary organizations: they arise to achieve a specific project, and once the objective is achieved they cease to exist. Example: to fulfill a construction project.
According to the regulation;
Legal organizations: are those institutions that comply with current regulations in order to operate.
Illegal organizations: are outside the legal framework, and illegality can range from their formation to their purpose. For example: clandestine gambling, drug trafficking, failure to comply with tax and legal responsibilities, etc.
Organizational characteristics:
These are independent of the activity they carry out, since they are universal.
They are social systems; organizations must be considered as a social system because they are made up of individuals, developed within a particular framework, with objectives linked by processes and functions that should remain in balance and communication, determining different subsystems. These elements are related to each other in such a way that a change or modification in any of them will cause an alteration in the others.
They endure over time; organizations may or may not be projected for a period longer than the lives of those who were their creators or founders.
They are complex; constant changes in all areas, advances in communication, the evolution of society, etc., make the way of acting within organizations increasingly sophisticated, giving rise to new ways of operating. Each organization will carry out the division of labor according to the different functional areas.
They are dynamic, they must follow the changes that accompany the human evolution from its origin to the present day. Their structure, therefore, is relatively stable.
They are innovative; nowadays organizations, like people, must be creative in order to continuously recreate the environment in which they develop, conditioned by the effects of globalization. This is because human resources incorporate influences from their surroundings and identifying with the organization. They adapt their behavior, thereby improving and optimizing their operational activity.
They apply the division of labor; organizations continuously try to achieve efficiency, emphasizing the division of labor in order to obtain greater benefits. All areas must work harmoniously and cordially in order to act synergistically. In this way, a multiplying effect on performance is achieved.
They are legal persons, or entities of ideal existence; they are therefore capable of having rights and incurring obligations. They are represented by administrators who perform a position or role.
They pursue efficiency; all entities must be efficient. This means they must obtain maximum performance in terms of quality and quantity with low resource expenditure (cost-benefit relationship).
ACTIVITIES:
1. MATCH THE CONCEPT
Match each concept with its meaning:
- Social system
- Open system
- Elements of the system
- Systemic approach
a. Organization interacts with society
b. Organization formed by people and their relationships
c. Includes human, material and immaterial resources
d. Studies the organization as a dynamic whole
2. WRITE T (true) or F (false):
- Organizations are made only of individuals working alone. ___
- Organizations use resources to achieve objectives. ___
- An organization is an open system. ___
- Organizations do not interact with society. ___
- Organizations have structure and coordination. ___
3. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES
Use the words:
(people – objectives – system – resources – society)
- An organization is a social __________.
- It is made up of __________.
- Organizations work to achieve __________.
- They use __________ to function.
- They are part of __________.
4. CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER
-
A systemic approach studies:
a) Only one part
b) The whole organization
c) Only people
-
Organizations are important because:
a) They isolate people
b) They help achieve objectives
c) They avoid interaction
-
Society is made up of:
a) Only schools
b) Different organizations
c) Only companies
1 – THINK & CONNECT
👉 Look around your life:
Complete:
- My school is an organization because: __________
- My family is / is not an organization because: __________
- Another organization I belong to: __________
👉 Share with a partner and compare answers.
2 – ORGANIZATION DETECTIVE
Read each situation and decide:
- O = Organization
- NO = Not an organization
- A group of friends chatting randomly ___
- A hospital with doctors and patients ___
- A football club with teams and rules ___
- People waiting for a bus ___
👉 Explain ONE answer.
3 – MATCH THE ELEMENTS
Match each element with its example:
- ___ Machines and buildings
- ___ Workers and managers
- ___ Ideas, knowledge, rules
4 – OPEN SYSTEM (DRAW & THINK)
Draw a simple organization (school, company, etc.)
Then add:
5 – CLASSIFY ORGANIZATIONS
Write:
- FP = For-profit
- NP = Non-profit
- A supermarket ___
- A charity organization ___
- A private company ___
- A cultural association ___
6 – FORMAL vs INFORMAL
Classify:
- F = Formal
- I = Informal
- A university with departments ___
- Friends meeting every weekend ___
- A company with managers ___
- Workers chatting during break ___
7 – PUBLIC vs PRIVATE
Write:
- PUB = Public
- PRI = Private
- A public hospital ___
- A private business ___
- A ministry of education ___
- A small shop ___
8 – DISCUSSION (PAIR OR GROUP)
Discuss:
9 – ROLE PLAY (FUN)
In groups:
Create your own organization:
- Name: __________
- Type: (public/private, profit/non-profit)
- Objective: __________
- Resources: __________
👉 Present it to the class (1 minute)
10 – MINI WRITING
Write 4–5 sentences:
👉 What is an organization and why is it a social system?
Prof. Tolli Ismael V.
CLIC PARA VER O DESCARGAR EL RABAJO EVALUATIVO.
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