Health Care Organization as Metaphor - Essay Example

? Health Care Organization As Metaphor Organizations are very complex s in the society, which be understood from various perspectives. As time goes by, some organizations become larger, thereby affecting and touching many people. Gareth Morgan is a renowned organization theorist who suggested various metaphors that can be used in trying to understand organizations: how they work and how they get their motivation. One of the metaphors identified by Gareth Morgan is that of the organism, which portrays an organization as a living organism. This metaphor of the organism can be used to understand a lot of different organizations including multinationals such as the Public Health Institute (PHI). Part I: Health Care Organization as Metaphor For the last three years, I have been working as a public health nurse with the Public Health Institute (PHI). The PHI is an internationally recognized public health organization known for its dynamic leadership in helping to improve the health of women, youths and children across the world. The main objective of the organization is to uncover health disparities existing among these identified groups, understand the causes of these disparities, and address each of them using evidence based solutions. The Public health Institute addresses various issues affecting women, children and youths and including asthma, obesity, and sexual and reproductive health on the international scene. In America the organization specifically focuses on nutrition, maternal mortality, depression and breast cancer among women. The vision of the organization is to raise the social status of young people, girls and women by equipping them with desirable leadership skills and health education. The PHI is internationally funded by a diverse group of individuals and corporate entities to help it advance its course. My role in the organization was to focus on helping women and children under one year of age to overcome their health challenges. This involved working with women to fight breast cancer and depression, and advising them on proper nutrition to prevent them from contracting preventable diseases and helping to reduce the mortality rate. I also engaged with little children less than one year of age to help them fight asthmatic problems and other diseases prevalent among children in this age group. The PHI being an international organization, I had an opportunity to work overseas with different communities advancing the objectives of the organization. In my role as a public health nurse with the PHI, I have gathered a lot of experience and knowledge in public health. I now understand fully how organizations in the public health sector operate, and I can relate running these organizations to various organizational theories that have been developed over time. Gareth Morgan’s theory of metaphors of organizations, for instance, can be relied upon to understand how the Public Health Institute (PHI) is structured and how it manages its affairs. My knowledge of these metaphors of organizations has greatly impacted my general understanding of public health as a nurse and as an administrator in one of the largest global public health organizations. Gareth Morgan (2006) in Images of an Organization stipulated that an organization can be best understood based on various images or metaphors that relate the organization to its environment and the need to be competitive and run into the foreseeable future. Among the images used by Gareth Morgan are machine, culture, political system, organism, and the brain (Morgan, 2006). The image that can best be relied upon to understand the PHI is that of the organism. The metaphor of the organism considers all organizations to be as living organisms (Jim, 2000). Indeed, there are so many similarities between an organization and a living organism. As an organism, an organization is in a constant state of change and growth. Just as organisms, all organizations have very complex needs to thrive and survive over time. This metaphor recognizes the existing relationship between organizations and their environments. In the same vein as living organisms have strong relationships with their environments, so do organizations. This metaphor therefore seeks to apply Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to organizations (Martins & Terblanche, 2003). The environment conditions play a vital part in the growth and survival of every individual organization. This metaphor also identifies other characteristics of organisms that are applicable to organizations and include adaptation, health issues, homeostasis and evolution. Similar to living organisms, organizations face health challenges. Whereas living organisms face illnesses, organizations have health problems in terms of poor management, financial problems, etc. Adaptation is also important for organizations in that they need to fit in their environment for them to reach their full potential (Morgan, 2006). The Public Health Institute (PHI) is very similar to an organism in the sense described by Gareth Morgan in his theory of organization. The metaphor of the organism as used by Morgan exposes various elements in the PHI that I have worked with for some time now. This can be used to understand the entire organization, its objectives and prospects, both now and in the future. One of the first characteristics that make the PHI an organism is the idea that it is a living system just as a living organism. The PHI has a legal personality and is therefore regarded as a living person with its own rights and responsibilities. In this regard, the Public health Institute has attributes similar to living organisms, such as growth and development. Since its inception, the organization has grown and expanded to numerous regions across the globe. Further growth is expected as we head into the future. Another important element identified in this metaphor is the impact of environmental conditions on an organization. The impact of the environment on the PHI is immense given that the organization operates in very diverse environments around the world. In order to survive and thrive in the future, the PHI has had to adapt to different environmental conditions. In each region where the organization operates, it has been specifically suited to fit the requirements of each target group. In America, for instance, most women suffer from breast cancer while a majority of children and youths suffer from obesity and other nutritional disorders. Therefore, the organization has had to adapt to this environment by raising awareness of these issues and addressing them. The element of evolution is also significant in this metaphor and to the operations of the PHI. The organization has undergone a process of change from its original idea to a multinational organization offering public health services all over the world. The concept of evolution, as applied to living organisms, implies growth and development stages as the organism develops and adapts to fit in its environment. The PHI has gone through numerous evolution stages as a response to changing environments and needs over the many years that the organization has been in existence. Another element is survival of the fittest. Living organisms are usually part of very complex systems and their survival depends on how best they embrace themselves to benefit from the limited resources in the environment. In the same way, organizations are part of a complex system which is the industry or the market within which the organization operates. Many organizations in a particular industry fight for the limited resources such as finances and customers. Survival of an individual organism, therefore, depends on how well the organization is suited to benefit from these limited resources. The PHI has developed strategies to ensure it maximizes the available resources for its own good and survival in the foreseeable future. Using this metaphor, one can understand the Public Health Institute in terms of its motivation, roles, leadership, influence and power, employees, and culture. As an organism, the PHI is motivated by rewards and the meaningful relationships it build with different organizations. As such, the organization is driven by such crucial relationships built among clients, suppliers, and creditors, as well as by the outcome of its work. Leadership of the organization must be dynamic in order to help the organization move from one stage to another as it fits in its ever-changing environment. The employees can be looked at as different parts of an organism, each one working to achieve a common goal. Finally, based on the metaphor of organisms, organizations can be able to communicate their main objectives and philosophies. In the case of the Public Health Institute, its main aims and objectives can be identified by understanding that the organization is motivated by the results of its own work, which is to provide public health services to women and children and to raise their social status. Abstract Using the metaphors identified by Gareth Morgan, one can demystify an organization and understand how it operates, its structures and its main motivation. The metaphor of the organism that equates an organization to a living organism seeks to identify the various characteristics that are similar for both organizations and living organisms, and then explain how the organization is structured from an environmental and biological point of view. This metaphor can be used to understand the Public Health Institute (PHI). Part II: Oral Presentation The Public Health Institute (PHI) is an internationally recognized public health organization known for its dynamic leadership in helping to improve the health of women, youths and children across the world. The main objective of the organization is to uncover health disparities existing among these identified groups, understanding the causes of these disparities and addressing each of them using evidence based solutions. The Public Health Institute addresses various issues affecting women, children and youths and including asthma, obesity, and sexual and reproductive health on the international scene. In America the organization specifically focuses on nutrition, maternal mortality, depression and breast cancer among women. The vision of the organization is to raise the social status of young people, girls and women by equipping them with desirable leadership skills and health education. The PHI is internationally funded by a diverse group of individuals and corporate entities to help it advance its course. As any other organization, the Public Health Institute faces a lot of challenges. One of the most notable problems in the organization is low employee morale. This problem has a direct impact on the outcome of the organization’s services. If the employees are not motivated to offer their services, the objectives of the organization would be subdued and the growth and development of the organization would be hampered. The problem of low morale emanates from limited financial resources that can effectively match the wage bill of other competing organizations in the industry. This, of course, is based on the fact that the organization depends on donors to fund most of its services and other expenses. Employees of the organization, therefore, face challenges of being motivated to effectively administer their services with low compensations. This problem can, however, be solved by employing the metaphor of brains. This metaphor regards organizations as being brains in terms of their flexibility and resilience. Intelligence and control are important elements of an organization (Maull, Brown, & Cliffe, 2001). Using this metaphor, the Public Health Institute can resolve the existing problem of low employee morale by collecting information in this respect and processing it with a view of coming up with intelligent feedback to the employees in order to boost their morale. The organization can look at various alternatives available and brainstorm them to find out the most appropriate strategies to boost the employee morale. This includes looking for more funds to increase the wage bill of the organization and changing the human resources strategy to attract only those employees who are willing to offer the services for the benefit of improving the community, and not necessarily those who desire to make huge monies in terms of salaries or wage compensation. In conclusion, the metaphor of the organism can be very instrumental in analyzing organizations and understanding fully how an organization is prepared to move into the future. However, it is also important to rely on the other metaphors when it comes to solving organizational problems that this metaphor may not be able to address. It is, therefore, important to have a dynamic view when dealing which each metaphor as opposed to just being closed in a single one. References Jim, G. (2000). Introduction: The origins of organizational development. The Journal of Management Development, 19(5), 345–447. Martins, E.C., & Terblanche, F. (2003). Building organizational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation. European Journal of Innovation Management, 6(1), 64–74. Maull, R., Brown, P., & Cliffe, R. (2001). Organisational culture and quality improvement. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(3), 302–326. Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Read More