Applying Metaphors in the Workplace: Case study on United Way Systems - Research Paper Example

? Outline 1 Overview 2 2 of the Organization 3 3 Definition of Morgan’s Metaphors 4 1.4 Application of the metaphors to the organization 5 1.5 The Interaction of the Metaphors 7 1.6 Application of the Metaphors in the Improvement of Organizational Systems 9 1.7 Conclusion 10 1.8 References 11 1.1 Overview The United Way System refers to a community-based national movement with a mission of improving the lives of people through the mobilization of the caring power and nature of the communities. It activates the utilization of community resources across the whole country with an aim of touching people’s lives in the greatest possible way (United Way Worldwide, 2011). There are close to 1350 of these community-based United Way organizations, each of which are run independently, incorporated separately and fall under the leadership of local volunteers. The partners in this initiative would normally include community development corporations, government policy makers, financial institutions, businesses, the faith community, schools, and voluntary as well as neighborhood associations. According to United Way Worldwide (2011) the idea to start the United Ways System was born in the year 1887 when a certain Denver woman, a rabbi, two ministers and a priest saw the need to embrace cooperative action in addressing the welfare problems facing their city at the time. They thus reached a consensus to initiate a united campaign for about ten welfare and health agencies. To realize this dream, they decided to create an organization that would operate as an agent; the collection of funds for charities, the coordination of relief services, counseling and referring clients to other cooperating agencies and offer emergency assistance in instances that could not be referred. It is now approximately 118 years since the inception of the United Way System and the organization is still willing to continue its work by mobilizing communities to make a difference in the lives of others. It is still focused on getting together communities with the goal of providing certain human needs. The United Way movement operates under the United Way Worldwide which is the national organization across America. The United Way movement takes keen measures to ensure that the organizations they invest in are non-profit and tax-free charities under the administration of local volunteers. Each of these organizations should offer services at a reasonable cost, put in place a policy of non-discrimination and should be willing to submit to an independent financial audit every other year. 1.2 Description of the Organization As a worldwide organization, United Way System is found in approximately forty countries in different territories. In total there are about 1,800 community-based United Ways worldwide. The organization ensures the common good of all humanity is attained by putting its focus on the improvement of education, enabling people to realize financial stability and enhancing healthy living among the people (United Way Worldwide, 2011). In its support and leadership endeavor, the organization mobilizes people from all over to volunteer and give towards this course and also advocates for the improvement of their living conditions. It is thus the United Way Systems vision to have a world in which each and every individual as well as their families are able to achieve their potential as humans as regards to education, health standards and income stability. What is required of the members of the public apart from the organization’s goodwill and core strengths is the public engagement capacity, committed partnership and a national network. Education, a stable income and a good health are thought of as the building blocks for a strong nation. A good life requires quality education that leads to a stable job, sufficient income to support a family and a good health; this is the goal of United Way Systems and thus an organization targeting the common good of humanity. 1.3 Definition of Morgan’s Metaphors According to Morgan (1986), approximately all organizational and managerial theories have their basis on some form of metaphor. Metaphors are essential in the running of an organization, especially in the understanding and bringing of certain organizational aspects to attention. Metaphors are also paradoxical such that they as well background other organizational aspects and thus restrict their understanding. Generally in life, our realities are defined in metaphorical terms so that we go ahead to take action basing on these metaphors. From these we are able to make inferences, set targets, commit ourselves and implement our plans partly based on the experiences we have had in terms of those metaphors. The metaphors Morgan used were the tools of description that clearly explained his view about the structure of an organization. By connecting unassociated items with the organization Morgan could simplify the complex notion so that it was clearly understood. A metaphor helps to build a personal perspective or view that enables the organizational members and stakeholders to embrace the organizational vision and mission, thus the promotion of a healthy organizational culture. Metaphors are valuable tools in an organization since they affect the emotional, the physical, the mental, the spiritual and the ethical expressions of life. The use of metaphors helps in explaining the direction, the history and the values of a given organization. Venkat (2010) explains Morgan’s archetypical metaphors for organizations which include: organizations as machines, organizations as organisms, organizations as brains, organizations as cultures, and organizations as political systems among others. In describing organizations as machines Morgan puts to mind the efficiency, order, production, design, maintenance, inputs and outputs among other such concepts. When considering organizations as brains, he relates to the concepts of knowledge, distributed control, the feedback mechanism, learning, networks, and mindsets among others. The environmental conditions, recycling, evolution, health and adaptation all relate to the view of organizations as organisms. Organizations as cultures encompass such concepts as diversity, families, values, ideology, society, service, laws and beliefs. Lastly, Morgan’s metaphor of seeing organizations as political systems entails authority, conflict management, rights and freedoms, interests, alliances, power and backroom deals among others. 1.4 Application of the metaphors to the organization Morgan (1986) explains that the view of organizations as machines is where organizations are designed just like machines; that is, they have orderly controls in their various departments. This is important in ensuring an organization is run in an efficient way, especially in such organizations as the United Way Systems where most operations are routinely carried out. The operations within United Way Systems can thus be predicted and thus relied upon for the running of the organization by the management. The bureaucratic form of organizational structure used by United Way Systems works just like a machine and this ensures there’s continuity as well as assures the management of the organizational security. A political system operates in a way in which there are laws, rules and regulations that are applied to direct people and thus maintain order. Power in a political system is given as a reward, as a coercive way, for expertise, legitimately or referentially. Organizations also have the political aspect within them. Of course there is a hierarchy within any organization, and United Way Systems is no exception to this. Each community-based United Way system has its own leadership structures. There are superior-subordinate relationships as far as the running of this organization is concerned. Despite the organizational goal of equipping humanity, there are those who would of course wish to pursue certain special interests and desires, just like in a political system. The experience within United Way Systems is such that rewards such as promotions are based on merits and thus not much power struggle, but internal competition among members of staff cannot be ruled out. Organizations as organisms relates to the behavior of organizations as living systems. Organizations, just like living systems ought to adapt to the various environments in which they operate. There is a cycle that is followed by biological mechanisms in their lives. The same way, an organization also undergoes certain changes that help it to grow and develop. The United Way System just like many other organizations operates within a dynamic environment where there are lots of challenges. It is thus required to acclimatize to the situation and environment around it. The leadership of the organization is drawn from among a community’s local volunteers. As the organization works to mobilize communities to support its initiative it is expected to adapt to the people’s changing needs and ways of life. As regards the stages of the organization’s growth, there are local volunteers joining the organization at various points in time and the formation of partnerships between the organization and other organizations thus formation of new structures (Fashion Enter, 2011). Culture involves a given group of people’s way of life with regard to ideology, beliefs and practices, rituals and customs among others. Organizations as cultures is a metaphor that points to the nature of organizations of having complex systems that are defined by a set of values, ideologies, customs, beliefs, rituals and practices that uniquely belong to that specific organization. There are of course variations in cultures from one organization to another. In the same light, United Way System operates in such a way that each community-based United Way System has its own uniquely-defined culture. Depending on the society, the environment, the management and other such factors, there will obviously be variations in organizational cultures. As a worldwide organization, the different sub-organizations have different social features; ideologies, systems of belief and values depending on their countries of origin. Each of United Way System’s organizations is however guided by the main organization’s vision and mission statements so as to have a sort of synchronized internal culture. In spite of this, in case a given member decides to quit his or her community-based organization and in his or her place a new member is replaced there will be a slight cultural shift due to the impact caused by the additional member. Whenever someone speaks about the brain what comes to mind is intelligence, knowledge and the mind among other things. The metaphor, organizations as brains compares organizations to brains. The brain in a human being is known to be responsible for influencing the individual’s rationale, innovativeness and ability to be inventive. As a body organ that is cerebral, the brain is able to self-criticize and auto correct while at the same time have the intelligence to choose the next best move (Lawley, 2001). Applying the unique features of the brain to United Way System, it is evident that the rationale this organization uses to set its goals, its flexibility in terms of having the ability to accommodate new volunteers and partners and that used to pick out non-profit charities as well as tax-free charities can be compared to the human brain. United Way Systems has for a long time been able to set targets and achieve them just like the normal functioning of a human brain. The organization also ensures efficiency in the allocation of its resources thus maximization. 1.5 The Interaction of the Metaphors The so chosen metaphors include organizations as cultures, organizations as brains, organizations as machines and organizations as political systems. The United Way Systems is an amalgamation of all these. Looking at this organization in terms of cultures, there is a worldwide vision and mission statement for the whole organization. The goals set are also uniform for every other sub-organization. What might differ is the style of management, value systems and beliefs depending on the community setting. In order that the organizational culture that encompasses the goals, the vision and the mission, there has to be a mechanism in place to facilitate the realization of these. This now brings to mind the essence of looking at organizations as machines (Morgan, 1986). There are orderly controls in the United Way Systems organization to ensure the organizational culture is enhanced and results produced. The organization has branches all over the world and each of these is managed independently. The target, the goals as well as the mission and vision just like earlier stated are similar for each of these though. This ensures organizational continuity and as well offers direction so as to ensure the organization remains on course. This is organizations as machines. To maintain order and ensure that every member is geared towards the realization of organizational objectives rules and regulations come into play. This is therefore an aspect of organizations as political systems (Fashion Enter, 2011). There are rules that guide the running of the organization. In addition, there is a chain of command that ensures there is one centre of power in the organization. There is as well a tendency of conflicts among members with some wanting to become leaders, and thus competition. Leadership in United Way Systems is on merit and thus not much power struggle. Since the organization draws from non-profit and tax-free charities, its focus is not profit making but offering help to humanity. It is thus focused on carrying out its duty in the most effective and efficient way possible. This thus draws our attention to the metaphor that views organizations as brains. The brain has a function of processing, helping in inventions, and equips one with the rationale to do things. United Way Systems sticks to its mandate and ensures that it delivers the service it was meant to do; mobilizing communities to volunteer and give towards the benefit of humanity. 1.6 Application of the Metaphors in the Improvement of Organizational Systems The goal of the United Way Systems in the recent past has been improvement in education, stabilizing of income and the improvement of health conditions among the people. To do this there ought to be good will both in the internal and external environments. With regard to the internal environment, the organization ought to behave in a manner similar to that defined in the metaphors; as brains, as cultures, as political systems and as machines (Gallagher, 2011). Though there has to be an aspect of political systems, this should not be too much to hinder the realization of organizational objectives. There should not be aspects of power struggle and power should only be attained fairly. Since local volunteers are the ones charged with the duty of providing services, it should be ensured that the organizational cultures as regards vision, mission and organizational goals and values are adhered to all the time (Lawley, 2001). Continuity within the organization should be a process that happens automatically. The design of the organization should be dynamic enough to change with the changing needs. Order in the form of synchronized systems should be constantly put in check so that nothing goes wrong. It should be possible for the organization to be able to set its goals and then work towards the realization of the same. For optimum impact, the resources utilized should be efficiently allocated. The promotion of a positive image of the organization should also be an aspect to be considered in viewing organizations as brains. 1.7 Conclusion The use of figurative language is a vital resource in communicating concepts of the organization. Metaphors are essential to a leader as they help in the creation of a positive environment, promotion of relationships within the organization and enabling in-depth understanding of the organizational systems. They are used to describe, to make comparisons and to connect the organizational situation with the reality. By this, the metaphors help to draw to mind behaviors necessary for the shaping of the organizational culture as they help present reality in a creative fashion by shaping vision and invention of new ideas. When used by leaders or the management in an organization, metaphors help provide some sense of direction and explain the history of the organization and its values (School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship, 2008). 1.8 References Fashion Enter (2011). Morgan’s Metaphors. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/Industry/TopTips/10465-Morgans-Metaphors.html Gallagher, B. (2011). Goals for the Common Good. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://liveunited.org/pages/mission-and-goals/ Lawley, J. (2001). Metaphors of Organization- Part I. Effective Counseling. Vol. 1, No.4. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/Metaphors-of-Orgs-1.html Morgan, G. (1986). Images of Organization. CA: Sage Publications School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship (2008). Emerging Leadership Journeys. Vol. 1, No. 1. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/elj/issue1/ELJ_V1Is1_VanEngen.pdf United Way Worldwide (2011). Financial Information. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://liveunited.org/pages/financial-information United Way Worldwide (2011). History. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://liveunited.org/pages/history/ Venkat (2010). The Eight Metaphors of Organization. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/13/the-eight-metaphors-of-organization/ Read More