Framing Organizations

1
Framing Organizations

• A quick synopsis

2

• Organizational problems require flexibility in
  how they are diagnosed, and how they are
  addressed.
• As clinicians know, some symptoms are actually
  far removed from the underlying medical problem.

3
Bolman Deal describe four frames, or lenses,
that can be used to analyze different aspects of
organizations

• Structural
• Formal roles and relationships. Division of labor
  and coordination of individual activities
• Human Resource
• The fit between people and the organization. How
  the organization meets individual needs
• Symbolic
• Culture, ritual, ceremony. The meaning of
  actions events, promoting a common vision. What
  does it mean to be in that organization?
• Political
• The allocation of power and scarce resources.
  Bargaining, negotiating, coalition building.

4

• How can we find information to support use of the
  frames?

5

• The structure can be identified by observing the
  division of tasks among workers in an
  organization, and determining who is in charge.

6

• Although details of the human resource frame are
  often not available to the public (e.g. salaries,
  benefits), case studies usually provide the
  information necessary to use this approach.

7

• Symbolic and cultural issues may not be obvious.
  For instance, symbolic items are sometimes not
  spoken of, and even treated as sacred, in an
  organization. We will see later how situations
  that involve symbolic issues can be especially
  dangerous to the leader who is not aware of the
  status of seemingly small tokens, and treats them
  in a dismissive manner.

8

• The "politics" of an organization are not
  accessible to the casual observer, and typically
  only become clear once a person has worked there
  for a while.

9
Using the Frames

• Image of the organization
• Emphasis
• Underlying assumptions
• Path to organizational effectiveness
• Potential issues
• Central tensions
• Possible intervention options