Assignment Prompt & Instructions
– ## Module4Creative.docx
– ## OGL550_Module4_PowerPoliticalLens.pdf
– ## OGL550_Module4_PsychicPrison.pdf
– toolsforanalyzingpower.pdf
– HBR_PowerandPoliticsinOrganizationalLife.pdf
**## Module4Creative.docx**
Mod 4 Creative FUN Activity (I hope — just roll with it!)
·
**Due** Sunday by 11:59pm
·
**Submitting** a file upload
**FIRST: YES! You ARE CREATIVE ENOUGH for THIS activity.** I promise you: Artistic
**talent** is
**NOT needed**.
Since the PESTLE activity could take A LOT OF TIME to complete, I wanted to make THIS activity a bit more whimsical — while still basing it on our videos and readings. So let's do a FUN AND INTERPRETIVE one-page activity like so:
—
**Watch AT LEAST TWO MORE of the videos** [on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page](https://asu.instructure.com/courses/225986/pages/module-4-learning-materials) (
**NOT including** the "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" videos which you need to watch already).
—
**Read TWO** OF THE ARTICLES (
**not the textbook** chapters) provided on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page.
**HOW TO PROCEED:**
**On a blank sheet of paper (or a blank page on a computer screen,** if you prefer to work digitally — but WITHOUT any A.I. "help" of course — CREATE a ONE-PAGE, ILLUSTRATION-HEAVY reaction to what you have viewed and read — with SKETCHES OF AT LEAST TWO CONCEPTS PER VIDEO and ARTICLE:
1.
**At the top of the page, briefly note source info (authors, titles, names of the videos, etc.)** — enough to clearly identify the videos and readings from our Mod 4 Learning Materials page. Then start drawing!
2.
**You may either draw FOUR LINES to divide the page into four sections (one for each video and reading); you could then insert TWO sketches / stick figure drawings into each quadrant.** OR you may combine aspects of some videos/readings into your drawings, as long as you end up with at least eight (8) distinct sketches/drawings.
For example, your page might be divided up like so,
with two stick figures (and a few important notes) in each of the four quadrants:
| | |
| — | — |
| | |
| | |
3.
**These SHOULD NOT BE "GOOD" illustrations but just sketches. I mean that "STICK FIGURES" and SIMPLE SYMBOLS are fine.**
4.
**It's vital to do this with your own hand / your own trackpad (and NO A.I.)** because I may pick some of the "best" or "wildest" of these to show off to the rest of the class (and if someone uses A.I. or an "auto-drawing program" it will just be embarrassing to everyone, plus all the plagiarism stuff…yuck).
5. Add some brief notes in your own handwriting or typed, explaining your sketches in some detail, i.e., explaining the context in the materials.
6.
**Upload the page here (in this Canvas assignment).**
Resources
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D)
**## OGL550_Module4_PowerPoliticalLens.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Political Systems
Morgan Ch. 6
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Types of Political Systems
• Autocracy–Power is held by individual or small group
• Bureaucracy–Power exercised through use of rules and the written word
• Technocracy–Rule exercised through use of knowledge
• Codetermination–Form of rule where opposing parties combine in the joint
management of mutual interests
• Representative democracy–Rule exercised through the election of officers mandated to
act on behalf of the electorate
• Direct democracy–System where everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in
all decision making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations, Control, & Power
“We rely on a company to pay our wages. But does this mean it has the right control all
our beliefs and feelings? It certainly has no right to reduce us to robots who must obey
every command!”
• An organization’s politics manifest in the conflicts and power plays and interpersonal
relationships that guide the flow of organizational activity.
• Politics occur on an ongoing basis, often in a way that is invisible to all but those directly
involved.
• Power: can be viewed as a resource, as a social relationship (e.g., dependency), or as
influence/persuasion/coercion.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Interests, Conflict, & Power
Interests: Examples of three different types:
• Task Interests–connected with the work one has to perform
• Career Interests–independent of the job being performed
• Extramural Interests–Act towards the relation to both job and career
Conflict: Where interests collide
• Conflict may be personal or interpersonal, e.g., self, teams, rival groups
• Built into organizations through roles
• Attitudes, stereotypes, scarcity of resources
Power: Medium through which conflicts of interest are resolved. Sources of power:
• Formal Authority
• Control of Scarce Resources
• Use of organizational structure, rules and regulations
• Control of decision powers, knowledge and information, boundaries, and/or technology
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Relationship between Management and Workers
Unitary
• Organization is perceived as integrated, harmonious whole: e.g., “one happy family”, where
management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose.
• Emphasis on mutual cooperation.
• May use paternalistic approach that demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly
managerial in its emphasis and application
Pluralist
• Organization is perceived as being composed of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each
with its own loyalties and set of objectives and leaders.
• Two predominant sub-groups in the pluralistic perspective are management and trade
unions.
Marxist or Radical
• Looks at division of interest between capital and labor
• Sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as inherent in capitalist economic system
• Conflict is seen as inevitable, with trade unions a natural response of workers
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
Competing—to take quick, decisive action; for enforcing unpopular rules and decisions
Collaborating—for synthesizing insights of different stakeholders; fostering
organizational learning
Compromising—to arrive at mutually acceptable, expedient solutions
Avoiding—to buy time, or to put energy to more productive issues
Accommodating—to satisfy others when issues are not paramount to you; to minimize
loss when it’s clear you can’t win
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
Strengths
• Surfaces taboo subject such as people pushing for their private motives
• Recognizes role and use of power at the center of organizational analysis.
• Challenges the myth of organizational rationality.
• Helps us understand human behavior in organizations
• Recognizes the socio-political implications of organizational dynamics and the roles
that organizations play in society
Limitations
• Can lead to increased politicization of the organization
• Focus on conflict and control may make it harder to see positive aspects of organizing
and the potential for shared power to transform systems
– OGL 550��Organizations as Political Systems��Morgan Ch. 6
– Types of Political Systems
– Organizations, Control, & Power
– Interests, Conflict, & Power
– Relationship between Management and Workers
– Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
– Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
**## OGL550_Module4_PsychicPrison.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Psychic Prisons
Morgan Ch. 7
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Psychic Prison Metaphor
“ Human beings have a knack for getting trapped in webs of their own creation.”
This metaphor looks at organization as psychological phenomena, as being created and sustained
by conscious and unconscious processes.
Examines people as becoming imprisoned or confined by the images, ideas, thoughts and actions
of psychological processes
Considers human condition as potentially trapped in:
• Modes of Thinking
• Constructions of Perceived Reality that offer imperfect and incomplete grasp of the world
• People may become “imprisoned”, “confined” or “controlled” by, or within, organizations
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Plato’s Cave Allegory
• First exploration of Psychic Prison metaphor by Greek Philosopher Plato in his work “The Republic‟
(c. 380 BC)
• Prisoners were chained to an underground cave wall. They could not move, or view the outside world
• Interpretation of shadows comprised their entire reality
• A liberated prisoner discovered that the world beyond the shadows was richer, more complex &
rewarding
• Upon return to cave, his experiences terrified fellow cave dwellers
• He could not remain & stagnate.
• They could not change or move forward • They perceived him as “dangerous”
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Group Think
• Described by Psychologist, Irving Janis in 1952
• Organizational, social & cultural traps that inhibit problem solving by preventing recognition
of alternate avenues of thought, discussion & action
• Group illusions of invulnerability, morality & unanimity foster “assumed consensus” which
inhibit expressions of doubt & engender misguided decision-making
Examples
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): President Kennedy & his advisors developed illusions of
unanimity & invulnerability; doubts were inhibited & suppressed
• The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster (1986): After 55 successful missions NASA felt
invincible • Fatally ignored crucial warnings about faulty equipment
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations and the Unconscious
• Sigmund Freud argued that the unconscious is created as humans repress their inner-most desires
and private thoughts.
• Sees much visible culture as preoccupation & concerns of the unconscious psyche
• People become psychic prisoners through repression of their unconscious desires & thoughts
• We can try to understand & interpret these phenomena across dimensions that include: • Sexuality •
Family Dynamics • Mortality • Anxiety • Artefacts (Objects & Symbols) • Shadows & Archetypes
Examples:
• Neurotic traits
• Establishment of formal organizations, e.g. armies, religious orders, industrial society, bureaucracies
• Creation of Scientific Management innovations, ideas, planning & productivity such as:
• Historical replication of Patriarchal systems: authoritarian, aggressive & chauvinistic (negative) or
brave, heroic & decisive (positive)
• Matriarchal approach now seen as increasingly effective, empowering organizational trust, creativity &
co-operation
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
For each psychic prison, ask yourself two questions:
1.What is the dysfunctional story/myth?
2. How does the story/myth control fear and anxiety?
Example: Organization and Repressed Sexuality
When leaders and workers have strong desires to control and become
disciplined in every aspect of life. Taylor is exemplified by this Psychic Prison.
Dysfunctional story: social order to maintained through discipline and control.
How does story control fear? Tight supervision so there are no surprises.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Defense Mechanisms
• Repression: “pushing down” unwanted impulses and ideas
• Denial: refusal to acknowledge an impulse-evoking fact, feeling or memory
• Displacement: shifting impulses aroused by one person or situation to a safer target
• Fixation: rigid commitment to a particular attitude or behavior
• Projection: attribution of one’s own feelings and impulses to others
• Rationalization: creation of elaborate schemes of justification that disguise underlying
motives and intentions
• Idealization: playing up the good aspects of a situation to protect oneself from the bad
• Splitting: isolating different elements of experience, often to protect the good from the
bad.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
• (Re)producing organizational structure that gives dominance to males.
• Culture in which white males rule the field and know best which decisions to make.
• Competition, domination, and no emotions are cultural norms.
• Dysfunctional story: White men are more effective leaders.
• How does story control fear? Creates rigid structures and mental models the produce social control,
giving a sense of stability and security.
Patriarchal Family: prolonged dependency of the child upon the parents facilitates the kind of
dependency institutionalized in the relationship between leaders and followers, and in the practice
where people look to others to initiate action in response to problematic issues.
Key organizational members also often cultivate fatherly roles by acting as mentors to those in need of
help and protection. The psychic prison structure of the male-dominated family tends to create a
feelings of impotence, accompanied by a fear of, and dependence on, authority.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Immortality and Death
• Humans are afraid of dying. Death reminds us of our limitations and lack of control.
• Organizations are a way to connect with something more enduring than our physical bodies.
• Dysfunctional story : We won’t die if we are attached to something more enduring than ourselves.
• How does the story control fear? When people believe they will endure, they are more likely to obey
authority.
Human beings, aware of the impermanence & vulnerability of life, use Organizations (through culture)
to:
• Search for meaning & permanency;
• Preserve a sense of belonging & identity
• Manage, organize & motivate themselves
• Imagine the achievement of immortality through recorded beliefs, deeds, roles & material objects
• As we invest ourselves in our work, our roles become our realities and sense of self.
• Making the complex simple. We manage our world by simplifying it, because in making it simple we
feel like we have control.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
Dysfunctional story: World can be divided into good versus evil. Evil wishes to destroy us
and we must survive it.
To cope with anxiety:
• we may depend on leader to control or save us
• Make enemies even when there aren’t any (“othering”)
• How does the story reduce fear? It draws the worker into the good/fear dichotomy and
allows leaders to do what they want without protest
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
Organizations interpreted through Artifacts
• “Transitional objects” (e. g. toys) & symbolic experiences help people cope with change. Gives
people something else to hold onto while change occurs.
• Over-reliance may facilitate resistance to progress (e. g. hoarding of objects), and block creativity &
innovation in organizations
• Dysfunctional story : Change is bad!
• How does story control fear? If everything stays the same, we will not get harmed; the old and
unchanging will keep us safe.
Shadows & Archetypes:
• View of human psyche espoused by psychiatrist Carl Jung
• Archetypes (patterns & ideas) link the “collective unconscious” to individuals & perpetuate recurring
organizational themes
• Shadows: repressed & rival instincts of individuals compete to influence organizational decision-
making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
Strengths:
• Assists understanding of Organizational change and why people resist it
• Releases positive energies for transformation & integration
• Surfaces links between irrational & rational, recognizes ethical dimensions
• Offers holistic approach to organizational life
Weaknesses
• Neglects conscious ideological factors of organizational life
• Over-emphasizes cognitive processes
• Potential for “Orwellian” manipulation of the unconscious mind
Conclusion
• Draws from interdisciplinary theories from philosophy, organizational theory, psychiatry and
psychology, sociology, cultural Studies & other fields
• Offers profound psychological insights into the nature & complexity of organizations at both the
unconscious & conscious level
– OGL 550��Organizations as Psychic Prisons��Morgan Ch. 7
– Psychic Prison Metaphor
– Plato’s Cave Allegory
– Group Think
– Organizations and the Unconscious
– Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
– Defense Mechanisms
– Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
– Immortality and Death
– Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
– Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
– Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
**toolsforanalyzingpower.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/toolsforanalyzingpower-pdf-10361089)
**HBR_PowerandPoliticsinOrganizationalLife.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/hbr-powerandpoliticsinorganizationallife-pdf-10361091)
**HBR_PowerandPoliticsinOrganizationalLife.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/hbr-powerandpoliticsinorganizationallife-pdf-10361091)
**## Module4Creative.docx**
Mod 4 Creative FUN Activity (I hope — just roll with it!)
·
**Due** Sunday by 11:59pm
·
**Submitting** a file upload
**FIRST: YES! You ARE CREATIVE ENOUGH for THIS activity.** I promise you: Artistic
**talent** is
**NOT needed**.
Since the PESTLE activity could take A LOT OF TIME to complete, I wanted to make THIS activity a bit more whimsical — while still basing it on our videos and readings. So let's do a FUN AND INTERPRETIVE one-page activity like so:
—
**Watch AT LEAST TWO MORE of the videos** [on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page](https://asu.instructure.com/courses/225986/pages/module-4-learning-materials) (
**NOT including** the "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" videos which you need to watch already).
—
**Read TWO** OF THE ARTICLES (
**not the textbook** chapters) provided on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page.
**HOW TO PROCEED:**
**On a blank sheet of paper (or a blank page on a computer screen,** if you prefer to work digitally — but WITHOUT any A.I. "help" of course — CREATE a ONE-PAGE, ILLUSTRATION-HEAVY reaction to what you have viewed and read — with SKETCHES OF AT LEAST TWO CONCEPTS PER VIDEO and ARTICLE:
1.
**At the top of the page, briefly note source info (authors, titles, names of the videos, etc.)** — enough to clearly identify the videos and readings from our Mod 4 Learning Materials page. Then start drawing!
2.
**You may either draw FOUR LINES to divide the page into four sections (one for each video and reading); you could then insert TWO sketches / stick figure drawings into each quadrant.** OR you may combine aspects of some videos/readings into your drawings, as long as you end up with at least eight (8) distinct sketches/drawings.
For example, your page might be divided up like so,
with two stick figures (and a few important notes) in each of the four quadrants:
| | |
| — | — |
| | |
| | |
3.
**These SHOULD NOT BE "GOOD" illustrations but just sketches. I mean that "STICK FIGURES" and SIMPLE SYMBOLS are fine.**
4.
**It's vital to do this with your own hand / your own trackpad (and NO A.I.)** because I may pick some of the "best" or "wildest" of these to show off to the rest of the class (and if someone uses A.I. or an "auto-drawing program" it will just be embarrassing to everyone, plus all the plagiarism stuff…yuck).
5. Add some brief notes in your own handwriting or typed, explaining your sketches in some detail, i.e., explaining the context in the materials.
6.
**Upload the page here (in this Canvas assignment).**
Resources
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D)
**## OGL550_Module4_PowerPoliticalLens.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Political Systems
Morgan Ch. 6
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Types of Political Systems
• Autocracy–Power is held by individual or small group
• Bureaucracy–Power exercised through use of rules and the written word
• Technocracy–Rule exercised through use of knowledge
• Codetermination–Form of rule where opposing parties combine in the joint
management of mutual interests
• Representative democracy–Rule exercised through the election of officers mandated to
act on behalf of the electorate
• Direct democracy–System where everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in
all decision making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations, Control, & Power
“We rely on a company to pay our wages. But does this mean it has the right control all
our beliefs and feelings? It certainly has no right to reduce us to robots who must obey
every command!”
• An organization’s politics manifest in the conflicts and power plays and interpersonal
relationships that guide the flow of organizational activity.
• Politics occur on an ongoing basis, often in a way that is invisible to all but those directly
involved.
• Power: can be viewed as a resource, as a social relationship (e.g., dependency), or as
influence/persuasion/coercion.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Interests, Conflict, & Power
Interests: Examples of three different types:
• Task Interests–connected with the work one has to perform
• Career Interests–independent of the job being performed
• Extramural Interests–Act towards the relation to both job and career
Conflict: Where interests collide
• Conflict may be personal or interpersonal, e.g., self, teams, rival groups
• Built into organizations through roles
• Attitudes, stereotypes, scarcity of resources
Power: Medium through which conflicts of interest are resolved. Sources of power:
• Formal Authority
• Control of Scarce Resources
• Use of organizational structure, rules and regulations
• Control of decision powers, knowledge and information, boundaries, and/or technology
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Relationship between Management and Workers
Unitary
• Organization is perceived as integrated, harmonious whole: e.g., “one happy family”, where
management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose.
• Emphasis on mutual cooperation.
• May use paternalistic approach that demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly
managerial in its emphasis and application
Pluralist
• Organization is perceived as being composed of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each
with its own loyalties and set of objectives and leaders.
• Two predominant sub-groups in the pluralistic perspective are management and trade
unions.
Marxist or Radical
• Looks at division of interest between capital and labor
• Sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as inherent in capitalist economic system
• Conflict is seen as inevitable, with trade unions a natural response of workers
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
Competing—to take quick, decisive action; for enforcing unpopular rules and decisions
Collaborating—for synthesizing insights of different stakeholders; fostering
organizational learning
Compromising—to arrive at mutually acceptable, expedient solutions
Avoiding—to buy time, or to put energy to more productive issues
Accommodating—to satisfy others when issues are not paramount to you; to minimize
loss when it’s clear you can’t win
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
Strengths
• Surfaces taboo subject such as people pushing for their private motives
• Recognizes role and use of power at the center of organizational analysis.
• Challenges the myth of organizational rationality.
• Helps us understand human behavior in organizations
• Recognizes the socio-political implications of organizational dynamics and the roles
that organizations play in society
Limitations
• Can lead to increased politicization of the organization
• Focus on conflict and control may make it harder to see positive aspects of organizing
and the potential for shared power to transform systems
– OGL 550��Organizations as Political Systems��Morgan Ch. 6
– Types of Political Systems
– Organizations, Control, & Power
– Interests, Conflict, & Power
– Relationship between Management and Workers
– Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
– Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
**## OGL550_Module4_PsychicPrison.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Psychic Prisons
Morgan Ch. 7
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Psychic Prison Metaphor
“ Human beings have a knack for getting trapped in webs of their own creation.”
This metaphor looks at organization as psychological phenomena, as being created and sustained
by conscious and unconscious processes.
Examines people as becoming imprisoned or confined by the images, ideas, thoughts and actions
of psychological processes
Considers human condition as potentially trapped in:
• Modes of Thinking
• Constructions of Perceived Reality that offer imperfect and incomplete grasp of the world
• People may become “imprisoned”, “confined” or “controlled” by, or within, organizations
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Plato’s Cave Allegory
• First exploration of Psychic Prison metaphor by Greek Philosopher Plato in his work “The Republic‟
(c. 380 BC)
• Prisoners were chained to an underground cave wall. They could not move, or view the outside world
• Interpretation of shadows comprised their entire reality
• A liberated prisoner discovered that the world beyond the shadows was richer, more complex &
rewarding
• Upon return to cave, his experiences terrified fellow cave dwellers
• He could not remain & stagnate.
• They could not change or move forward • They perceived him as “dangerous”
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Group Think
• Described by Psychologist, Irving Janis in 1952
• Organizational, social & cultural traps that inhibit problem solving by preventing recognition
of alternate avenues of thought, discussion & action
• Group illusions of invulnerability, morality & unanimity foster “assumed consensus” which
inhibit expressions of doubt & engender misguided decision-making
Examples
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): President Kennedy & his advisors developed illusions of
unanimity & invulnerability; doubts were inhibited & suppressed
• The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster (1986): After 55 successful missions NASA felt
invincible • Fatally ignored crucial warnings about faulty equipment
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations and the Unconscious
• Sigmund Freud argued that the unconscious is created as humans repress their inner-most desires
and private thoughts.
• Sees much visible culture as preoccupation & concerns of the unconscious psyche
• People become psychic prisoners through repression of their unconscious desires & thoughts
• We can try to understand & interpret these phenomena across dimensions that include: • Sexuality •
Family Dynamics • Mortality • Anxiety • Artefacts (Objects & Symbols) • Shadows & Archetypes
Examples:
• Neurotic traits
• Establishment of formal organizations, e.g. armies, religious orders, industrial society, bureaucracies
• Creation of Scientific Management innovations, ideas, planning & productivity such as:
• Historical replication of Patriarchal systems: authoritarian, aggressive & chauvinistic (negative) or
brave, heroic & decisive (positive)
• Matriarchal approach now seen as increasingly effective, empowering organizational trust, creativity &
co-operation
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
For each psychic prison, ask yourself two questions:
1.What is the dysfunctional story/myth?
2. How does the story/myth control fear and anxiety?
Example: Organization and Repressed Sexuality
When leaders and workers have strong desires to control and become
disciplined in every aspect of life. Taylor is exemplified by this Psychic Prison.
Dysfunctional story: social order to maintained through discipline and control.
How does story control fear? Tight supervision so there are no surprises.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Defense Mechanisms
• Repression: “pushing down” unwanted impulses and ideas
• Denial: refusal to acknowledge an impulse-evoking fact, feeling or memory
• Displacement: shifting impulses aroused by one person or situation to a safer target
• Fixation: rigid commitment to a particular attitude or behavior
• Projection: attribution of one’s own feelings and impulses to others
• Rationalization: creation of elaborate schemes of justification that disguise underlying
motives and intentions
• Idealization: playing up the good aspects of a situation to protect oneself from the bad
• Splitting: isolating different elements of experience, often to protect the good from the
bad.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
• (Re)producing organizational structure that gives dominance to males.
• Culture in which white males rule the field and know best which decisions to make.
• Competition, domination, and no emotions are cultural norms.
• Dysfunctional story: White men are more effective leaders.
• How does story control fear? Creates rigid structures and mental models the produce social control,
giving a sense of stability and security.
Patriarchal Family: prolonged dependency of the child upon the parents facilitates the kind of
dependency institutionalized in the relationship between leaders and followers, and in the practice
where people look to others to initiate action in response to problematic issues.
Key organizational members also often cultivate fatherly roles by acting as mentors to those in need of
help and protection. The psychic prison structure of the male-dominated family tends to create a
feelings of impotence, accompanied by a fear of, and dependence on, authority.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Immortality and Death
• Humans are afraid of dying. Death reminds us of our limitations and lack of control.
• Organizations are a way to connect with something more enduring than our physical bodies.
• Dysfunctional story : We won’t die if we are attached to something more enduring than ourselves.
• How does the story control fear? When people believe they will endure, they are more likely to obey
authority.
Human beings, aware of the impermanence & vulnerability of life, use Organizations (through culture)
to:
• Search for meaning & permanency;
• Preserve a sense of belonging & identity
• Manage, organize & motivate themselves
• Imagine the achievement of immortality through recorded beliefs, deeds, roles & material objects
• As we invest ourselves in our work, our roles become our realities and sense of self.
• Making the complex simple. We manage our world by simplifying it, because in making it simple we
feel like we have control.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
Dysfunctional story: World can be divided into good versus evil. Evil wishes to destroy us
and we must survive it.
To cope with anxiety:
• we may depend on leader to control or save us
• Make enemies even when there aren’t any (“othering”)
• How does the story reduce fear? It draws the worker into the good/fear dichotomy and
allows leaders to do what they want without protest
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
Organizations interpreted through Artifacts
• “Transitional objects” (e. g. toys) & symbolic experiences help people cope with change. Gives
people something else to hold onto while change occurs.
• Over-reliance may facilitate resistance to progress (e. g. hoarding of objects), and block creativity &
innovation in organizations
• Dysfunctional story : Change is bad!
• How does story control fear? If everything stays the same, we will not get harmed; the old and
unchanging will keep us safe.
Shadows & Archetypes:
• View of human psyche espoused by psychiatrist Carl Jung
• Archetypes (patterns & ideas) link the “collective unconscious” to individuals & perpetuate recurring
organizational themes
• Shadows: repressed & rival instincts of individuals compete to influence organizational decision-
making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
Strengths:
• Assists understanding of Organizational change and why people resist it
• Releases positive energies for transformation & integration
• Surfaces links between irrational & rational, recognizes ethical dimensions
• Offers holistic approach to organizational life
Weaknesses
• Neglects conscious ideological factors of organizational life
• Over-emphasizes cognitive processes
• Potential for “Orwellian” manipulation of the unconscious mind
Conclusion
• Draws from interdisciplinary theories from philosophy, organizational theory, psychiatry and
psychology, sociology, cultural Studies & other fields
• Offers profound psychological insights into the nature & complexity of organizations at both the
unconscious & conscious level
– OGL 550��Organizations as Psychic Prisons��Morgan Ch. 7
– Psychic Prison Metaphor
– Plato’s Cave Allegory
– Group Think
– Organizations and the Unconscious
– Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
– Defense Mechanisms
– Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
– Immortality and Death
– Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
– Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
– Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
**toolsforanalyzingpower.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/toolsforanalyzingpower-pdf-10361089)
**HBR_PowerandPoliticsinOrganizationalLife.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/hbr-powerandpoliticsinorganizationallife-pdf-10361091)
**## Module4Creative.docx**
Mod 4 Creative FUN Activity (I hope — just roll with it!)
·
**Due** Sunday by 11:59pm
·
**Submitting** a file upload
**FIRST: YES! You ARE CREATIVE ENOUGH for THIS activity.** I promise you: Artistic
**talent** is
**NOT needed**.
Since the PESTLE activity could take A LOT OF TIME to complete, I wanted to make THIS activity a bit more whimsical — while still basing it on our videos and readings. So let's do a FUN AND INTERPRETIVE one-page activity like so:
—
**Watch AT LEAST TWO MORE of the videos** [on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page](https://asu.instructure.com/courses/225986/pages/module-4-learning-materials) (
**NOT including** the "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" videos which you need to watch already).
—
**Read TWO** OF THE ARTICLES (
**not the textbook** chapters) provided on the "Mod 4 Learning Materials" page.
**HOW TO PROCEED:**
**On a blank sheet of paper (or a blank page on a computer screen,** if you prefer to work digitally — but WITHOUT any A.I. "help" of course — CREATE a ONE-PAGE, ILLUSTRATION-HEAVY reaction to what you have viewed and read — with SKETCHES OF AT LEAST TWO CONCEPTS PER VIDEO and ARTICLE:
1.
**At the top of the page, briefly note source info (authors, titles, names of the videos, etc.)** — enough to clearly identify the videos and readings from our Mod 4 Learning Materials page. Then start drawing!
2.
**You may either draw FOUR LINES to divide the page into four sections (one for each video and reading); you could then insert TWO sketches / stick figure drawings into each quadrant.** OR you may combine aspects of some videos/readings into your drawings, as long as you end up with at least eight (8) distinct sketches/drawings.
For example, your page might be divided up like so,
with two stick figures (and a few important notes) in each of the four quadrants:
| | |
| — | — |
| | |
| | |
3.
**These SHOULD NOT BE "GOOD" illustrations but just sketches. I mean that "STICK FIGURES" and SIMPLE SYMBOLS are fine.**
4.
**It's vital to do this with your own hand / your own trackpad (and NO A.I.)** because I may pick some of the "best" or "wildest" of these to show off to the rest of the class (and if someone uses A.I. or an "auto-drawing program" it will just be embarrassing to everyone, plus all the plagiarism stuff…yuck).
5. Add some brief notes in your own handwriting or typed, explaining your sketches in some detail, i.e., explaining the context in the materials.
6.
**Upload the page here (in this Canvas assignment).**
Resources
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guE154B6P8Q)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k185ZhNz9nw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozJ4AkgAMw)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oO08AwLpc)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&list=PLr3XIBco3u_O3RZGLeWaFPyZ6WhL8v86D)
**## OGL550_Module4_PowerPoliticalLens.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Political Systems
Morgan Ch. 6
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Types of Political Systems
• Autocracy–Power is held by individual or small group
• Bureaucracy–Power exercised through use of rules and the written word
• Technocracy–Rule exercised through use of knowledge
• Codetermination–Form of rule where opposing parties combine in the joint
management of mutual interests
• Representative democracy–Rule exercised through the election of officers mandated to
act on behalf of the electorate
• Direct democracy–System where everyone has an equal right to rule and is involved in
all decision making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations, Control, & Power
“We rely on a company to pay our wages. But does this mean it has the right control all
our beliefs and feelings? It certainly has no right to reduce us to robots who must obey
every command!”
• An organization’s politics manifest in the conflicts and power plays and interpersonal
relationships that guide the flow of organizational activity.
• Politics occur on an ongoing basis, often in a way that is invisible to all but those directly
involved.
• Power: can be viewed as a resource, as a social relationship (e.g., dependency), or as
influence/persuasion/coercion.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Interests, Conflict, & Power
Interests: Examples of three different types:
• Task Interests–connected with the work one has to perform
• Career Interests–independent of the job being performed
• Extramural Interests–Act towards the relation to both job and career
Conflict: Where interests collide
• Conflict may be personal or interpersonal, e.g., self, teams, rival groups
• Built into organizations through roles
• Attitudes, stereotypes, scarcity of resources
Power: Medium through which conflicts of interest are resolved. Sources of power:
• Formal Authority
• Control of Scarce Resources
• Use of organizational structure, rules and regulations
• Control of decision powers, knowledge and information, boundaries, and/or technology
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Relationship between Management and Workers
Unitary
• Organization is perceived as integrated, harmonious whole: e.g., “one happy family”, where
management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose.
• Emphasis on mutual cooperation.
• May use paternalistic approach that demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly
managerial in its emphasis and application
Pluralist
• Organization is perceived as being composed of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each
with its own loyalties and set of objectives and leaders.
• Two predominant sub-groups in the pluralistic perspective are management and trade
unions.
Marxist or Radical
• Looks at division of interest between capital and labor
• Sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as inherent in capitalist economic system
• Conflict is seen as inevitable, with trade unions a natural response of workers
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
Competing—to take quick, decisive action; for enforcing unpopular rules and decisions
Collaborating—for synthesizing insights of different stakeholders; fostering
organizational learning
Compromising—to arrive at mutually acceptable, expedient solutions
Avoiding—to buy time, or to put energy to more productive issues
Accommodating—to satisfy others when issues are not paramount to you; to minimize
loss when it’s clear you can’t win
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
Strengths
• Surfaces taboo subject such as people pushing for their private motives
• Recognizes role and use of power at the center of organizational analysis.
• Challenges the myth of organizational rationality.
• Helps us understand human behavior in organizations
• Recognizes the socio-political implications of organizational dynamics and the roles
that organizations play in society
Limitations
• Can lead to increased politicization of the organization
• Focus on conflict and control may make it harder to see positive aspects of organizing
and the potential for shared power to transform systems
– OGL 550��Organizations as Political Systems��Morgan Ch. 6
– Types of Political Systems
– Organizations, Control, & Power
– Interests, Conflict, & Power
– Relationship between Management and Workers
– Pluralist Ways to Handle Conflict
– Strengths and Limitations of Political Metaphor
**## OGL550_Module4_PsychicPrison.pdf**
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
OGL 550
Organizations as
Psychic Prisons
Morgan Ch. 7
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Psychic Prison Metaphor
“ Human beings have a knack for getting trapped in webs of their own creation.”
This metaphor looks at organization as psychological phenomena, as being created and sustained
by conscious and unconscious processes.
Examines people as becoming imprisoned or confined by the images, ideas, thoughts and actions
of psychological processes
Considers human condition as potentially trapped in:
• Modes of Thinking
• Constructions of Perceived Reality that offer imperfect and incomplete grasp of the world
• People may become “imprisoned”, “confined” or “controlled” by, or within, organizations
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Plato’s Cave Allegory
• First exploration of Psychic Prison metaphor by Greek Philosopher Plato in his work “The Republic‟
(c. 380 BC)
• Prisoners were chained to an underground cave wall. They could not move, or view the outside world
• Interpretation of shadows comprised their entire reality
• A liberated prisoner discovered that the world beyond the shadows was richer, more complex &
rewarding
• Upon return to cave, his experiences terrified fellow cave dwellers
• He could not remain & stagnate.
• They could not change or move forward • They perceived him as “dangerous”
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Group Think
• Described by Psychologist, Irving Janis in 1952
• Organizational, social & cultural traps that inhibit problem solving by preventing recognition
of alternate avenues of thought, discussion & action
• Group illusions of invulnerability, morality & unanimity foster “assumed consensus” which
inhibit expressions of doubt & engender misguided decision-making
Examples
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): President Kennedy & his advisors developed illusions of
unanimity & invulnerability; doubts were inhibited & suppressed
• The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster (1986): After 55 successful missions NASA felt
invincible • Fatally ignored crucial warnings about faulty equipment
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Organizations and the Unconscious
• Sigmund Freud argued that the unconscious is created as humans repress their inner-most desires
and private thoughts.
• Sees much visible culture as preoccupation & concerns of the unconscious psyche
• People become psychic prisoners through repression of their unconscious desires & thoughts
• We can try to understand & interpret these phenomena across dimensions that include: • Sexuality •
Family Dynamics • Mortality • Anxiety • Artefacts (Objects & Symbols) • Shadows & Archetypes
Examples:
• Neurotic traits
• Establishment of formal organizations, e.g. armies, religious orders, industrial society, bureaucracies
• Creation of Scientific Management innovations, ideas, planning & productivity such as:
• Historical replication of Patriarchal systems: authoritarian, aggressive & chauvinistic (negative) or
brave, heroic & decisive (positive)
• Matriarchal approach now seen as increasingly effective, empowering organizational trust, creativity &
co-operation
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
For each psychic prison, ask yourself two questions:
1.What is the dysfunctional story/myth?
2. How does the story/myth control fear and anxiety?
Example: Organization and Repressed Sexuality
When leaders and workers have strong desires to control and become
disciplined in every aspect of life. Taylor is exemplified by this Psychic Prison.
Dysfunctional story: social order to maintained through discipline and control.
How does story control fear? Tight supervision so there are no surprises.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Defense Mechanisms
• Repression: “pushing down” unwanted impulses and ideas
• Denial: refusal to acknowledge an impulse-evoking fact, feeling or memory
• Displacement: shifting impulses aroused by one person or situation to a safer target
• Fixation: rigid commitment to a particular attitude or behavior
• Projection: attribution of one’s own feelings and impulses to others
• Rationalization: creation of elaborate schemes of justification that disguise underlying
motives and intentions
• Idealization: playing up the good aspects of a situation to protect oneself from the bad
• Splitting: isolating different elements of experience, often to protect the good from the
bad.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
• (Re)producing organizational structure that gives dominance to males.
• Culture in which white males rule the field and know best which decisions to make.
• Competition, domination, and no emotions are cultural norms.
• Dysfunctional story: White men are more effective leaders.
• How does story control fear? Creates rigid structures and mental models the produce social control,
giving a sense of stability and security.
Patriarchal Family: prolonged dependency of the child upon the parents facilitates the kind of
dependency institutionalized in the relationship between leaders and followers, and in the practice
where people look to others to initiate action in response to problematic issues.
Key organizational members also often cultivate fatherly roles by acting as mentors to those in need of
help and protection. The psychic prison structure of the male-dominated family tends to create a
feelings of impotence, accompanied by a fear of, and dependence on, authority.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Immortality and Death
• Humans are afraid of dying. Death reminds us of our limitations and lack of control.
• Organizations are a way to connect with something more enduring than our physical bodies.
• Dysfunctional story : We won’t die if we are attached to something more enduring than ourselves.
• How does the story control fear? When people believe they will endure, they are more likely to obey
authority.
Human beings, aware of the impermanence & vulnerability of life, use Organizations (through culture)
to:
• Search for meaning & permanency;
• Preserve a sense of belonging & identity
• Manage, organize & motivate themselves
• Imagine the achievement of immortality through recorded beliefs, deeds, roles & material objects
• As we invest ourselves in our work, our roles become our realities and sense of self.
• Making the complex simple. We manage our world by simplifying it, because in making it simple we
feel like we have control.
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
Dysfunctional story: World can be divided into good versus evil. Evil wishes to destroy us
and we must survive it.
To cope with anxiety:
• we may depend on leader to control or save us
• Make enemies even when there aren’t any (“othering”)
• How does the story reduce fear? It draws the worker into the good/fear dichotomy and
allows leaders to do what they want without protest
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
Organizations interpreted through Artifacts
• “Transitional objects” (e. g. toys) & symbolic experiences help people cope with change. Gives
people something else to hold onto while change occurs.
• Over-reliance may facilitate resistance to progress (e. g. hoarding of objects), and block creativity &
innovation in organizations
• Dysfunctional story : Change is bad!
• How does story control fear? If everything stays the same, we will not get harmed; the old and
unchanging will keep us safe.
Shadows & Archetypes:
• View of human psyche espoused by psychiatrist Carl Jung
• Archetypes (patterns & ideas) link the “collective unconscious” to individuals & perpetuate recurring
organizational themes
• Shadows: repressed & rival instincts of individuals compete to influence organizational decision-
making
Copyright © 2020 Arizona Board of Regents.
Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
Strengths:
• Assists understanding of Organizational change and why people resist it
• Releases positive energies for transformation & integration
• Surfaces links between irrational & rational, recognizes ethical dimensions
• Offers holistic approach to organizational life
Weaknesses
• Neglects conscious ideological factors of organizational life
• Over-emphasizes cognitive processes
• Potential for “Orwellian” manipulation of the unconscious mind
Conclusion
• Draws from interdisciplinary theories from philosophy, organizational theory, psychiatry and
psychology, sociology, cultural Studies & other fields
• Offers profound psychological insights into the nature & complexity of organizations at both the
unconscious & conscious level
– OGL 550��Organizations as Psychic Prisons��Morgan Ch. 7
– Psychic Prison Metaphor
– Plato’s Cave Allegory
– Group Think
– Organizations and the Unconscious
– Function: To Reduce/Hide Fear & Anxiety
– Defense Mechanisms
– Authoritarianism (e.g., Patriarchal Family)
– Immortality and Death
– Fear and Anxiety—Good and Evil
– Transitional Objects, Shadows, & Archetypes
– Strengths & Weakenesses of Psychic Prison Metaphor
**toolsforanalyzingpower.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/toolsforanalyzingpower-pdf-10361089)
**HBR_PowerandPoliticsinOrganizationalLife.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/hbr-powerandpoliticsinorganizationallife-pdf-10361091)
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