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The individual and the organization

5 important questions on The individual and the organization

Formal contract employment relationship

Contract is subject to legal framework of country
Different types of regulation of employment:
- Regulation by law: transparency and security but complex
- Social regulation: bargaining between employers and employees, balance between desires but time-consuming
- Market regulation: supply and demand for skills, greater flexibility but increases social inequalities

Psychological contract employment relationship

Perceptions the individual and organization have of obligations, focus on perceived fairness
Transactional: short term, easy to ext, low organizational commitment, well-defined performance criteria
Relational: loose performance criteria, high commitment, long-term security and loyalty

Managing relationship between individuals and organizations

- Unitarist approach: sees managers as the only legitimate source of power
- Pluralist approach: range of sources of power
- Radical approach: management and workers will always be in conflict, elite group has control (suppression)

Types of communication networks

- Institutionalization: organization's norms and values, based on informative instructive communication network
- Conformity: extent to which employees behave in the same way, based on regulative communication network
- Adaptiveness: degree to which organization's adapt, based on innovative communication network
- Morale: ability to enhance employee's positive feelings, based on integrative maintenance communication network

Organizational structure and communication

Jensen: four dimensions:
- Configuration or shape of the organization (better communication in smaller teams)
- Complexity of the organization (more departments=less communication)
- Degree of formalization (more formalization=less communication)
Centralization (decentralization=better communication)