 Unravelling the organizationJa Sharp and Ak Ratnatunga Omega, 1986, vol. 14, issue 6, 453-464 Abstract: The application of a computer package for drawing cause maps (NETGRAPH) to a cause map originally given by Hall as part of a study of the 'Saturday Evening Post' is described. It is shown how the cause map produced by the computer reveals a number of subsystems. The way in which these can be more clearly revealed by manually redrawing the computer cause map is demonstrated. The subsystems thus obtained are shown to be identical to those given by Hall, except in one case where one of Hall's subsystems is split into two. It is suggested that this split is sensible from an organisational analysis standpoint. The organisational system is analysed in terms of a number of insights derived from the computer-produced cause map including its apparent lack of a formal model of the impact of the Magazine's decisions on the environment. Such a model is claimed by Beer to be indispensable, from a systems theory standpoint, to any 'viable' organisational system. The conclusions derived from this analysis are similar to those drawn by Hall, though they do extend his analysis in several respects. It is argued that the results show that the package is of potential use in analysing cause maps of organisations. Date: 1986 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jomega:v:14:y:1986:i:6:p:453-464 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Omega is currently edited by B. Lev More articles in Omega from Elsevier |
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