Theories of Practice:Theories of Practice:The Symbolic FrameThe Symbolic Frame

MPA 8002

Organization Theory

Richard M. Jacobs, OSA, Ph.D.

For the greater part of the 20th century, the objectivity associated with the assumptions and concepts of scientific management have guided most inquiry into organizations.

While the human resources and political theories of practice provided a corrective to this emphasis by attending to the subjective elements of organization...

…all three theories of practice have failed to provide a comprehensive analysis identifying the specifically subjective elements of organizations, influencing not only organizational functioning but also the people who populate organizations.

A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO

Symbolic managers and leaders are sensitive to an organization’s history and culture. They seek to use the best in their organization’s traditions and values as a base for building a culture that provides cohesiveness and meaning. They articulate a vision that communicates the organization’s unique capabilities and mission.

Symbolic managers and leaders believe that the most important part of their job is inspiration—giving people something that they can believe in. People will give their loyalty to an organization that has a unique identity and makes them feel that what they do is really important. Effective symbolic managers and leaders are passionate about making their organizations the best of their kind and communicate that passion to others. They use dramatic, visible symbols that give people a sense of the organizational mission. They are visible and energetic. They create slogans, tell stories, hold rallies, give awards, appear where they are least expected, and manage by wandering around.

Bolman & Deal (1991, p. 364)

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIPIN A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO

the symbolic frame

PrimaryMetaphor forOrganization:

CentralConcepts:

ManagerialAnd

LeadershipImage:

FundamentalChallenge:

Carnival Cathedral or

Temple Opera and

Theatre

Culture Meaning Metaphor Ritual Ceremony Stories Heroes and

heroines Common

good

High priestsand priestesses

Tribal Chieftans Clan Chieftans

Inspire Create faith Define beauty Identify

meaning

The intuitive and subjective side The intuitive and subjective side of organizations...of organizations...

The symbolic frame asserts that organizations are judged primarily on and by appearances...…by giving appropriate emphasis to the

beliefs, meanings, and faith communicated symbolically through the attempts that people in organizations make to reconcile the dilemmas and paradoxes which they experience.

The concept...The concept...

organizational culture:

the “way we do things around here” (Bower, 1966)

the “glue” holding the organizational pieces together (Schein, 1984)

...the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that have worked well enough to be considered valid, and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein, 1984, p. 3)

Organizational culture may be likened to a medieval tapestry...

…composed of many different strands…each strand giving unique color,

hue, and texture to the composite

…with one strand unifying the entire view.

…the tapestry metaphor provides two views of organization...

the front view:unifiedholistic

richcomplex

revealed by the structural, human resources, and political theories of practice

the back view:

distorteddull

messylacking character

revealed by the symbolic theories of practice

the structural frame stresses...

…organizational rationality

By means of contrast...By means of contrast...

…the objective dimensions of organizations

The symbolic frame asserts that facts and logic can tyrannize human beings because organizations are more fluid and dynamic than the structural frame assumes.

the human resources frame stresses...

…what people experience…the subjective dimensions of

organizationsThe symbolic frame pushes beyond human needs theory, asserting that organizations are populated by people who strive for self-actualization through cooperative efforts.

the political frame stresses...

…how people act covertly and overtly…the subjective and objective

dimensions of organizations

The symbolic frame asserts that organizations provide a forum through which people discover meaning and purpose.

the symbolic frame stresses that...

…organizations are not characterized by rational, linear processes

…but by intuitive, creative responses to environments where: technology is underdeveloped the linkage of means to ends is

poorly understood effectiveness is difficult to ascertain

objectively

Organizational culture explores how similar organizations...

…can differ in substantive ways (Carlson, 1996)...

…which can explain why some organizations survive and thrive in their environments while others do not (Schein, 1990).

adopted by organizational theorists in the 1980s from the social sciences, in particular, cultural anthropology...

The concept of organizational The concept of organizational “culture”...“culture”...

...integrating anthropological, sociological, and psychological theories theories of practice

...into a complex analysis of organizational functioning

organizational culture is a qualitative, multi-factor variable...

…resistant to direct observation…that can only be inferred by

examining the culture itself (Schein, 1992)

organizational culture represents...…the self-expression of a

community of diverse people

assumptions

values

norms

For Schein (1984), people oftentimes discover that they work in an organization without knowing its culture, without understanding how the organization came to be what it is, or how the organization could be changed were its survival threatened.

Were managers and leaders to decipher their organization’s culture, Shein argues, it could then be reified and related to other important organizational variables, for example, setting strategy, aligning structure with purpose, and ultimately, promoting excellence.

to define the organization’s culture...

…by studying its history and traditions

…by identifying its patterns of beliefs, norms, language, and behavior

…by explicating its guiding myths and rituals

The management and leadership The management and leadership challenge...challenge...

…as these phenomena become explicit in the “way we do things around here” each and every day.

1. decipher organizational culture

involves… digging below the organization’s

surface identifying the elements of the culture interpreting the elements by assessing

how each element contributes to organizational functioning/dysfunction

Elements of organizational Elements of organizational culture...culture...

organizational historyorganizational history

shared values and beliefsshared values and beliefs

norms and standardsnorms and standards

patterns of behaviorpatterns of behavior

historyhistory:

1. How does the organization’s past live on in the present?

2. What traditions are carried on?3. What stories are told and retold as

folklore?4. What events in organizational

history are overlooked or forgotten?

5. Do heroes and heroines exist among the organization’s membership whose idiosyncrasies and exploits are remembered for the core values their personal qualities represent?

6. In what ways are the organization’s traditions and historical incidents modified through reinterpretation over the years? Can you recall, for example, an historical event that has evolved from fact into myth?

7. Are there storytellers, whisperers, spies, and rumor-mongers in the organization? How do they serve to keep the culture alive and intact or act as a barrier to change?

shared values and beliefsshared values and beliefs:

1. What are the assumptions and understandings shared by the membership, although these assumptions and understandings may not be stated explicitly?

2. What does the organization’s philosophy, mission statement, or creed suggest about the organization and it purposes?

3. Are there slogans which reveal core beliefs that have evolved from experience and sort what works from what does not?

4. Does the organization have symbols that serve to narrow the its mission and provide guidelines for behaviors and decision-making processes?

5. What are the things that the organization prizes and rewards?

6. When members talk about the organization, what are the major and recurring themes underlying what they say? How do these statements reveal values?

norms and standardsnorms and standards:

1. What are the oughts, shoulds, do’s, and don’ts that govern the behavior of the organization?

2. Who determines who gets rewarded and for what?

3. Who gets rewarded and for what?

4. Who gets punished and for what?

5. What is it that informal communication networks condemn as wrong and bless as being right?

patterns of behaviorpatterns of behavior:

1. Are there rituals which reinforce core cultural values and permit subcultures to communicate effectively with one another…for example: work routines, gossip

networks, task organization, annual rituals associated with entrance to and exit from the organization

2. Does the organization sponsor dramatic ceremonies which allow its culture to be experienced, celebrated and transformed from an idea into a reality?

3. Are there special rituals and ceremonies which regenerate commitment to organizational ideals?

4. What are the accepted and recurring ways of doing things?

5. What are the generally accepted patterns of behavior?

6. What are the habits and rituals that prevail in the organizations?

7. Who stands opposed to the prevailing organizational culture for a variety of reasons but views themselves (either individually or collectively) as upholding the “true” organization (i.e., the [loyal] opposition?

The organization’s history, shared values and beliefs, its norms and standards, as well as its shared patterns of behavior symbolize the organization’s culture...

…and provide a listing of the rich variety of concrete factors influencing “what is.”

once unearthed, identified, and interpreted, managers and leaders can…

understand and appreciate the organization’s idiosyncratic culture

provide cultural leadership by......enhancing (or changing) those intangible

factors that exercise a powerful influence upon the positive (or negative) behaviors of people associated with the organization

but, managers and leaders first need...

...to search for evidence of the presence (or absence) of these and other factors

...by looking for how these are manifested with the organization’s culture

2. reify the culture

to infer from the “hard” data what the artifacts, perspectives, values, and assumptions mean…by maintaining objectivity…by endeavoring to understand how

the data interact to influence organizational culture

in order to gain “understanding”...…conceptually “to stand under,” that

is, to conceive the fragmentary bits and pieces of data from within a larger context

…without imposing a theory of practice upon the data (“Model I” behavior, Argyris & Schön, 1974)

does not come into existence over night...…rather, organizational culture emerges

through human interactions…and, over the years and decades,

becomes a “tradition”

Organizational culture...Organizational culture...

…narrowing the diverse expectations people may have by directing their individual interests toward the core values, beliefs, and faith in what has made for success in that particular organization

…this “tradition” then shapes and gives purpose to the interactions between people in organizations across generations

enables people to identify themselves and their aspirations with the organization’s transcendent purpose

A strong organizational culture...A strong organizational culture...

can heighten people’s faith and confidence in the organization in the midst of environmental turbulence and adversity

people form attachments to symbols and symbolic activity

A weak organizational culture...A weak organizational culture...

…what Winnicott call’s “teddy bears” (1964)

when the attachments are severed……this change creates a loss of meaning

and purpose

...these people experience great difficulty in letting go

These existential wounds require symbolic healing.

3. relate the culture to other organizational variables

conveying what the organization stands for and how people can embody what the organization values and cherishes

by connecting people in the present with what was valued and cherished in the past

Managing and leading Managing and leading organizations involves...organizations involves...

creating, managing, and sustaining what gives meaning people today by…...embodying organizational values

Managing and leading Managing and leading organizations requires...organizations requires...

...telling and retelling the sagas which concretize the organization’s purpose

...enabling people to achieve cherished organizational objectives

Some implications of the Some implications of the symbolic frame for...symbolic frame for...

1. meetings...2. planning...3. evaluating...4. bargaining...

5. power...

Cultural tasks for managers and Cultural tasks for managers and leaders...leaders...

1. to attend to socializing new members into the organization

2. to emphasize diversity

3. to manage and lead by example

4. to use and develop code language

5. to tell stories

...to keep sacred traditions alive

...to provide exemplars to guide behavior

6. to incorporate humor and play into organizational life

...to reduce tension

...to encourage creativity

7. to punctuate organizational purposes, values, and mission with rituals and ceremonies

8. to remain aware that informal cultural players make disproportionate contributions both positively and negatively

9. to remember that “soul is the secret of success”

…managing and leading people is not so much a matter of conducting an orchestra...

…as it is playing in a jazz band (DuPree, 1992)

they “contend” with it...

…by designing a pathway that enables people to learn new values, to adopt and adapt them to the current situation, and to form a new synthesis, one melding “what is” with “what can be”

Managers and leaders do not Managers and leaders do not “change” organizational culture...“change” organizational culture...

is to be discovered within the organization (Deal, 1985) as managers and leaders...…capture the imagination of the

people in organizations

The pathway to organizational The pathway to organizational effectiveness...effectiveness...

…revitalize the demoralized…generate enthusiasm for cooperative

efforts to achieve shared goals

effective managers and leaders are…prophets

Using symbolic theory...Using symbolic theory...

whose primary concerns are…inspiring others

…framing experience

…poets

ineffective managers and leaders are…fanatics

Abusing symbolic theory...Abusing symbolic theory...

whose primary concerns are…smoke and mirrors…mirages

…fools

…personal

Strengths of the symbolic theory Strengths of the symbolic theory of practice...of practice...

…meaningful

…inspiring

…motivational

…impractical

Limitations of the symbolic Limitations of the symbolic theory of practice...theory of practice...

…abstract

…overly complex

Integrating reflective practice, cognitive Integrating reflective practice, cognitive complexity, and organizational analysis...complexity, and organizational analysis...

Reflecting upon organizational behavior through four frames inculcates the cognitive complexity managers and leaders need to diagnose the issues underlying the

problems manifesting themselves in organizations.

the structural frame

the human resources frame

the political frame

the symbolic frame

a more “complicated” conceptual view of

organizational functioning

This module has focused on...This module has focused on...

The culturalcultural theoriestheories that managers and leaders can utilize in practice episodes...

the symbolic frame

...as these theories of practice provide managers a frame of reference to inform decision making...

...offers managers and leaders guidance about the strengths and limits of cultural theory

A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO

Symbolic managers and leaders are sensitive to an organization’s history and culture. They seek to use the best in their organization’s traditions and values as a base for building a culture that provides cohesiveness and meaning. They articulate a vision that communicates the organization’s unique capabilities and mission.

Symbolic managers and leaders believe that the most important part of their job is inspiration—giving people something that they can believe in. People will give their loyalty to an organization that has a unique identity and makes them feel that what they do is really important. Effective symbolic managers and leaders are passionate about making their organizations the best of their kind and communicate that passion to others. They use dramatic, visible symbols that give people a sense of the organizational mission. They are visible and energetic. They create slogans, tell stories, hold rallies, give awards, appear where they are least expected, and manage by wandering around.

Bolman & Deal (1991, p. 364)

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIPIN A SYMBOLIC SCENARIO

the symbolic frame

PrimaryMetaphor forOrganization:

CentralConcepts:

ManagerialAnd

LeadershipImage:

FundamentalChallenge:

Carnival Cathedral or

Temple Opera and

Theatre

Culture Meaning Metaphor Ritual Ceremony Stories Heroes and

heroines Common

good

High priestsand priestesses

Tribal Chieftans Clan Chieftans

Inspire Create faith Define beauty Identify

meaning

ReferencesReferences

Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (1991). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bower, M. (1966). The will to manage: Corporate success through programmed management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Carlson, R. V. (1996). Reframing and reform: Perspectives on organization, leadership, and school change. White Plains, NY: Longman Publishers.

Deal, T. E. (1985). The symbolism of effective schools. The Elementary School Journal, 85(5), 601-620.

Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45(2), 109-119.

Schein, E. H. (1984, Winter). Coming to a new awareness of organizational culture. Sloan Management Review, 25(2), 3-15.

Winnicott, D. W. (1964). The child, the family, and the outside world. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Press.