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Cognitive complexity and time perspective in hybrid organizations

Perlmutter, Sybil.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1054826734

Abstract Details

1990, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.
Today organizations are under increasing pressure to manage the contradictions created by diminishing resources on the one hand versus the existence of multiple options for problem solving on the other. As resources stay static, or increase in scarcity, organizational problems become more urgent, while organizational responses become more delayed and inadequate. Efforts to respond to these problems have taken the form of increasingly hierarchical organizational structures based on the assumption that hierarchies, by definition, will more efficiently and prudently control resources. Thus, hierarchical forms of organization have appeared in work settings formerly managed primarily by mechanisms of collaboration and coordination. In addition, there has been the growing conviction that there exists in the current workforce significant untapped resources which if tapped would address issues of productivity and resource scarcity. An ongoing dilemma has been how to identify and develop untapped resources in the workplace. This has been particularly true in the health-care industry. This dissertation studies the ways in which organizational structure influences and shapes the thinking and behavior of its members with particular emphasis on the health care industry. Through the use of Elliott Jaq ues' Stratified-Systems-Theory, Henry Mintzberg's Theory of Organizational Structures and three psychometric instruments based on cognition (Stamp's Career Path Appreciation, Loevinger's Scale of Ego Development and Kolb's Adaptive Style Inventory), a paradoxical relationship between organizational structures and individual performance is demonstrated. At a time when maximal utilization of the existing workforce is desperately needed, existing organizations are structured in ways that constrain and obstruct the recognition, development and full use of their members' capacities. Stratified-Systems-Theory offers a useful way of analyzing and designing organizational structures appropriate to the particular organization's purpose. Its very sensitivity to the distinction between associations and hierarchies enables it to identify the critical areas where mechanisms for mutually effective interfaces between professional and administrator must occur. In addition, it provides a framework for analyzing the task complexity of different specialty areas and organizational levels as well as guidelines for recognizing and developing the resources of individual members of the workforce.
David Kolb (Advisor)
213 p.
Cognitive complexity time perspective hybrid organizations.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Perlmutter, S. (1990). Cognitive complexity and time perspective in hybrid organizations [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1054826734

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Perlmutter, Sybil. Cognitive complexity and time perspective in hybrid organizations. 1990. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1054826734.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Perlmutter, Sybil. "Cognitive complexity and time perspective in hybrid organizations." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1054826734

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1054826734
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© 1990, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.