reflective analysis

EDUC 745

Case Study Part Six

Liberty University

EDUC 745

Dr. Rector

Charles Poole

6/18/2020

Case Study Part Six: Organizational Analysis

The school being analyzed for this case study has a great structure in place for the organization to be successful. As a whole, the entire school works well and the school community is excellent all except for one problem. The organization has a small problem that has overshadowed the community. The problem is a lack of communication.

The principal, a great mind and a passionate leader, has failed to gain the support of the faculty and the parents due to his inability to properly communicate. The principal at the school has unhappy faculty members and unhappy parents because of the poor communication that he has put out to the members of the school community. The problem has caused the Community Superintendent to be involved in many of the school's dealings.

Structural Theories

The organization has a “pattern of precisely defined jobs organized hierarchically through precisely defined lines of command or communication” (Morgan, 2006 p. 18). The members make significant judgments concerning the overall organization structures in the school of the top level of the hierarchy or the Community Superintendant.

The problem in the school does not seem to come from a structural issue within the organization. If anything, it is a testament to the ability of the organization to go to the aid of a school when it has an issue. The Community Superintendent and the District Superintendent have been extremely helpful in trying to get the school right.

The school is currently having issues primarily located specifically with the interpersonal communication between the principal of the school and everyone else. All of the formal authority for this school resides solely with this individual, and it creates a cataclysm for all parties involved. No one knows exactly what they should be doing or how exactly he or she should be performing his or her duties because of this void in communication.

In the school as a whole, the number of individuals reporting to a department chair is suitable for the amount of total faculty in the organization (Razik & Swanson, 2010). The span of control in the organizational hierarchy balances out and proportional to the size of the institution, so this does not contribute to the problem in the school.

Departmentalization of the organization has a minuscule amount with the complaints related to the school because the head of the department is the one generating the volume of complaints from those that report to him. The lines of accountability become blurred primarily because of the lack of communication in what the expectation is for the role. In a school there typically are not ironclad or set in stone job descriptions. With that stated, it is generally expected that individuals step up and perform tasks when they are needed to, as assumed and not delegated, then a problem is created for the organization.

In organizations such as this one, decisions tend to be centralized and come from the top down. The centralization of the school attributes explicitly to the problems in that school because the principal is creating a filibuster for every item that filters to him. This is an unintentional consequence of the organization design. The decisions made in the school are a reflection of a centralized organization. Due to centralization, the teachers have a minimum amount of access to determining practical solutions to the problem (Fowler, 2013). In the centralized model of this organization, the only role that instructors have is the implementation of the changes that are brought upon by the higher levels of hierarchy.

From reviewing the different structural theories, it appears that inefficiencies affect the school in leadership based on the architectural design of the school. The organization is a centralized hierarchy, and this finding proves that one incompetent leader can cause this the flaws of a centralized model to surface.

Systems Theories

In a review of systems theories, the institution in the instance that is being analyzed is misreading the school environment. More specifically, the leadership of the school is misreading the needs of the school environment.

The administration is not meeting the needs of the stakeholders and the teachers of this school. In this case, the problems that are occurring in the school are solely related to managerial issues due to communication. The maximization principle is being applied in the school actions are continually being questioned because of the lack of information being associated with conclusions being made.

This lack of communication has resulted in another current issue, which is a decrease in enrollment at the school level. When a school is not able to maintain a capacity enrollment number, the budget for the entire school suffers.

Feedback loops can achieve the purpose of organizations through balance or reinforcement (Bridgen, 2017). Negative feedback is principally significant because when the hierarchy attempts to address the issues given, based on negative feedback, they can make the changes necessary to prevent any future negative feedback related to the topic. This negative feedback helps to reverse the downward trend of the organization or the division of the organization. The leaders of the school have been informed via negative feedback and have taken the appropriate measures to address the concerns, but the downward trend in moral in the school continues.

Most school staffs inherit a preexisting organizational structure. For many educators, certain aspects of the school's organization—such as the number of classes in the master schedule in a high school or the houses in a middle school—are part of the school's very identity. This reality can make altering the school's organization slow and difficult. Still, educators should consider the following aspects of the school to determine which ones, if any, should be changed. Many high schools establish schools-within-a-school to create smaller and more personal learning communities. Some of these are grade-based, whereas others are organized around an instructional focus, such as technology or the arts. (Danielson)

Cultural Theories

The climate and culture of an organization are two of the most underrated forces that drive the morale of school faculty and staff members. The issues plaguing the school are directly affecting the happiness of the employees. If employees do not have clear expectations and guidelines for what they need to do to perform there day to day work responsibilities then is it logical to expect them to guess what a leader wants to be done?

Not making a critical decision is as bad or worse than ill-informed or careless decision (Gabbard, 2013). When subordinates turn to a superior for guidance, and they repeatedly get no support the employee is naturally going to become frustrated, it is common sense. The position of a principal is one that requires a person to be more like a superintendent than a school administrator. The person in the role of the principal is the head of his or her school. But the position requires constant self-evaluation and introspection.

Many problems that are associated with the critical issue being examined are from fatigue. The current school principal is overloaded with many different commitments regularly. The rigors of this position do not take into account the various aspects of a person’s life outside of the organization such as religious commitments, family commitments, and personal time (Van Brummelen, 2009). The school principal is married and has children. He is also an active member of his church, and his wife is engaged in the PTO at the school. He lives a busy life outside of school.

Political Theories

Most organizations have a hierarchal system of power in place, and this school is no different. This system drives almost everything within the organization. Organizations, like governments, employ some method of order as a means of creating and maintaining the status quo among their members (Morgan, 2006).

The power and influence seen throughout the organization can be categorized as formal or informal. Those formal roles of power come from the administration and appointed leaders within the school. The informal roles of influence stem from the needs of the organization and the connections within the organization (Morgan, 2006).

In the school, the individual with the most formal power is not getting the job done in the eyes of the faculty, so the informal roles of influence are loudly heard. When the natural strengths and the formal powers disagree or become opponents of one another, this creates a toxic work environment.

Reflection

The particular problem facing this independent school can be divided into four lens: 40% cultural, 30% structural, 20% political, and 10% systems. The first thing that needs to happen for the organization to be restored to harmony is the cultural divide that needs to be repaired. The faculty and parents need to know what is happening in the school, and the stakeholders need to have a say in what is taking place. Then the next most imperative change that can be addressed is the termination of the individual in the current leadership position or create an additional leadership position to assist with the workload.

Problem Clarification

The four lenses in which this organization has been view through have shed light on the problem from different angles. Being able to understand a challenge from the different sources that cause it is far more valuable than merely "treating the symptoms" of the problem. By incorporating the various root causes of the leadership problem in the school, the organization can work together to solve the problem better.

Cultural Lens

The cultural lens is the most accommodating for this problem because it helps to understand the influence that personal beliefs, backgrounds, and understanding of what all parties involved expect from a person in a principal position (Morgan, 2006). The school must first create a shared school culture with clear expectations and guidelines that can incorporate parent and faculty values alike. This change in the culture can help to put the school back on track.

Structural Lens

The next step in righting the proverbial school ship is to re-structure this organization. If the current leader is going to maintain his position, then there has to be something done to assist him in doing so. There can be an additional administrative position or an overall change to how decisions are made, but something in this realm has to be addressed. Also, much of the power and control within the organization is with those individuals in the top level of the hierarchy. Decisions are made and then deligated without any teachers input.

Political Lens

The political lens applies to this situation in a similar method as the cultural lens. The informal powers in the division of the organization are speaking louder than the formal skills, and there is a clear distance between the viewpoints. Instead of there being collaborative working taking place, there is more of a conflict. The coalition between the Director and the faculty needs to be restored.

Systems Lens

The systems lens is not as useful as other lenses in this situation. The reason for that is negative feedback has been received from faculty, parents, and stakeholders, but the feedback loop has hit a standstill because of lack of change. The systems lens would be accommodating early on, but as time progresses, it can become a storage unit for frustration.

Conclusion

Using the different lenses to examine the problems at this specific school have proven beneficial in addressing the current issues. All of the cooling issues that are happening within this organization relate to one central problem, and that problem is a lack of communication. Employees and students alike want clear expectations and rules to adhere to (Fowler, 2013). Without guidelines, no one knows when to step up and take charge of a situation to accomplish the appropriate change. Communication is also vital for the school to be actively involved in the community (Kladifko, 2013). By the school Principal not clearing communicating well, each one of the theory lenses has critical areas that are affected, and as time progresses, small problems can compound into much more significant issues.

References

Bridgen, S. (2017). Using systems theory to understand the identity of academic advising: A case study. NACADA Journal, 37(2), 9-20.

Danielson, C. (n.d.). Chapter 5: School Organization. In Enhancing student achievement.

Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/102109/chapters/School-Organization.aspx

Doe, R., Ndinguri, E., & Simone, P. (2015). Emotional intelligence: the link to success and failure of leadership. Academy of educational leadership journal, 19(3), 103-114.

Fowler, F. (2013). Policy studies for educational leaders. New Jersey: Pearson.

Gabbard, D. (2013). Educational leadership or followership. Democracy & education, 21(1).

Kladifko, R. (2013). Practical school community partnerships leading to successful educational leaders. Educational leadership and administration: teaching and program development, 24, 54-61.

Morgan, S. (2006). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Pfeffer, J. (1991, December). Organization theory and structural perspectives on management. Journal of management, 17(4), 789+. Retrieved from http://jom.sagepub.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/

Razik, T., & Swanson, A. (2010). Fundamental concepts of educational leadership & management (3 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

CASE STUDY SIX 2

CASE STUDY SIX 2

Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the classroom: christian approach to teaching and learning. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.

Case Study: Part 6 Grading Rubric

Criteria	Levels of Achievement
Content 70%	Advanced	Proficient	Developing	Not present
Lens One: Reviewing the Structural Theories • Is my problem tied to a problem with the chain of command? o Looks at the bases of formal authority in organization (who has economic, legal, contractual, collegial). o Are people clear on accountabilities? Do such accountability lines conflict? Is someone not carrying out their authority? o Are people reporting through proper channels? • Is my problem tied to a problem with the span of control in the organization? o Are too many reporting to too few? Too few? o Are there too many levels of authority in the organization? • Is my problem tied to the way our organization is departmentalized? o Are we divided up properly and efficiently? o Are accountability lines confused and inefficient? o Are jobs overlapping or are there gaps? • Is my problem tied to the way decisions are being made in the organization? o Are we too centralized or decentralized? o Who decides what and for whom? • Is my problem tied to not maintaining staff/line distinctions? o Is staff exercising authority? o Is staff going around communication lines?	19 to 20 points Criteria is addressed clearly and accurately and includes an extensive description of the specified question(s).	17 to 18 points Criteria is addressed clearly and includes an adequate description of all specified questions in the assignment.	1 to 16 points Criteria is somewhat addressed with a minimal mention/ description of all specified questions in the assignment	0 points Not present
Lens Two: Reviewing the Systems Theories • Is my problem tied in some way to the input/throughput/output cycle of the organization? • Is my problem tied in some way to our organization trying to step beyond its genotypic function (productive, maintenance, adaptive, managerial/political)? • Is my problem tied in some way to the Maximization Principle? o Are we balancing our need for profit with a long-term view of survival? o Are we storing, reinvesting, etc.? • Is my problem tied to ignoring or misreading the environment? o What do we know about the environmental sectors (economic, political, social, etc.)? o Are we rating the sectors according to some measure? Stability vs. turbulence Diversity vs. homogeneity Clustering vs. randomness Scarcity vs. munificence	19 to 20 points Criteria is addressed accurately and includes an extensive description of the specified question(s).	17 to 18 points Criteria is addressed clearly and includes an adequate description of all specified questions in the assignment.	1 to 16 points Criteria is somewhat addressed with a minimal mention/ description of all specified questions in the assignment.	0 point Not present
Lens Three: Reviewing the Culture Theories • Is my problem tied to culture collisions within the organization? o With new employees? o Within units or departments? • Is my problem tied in some way to efforts to shape or reshape the culture? • Is my problem tied in some way to role problems (not job description) such as overload, conflict, readiness, etc.?	14 to 15 points Criteria is addressed accurately and includes an extensive description of the specified question(s).	13 points Criteria is addressed clearly and includes an adequate description of all specified questions in the assignment.	1 to 12 points Criteria is somewhat addressed with a minimal mention/ description of all specified questions in the assignment.	0 points Not present
Lens Four: Reviewing the Political Theories • Is my problem tied in some way to power pathologies in the organization? o Power corrupting people o Unhealthy coalitions and alliances broken o Improper control over information flow • Is my problem tied in some way to how people are responding to power and influence efforts in the organization? • Concludes by summarizing how useful each lens has been in identifying the cause of the problem (rough percentage framework) • Good, scholarly research incorporated throughout the analysis to support the critique offered	14 to 15 points Criteria is addressed accurately and includes an extensive description of the specified question(s). Full application of the lens has been applied to the organization issue.	13 points Criteria is addressed clearly and includes an adequate description of all specified questions in the assignment. Some application of the lens is applied to the organizational issue.	1 to 12 points Criteria is somewhat addressed with a minimal mention/ description of all specified questions in the assignment. Issues within the organization not specifically addressed; too much discussion regarding the theory.	0 points Not present
Structure 30%	Advanced	Proficient	Developing	Not present
APA	14 to 15 points A title and reference page is included. Paper, citations, reference pages, and sources are formatted in current APA style (0-1 errors). Body of paper is 5-7 pages.	13 points A title and reference page is included. Paper, citations, reference pages, and sources are formatted in current APA style (2-3 errors). Body of paper is 5-7 pages.	1 to 12 points A title page or reference page is not included. Paper, citations, reference pages, and sources are not formatted in current APA style (4 or more errors). Body of paper is less than 5 pages.	0 points Not present
Grammar, Spelling Mechanics	14 to 15 points Correct grammar, spelling, and mechanics are used throughout the assignment. There are 0-1 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.	13 points There are occasional errors in spelling, grammar, or mechanics. There are 2-3 errors in spelling, grammar, or mechanics that distract the reader from the content.	1 to 12 points There are 4 or more errors in spelling, grammar, or mechanics that distract the reader from the content.	0 points Not present