Reframing Organizations, Lee G. Bolman and Terrence

Reframing Organizations, Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal argue that many organizations today fail due to a lack of imagination. Most managers are ineffective because they are locked in a "psychic prison." Rather than analyzing new organizational challenges through innovative techniques, many managers simply fall back on the same old strategies. Bolman and Deal believe that most managers are limited by a worldview that examines an organization's problems through a single lens. As a result, they fail to employ "different and more powerful tools" to meet these new challenges.

Most organizations are thus "overmanaged but underled." Because of the lack of leadership, many organizations are losing "any sense of spirit or purpose." To meet these new challenges and to ensure that organizations continue to retain their vision, Bolman and Deal suggest "reframing" organizational problems. Rather than the same single lens, they propose several frames that managers and leaders could use, to better analyze organizational problems and to come up with multiple approaches and original solutions.

The first part of the book thus deals with frames, which the authors define as "windows on the world and lenses which bring the world into focus." Because organizations are complex and difficult to understand, framing provides managers with a way to evaluate an organization's needs. Framing also helps managers analyze their organization's structure and make decisions regarding the best course of action. Bolman and Deal then introduce the four frames to examine organizational behavior - structural, human resource, political and symbolic.

To illustrate their ideas, Bolman and Deal use an interesting case of the Korean Airlines plane that was shot down after a chain of human errors contributed to the plane's straying into Soviet airspace. The authors then cite similar cases, such as the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and Three Mile Island. These examples are initially surprising, especially for the reader expecting a book on business management.

However, Bolman and Deal successfully integrate these examples into the thesis of their book - that new forms of "framing" are needed to meet the new challenges of today's increasingly complex organizations. Bolman and Deal devote Part Two of their book to the structural frame. The authors examine the various perspectives that allow managers to maintain an efficient office hierarchy and division of labor.

The three chapters in this section discuss how managers can best establish goals, delegate tasks through an efficient division of labor and anticipate the problems that can arise when an organization's structure fails to meet its needs. Though their classification of organizational design (differentiation vs. integration, loose vs. tight controls) is nothing new, Bolman and Deal present a powerful analysis of the advantages of the move to more flexible, team-based organizations.

The authors even allude to the role of women managers in this change when they write about how "male-driven images" are being supplanted by the more integrated hierarchies often favored by female executives. The third part deals with the human resources frame, which concerns the interaction between the organization and its individual employees. Rather than forcing people to tailor their lives to the organization, Bolman and Deal look at how new management strategies strive to accommodate their employees' needs.

This human resources frame, in particular, reflects the changing views between employee-organization relationships that evolved in the 1990s. Rather than military-style organizations with strict hierarchies, many firms now employ a human resources frame that views employees as extended family.

In addition, Bolman and Deal laud innovative new human resources efforts that focus on "investing in people." Rather than ensuring employees will perform out of competition to get ahead in the career ladder or out of fear of downsizing, the authors believe that organizations can build commitment and motivation through innovative techniques like empowerment, working on autonomous teams, job enrichment, work redesign and interpersonal dynamics. In Part Four, the authors then explore the political frame, or how bargaining and interaction of internal interest groups affects an organization's strategies and actions.

In this section, Bolman and Deal liken the manager to a politician, one who facilitates the organization's internal negotiations and helps individual teams/factions form networks and coalitions. This section, however, is notable for its exploration of the greater role of organizations in society. They discuss how organizations can themselves act as political agents, pursuing their own agendas in society. In fact, the authors rightly point out that in a world dominated by multinationals corporations, many organizations wield more political clout than governments.

In the fifth part, the authors study the cultural facets of organizations, as evidenced in an organization's rituals, ceremonies, myths, stories and heroes. These cultural aspects form the symbolic frame, a powerful but often neglected frame of organizational dynamics. While the previous section likened the organization to a political arena, the symbolic frame uses the metaphor of theater. The symbolic frame is important in strengthening people's beliefs, hopes and confidence in the purposes of the organization.

While the preceding sections are valuable contributions to the field of management, it is the last part that is the most significant. In this.