Chapter 1
The School as a
Social System
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Chapter 1: The School as a Social System
What is Organizational Theory?
A set of interrelated concepts, assumptions, and generalizations that describes and explains patterns
of behavior in organizations.
Elements of Theory:
Concepts
Generalizations
Assumptions
Purposes of Theory:
Provide an explanation of how things generally work.
Guide research
Guide practice
Hypotheses:
Conjectural statements that explain relationships.
Use to test theories.
Guide research
Scientific Knowledge:
Propositions supported by systematic research.
Purpose of Science: To test theory and to provide reliable explanation.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Theory
Concepts
Variables
Assumptions
And
Generalizations
Concepts
Hypotheses
Empirical
Testing
Principles
Figure 1.1: Theory-Research Relation (ãHoy 2007)
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Historical Development of
Theory and Thought in Administration
I. Rational-Systems Perspective: A Machine Model
Scientific Management (The Beginning)
Rational-Systems Perspective
(A Contemporary View of Scientific Management)
Frederick Taylor-Scientific Management
•Time and Motion Studies
•Standardization
•Exception Principle
•Division of Labor
•Span of Control
Henri Fayol-Functions of Administration
•Planning
•Organizing
•Commanding
•Coordinating
•Controlling
•Goals--Organizations exist to attain collective goals
•Division of Labor for efficiency
•Specialization for expertise
•Standardization for routine performance
•Formalization for uniformity and coordination
•Hierarchy for unity of command and coordination
•Span of Control for effective supervision
•Exception Principle to free superiors from routine
•Coordination for administrative effectiveness
•Formal Organization is the official blueprint of the
structure that guarantees efficiency and
effectiveness. The formal organization is the
key to organizational effectiveness.
Luther Gulick--Functions of the Executive
•POSDCoRB
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
II. Natural-Systems Perspective: An Organic Model
Human Relations (The Beginning)
Contemporary Natural System (Human Resources View)
Mary Parker Follett
Taylor antagonist and
human relations advocate
•Survival--organizations are more than instruments for goal
attainment; they are social groups that adapt and survive.
•Individuals are more important than the structure.
•Needs motivate performance more than role demands .
•Specialization can promote boredom and frustration.
•Formalization produces rigidity and rule fixation.
•Informal Norms not formal rules are critical to performance.
•Hierarchy is ineffective because it usually neglects talent.
•Span of Control is dysfunctional because it fosters close and
authoritarian supervision.
•Informal Communication is more efficient and open than
formal communication.
•Informal Organization--informal structures are more
important than formal ones just as informal leaders are more
influential than formal ones. The informal organization is the
key to effectiveness.
Hawthorne Studies
•Illumination Studies--three studies
•Elton Mayo--more studies(1927-32)
•Hawthorne Effect
Informal Organization
•Norms
•Grapevine
•Informal leaders
•Cliques
Informal Norms
“No squealing”
“No rate busting”
“No chiseling”
“Be a regular guy”
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
II. Open-systems Perspective: An Integration
Social Science: Interdependence, Integration, and Contingencies
Max Weber
Chester Barnard
Herbert Simon
Talcott Parsons
Theory of Bureaucracy
Functions of the Executive
Administrative Behavior
Social Systems Theory
Interdependence is a fact of organizational life.
All organizations are open systems whose parts interact and depend on each other
and are dependent on their environments.
Integration is central to an open-systems perspective.
Integration of goals and needs
Integration of rational and natural elements
Integration of tight and loose couplings
Integration of planned and unplanned activities
Integration of formal and informal.
Contingency Theory
Effectiveness is contingent upon matching
the situation with the appropriate technique.
Behavior is a function of structure and needs.
All organization have both rational and natural aspects.
Organizations need both tight and loose couplings.
Politics pervades organizational life.
Organizations have two interactive faces:
Formal & Informal.
There is no one best way to organize, motivate,
decide, lead, or communicate-- “it depends.”
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Historical Development of
Theory and Thought in Administration
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Key Properties of Open Systems
Inputs
--people, materials, and resources from the outside
Transformation -- the process transforming inputs into something of value by
the system.
Outputs
-- the byproduct of the transformation.
Feedback
-- how the system communicates to its parts and the
environment.
Boundaries
-- systems are differentiated from their environments.
Environment
-- is anything outside the system.
Homeostatis
--a steady state of equilibrium
Entropy
--the tendency for all systems for run down and die.
Equifinality
--the same end can be achieved many ways.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Open System with Feedback Loops
Environment
Inputs
People
Throughput
[Transformation]
Outputs
Performance
Materials
Products
Finances
Services
Feedback
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Social Systems Model: Key Assumptions
•
Social systems are open systems.
•
Social systems consists of interdependent parts, which interact
with each other and the environment.
•
Social systems are goal oriented.
•
Social systems are peopled.
•
Social systems have structure.
•
Social systems are political.
•
Social systems have cultures.
•
Social systems have norms.
•
Social systems are conceptual and relative.
•
All formal organizations are social systems, but not all social systems
are organizations.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Key Elements of the School as a Social System
Schools are social systems with the following key parts:
Structure:
roles are expectations of positions that are arranged in a hierarchy.
Individual:
the individual is a key unit in any social system; regardless of position,
people bring with them individual needs, beliefs, and a cognitive
understandings of the job.
Culture:
represents the unwritten feeling part of the organizations:
its shared values
Politics:
informal power relations that develop spontaneously.
Core:
the teaching-learning process is the technical core of schools.
Environment: everything outside the organization; source of inputs.
Outputs:
the products of the organizations, e. g. educated students.
Feedback:
communication that monitors behavior.
Effectiveness: the congruence between expected and actual outcomes.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Internal Elements of the System
Environment
Transformation Process
Structural System
(Bureaucratic Expectations)
Inputs
Cultural System
(Shared Orientations)
Political System
(Power Relations)
Individual System
(Cognition and Motivation)
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Outputs
Social System Model for Schools
Environment
Inputs
Environmental
constraints
Transformation Process
Outputs
Structural System
(Bureaucratic Expectations)
Achievement
Job satisfaction
Human and
capital resources
Mission and
board policy
Materials and
methods
Absenteeism
Cultural
System
(Shared
Orientations)
Political
System
(Power
Relations)
Dropout rate
Overall quality
Individual System
(Cognition and Motivation)
Discrepancy between
Actual and Expected
Performance
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
The Triadic Relations of
Theory, Practice, and Research
Theory, research, and practice are in a dynamic relationship.
Each set of relationships is reciprocal: theory guides practice, but
practice reinforces, refines, or disconfirms theory; theory guides
research, but research creates and refines theory; and research
guides practice, but practice directs research.
T
R
P
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
Practical Imperatives
1. Seek and test good explanations in your administrative practice:
Be both reflective and guided by evidence.
2. Be prepared for both rational and irrational behavior in schools:
Both abound.
3. Cultivate informal relations to solve formal problems:
The informal organization is a source of ingenious ideas.
4. Use multiple perspectives to frame school challenges:
Framing the problem is often the key to its solution.
5. Engage informal leaders in problem solving:
Cooperation between the formal and the informal is a key to success.
6. Be politically astute as you represent the school and its students:
Politics is a fact of school life.
7. Encourage both stability and spontaneity as appropriate:
Both are essential to good schools.
8. Be responsive to the community: The school is an open system.
9. Cultivate expertise as the basis for solving problems:
Knowledge should be the basis of decision making.
10. Harness administration to the facilitation of sound teaching and learning:
Teaching and learning is what schools are about.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011