Healthy organizations: toward a diagnostic method

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to propose, from the way in which an allopathic physician makes a diagnosis of a person's health, an organizational diagnosis metaphor that can contribute in the search for an increasingly more integral way of qualifying an organization as healthy. Design/methodology/approach-The methodological approach is essentially functional and is based on the cybernetics of W.R. Ashby with respect to the concept of a model and especially on "iso-" and "homomorphisms." In this way, similarities are found between the behavior of the components observed by the physician in a person, according to his diagnostic guidelines, and the functioning of an organization. Findings-The paper finds that various authors recognize the value and power of the use of metaphors, following the spirit of L.V. Bertalanffy, in the search for a better understanding of the organizational phenomenon, particularly that of human health, including the definition of the World Health Organization, from which a way is proposed here to understand a healthy organization and a general model of organizational diagnosis. It is estimated that one of the most significant finding made so far is the need to formalize structurally dependencies meant to apply "organizational awareness" as a way of permanently reflecting on the organization, helping its members to distinguish what belongs to the person and what belongs to the emergent phenomenon called organization, a task that until now is done partially, considering only some actors and at some points in time. Strategic planning, coaching higher executives, and empowerment of employees have gone in that direction, but still show insufficient efforts. Research limitations/implications-The work done so far has consisted in the theoretical development of homomorphism and some applications about which it is not yet possible make a report because of their scarcity. However, this method of work has made it possible to refeed the initial model and make some adjustments according to the divergencies seen between the theoretical and the practical. Consequently, this is a proposal that requires discussion-the purpose of this communication-and further experimentation that may lead to its eventual validation. Practical implications-The proposal of a general model for making organizational diagnoses. Originality/value-Some degree of originality is considered with respect to known work, because the idea is to articulate a model having an integral character that allows an organization to be qualified as healthy, trying to go beyond partial views that attributed that condition to organizations that were seen from a particular perspective, such as the health of its workers or its economic-financial performance.

Diagnóstico sistémico-cibernético de una institución de educación superior universitaria

“…La mayoría de los gerentes superan este obstáculo rápidamente y encuentran un modelo confiable no demasiado difícil de aplicar para velocidad, dirección y precisión en el diagnóstico y diseño de sus organizaciones [18]. En adición, [19] proponen, a partir de la forma en que un médico alopático hace un diagnóstico de la salud de una persona, una metáfora del diagnóstico organizacional que puede contribuir en la búsqueda de una forma cada vez más integral de calificar a una organización como saludable. En forma similar, existe una variedad de condiciones y factores patológicos que afectan el desempeño organizacional (del sistema), sin embargo, faltan métodos de apoyo que puedan guiar a los profesionales en la identificación de patologías que existen en los sistemas bajo su competencia [20].…”

Human being – organization homomorphism: between autopoiesis and allopoiesis

“…This is a fundamental characteristic of the displacement from the mechanistic to the systemic paradigm; the points of reference are no longer the mechanisms and closed systems and they become the organisms and open systems (Bertalanffy, 1987). From here, then, it is not strange for an organization to be thought of, treated, modeled, likened, equaled and metaphorizedthe variety of qualifications is deliberateas a living being (Morgan, 1991) and in particular as a human being (Beer, 1981;Tarride et al, 2008;Tarride and González, 2014).…”

The healthy organization construct: A review and research agenda

“…[ 30 59 60 ] Furthermore, some researchers recommend for the development of standard questionnaires for defining healthy organization with greater clarity. [ 61 ]…”