The Possibility of Healthy Organizations: Toward a New Framework for Organizational Theory and Practice

Abstract

The fields of organizational sociology and organizational development contain considerable literature dealing with organizational effectiveness, but little that focuses explicitly on organizational health. This paper clarifies the notion of “healthy organizations” and describes how it needs to be fed by practice, so that social scientists do not build theories that are unrelated to the reality that people experience in organizations today. This delineation of “organizational health” as an arena of inquiry is built on the definition of health developed by the World Health Organization, and on the writing of behavioral scientists (Argyris, Bruhn, Cooley, Etzioni, Kilburg, Levinson, Sorokin, and Whyte) and non-traditional thinkers and practitioners (G.I. Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Charles G. Krone, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama). Sociological practice can contribute significantly to the creation of “organizations of the future” (Argyris, 1973) in which a state of reciprocal maintenance (Bennett, 1976) exists between individuals and organizations. “Reciprocal maintenance” means that neither partner seeks to take advantage of the other: the organizations are designed to enable the growth and development of their members or workers (in the broadest sense, including managers) and the individuals do their best to enhance the organization's long-term viability. I define as “healthy” those organizations that foster such reciprocal maintenance while creating an organizational culture in which people have more influence and control over the decisions that affect their lives.

Socially Responsible Human Resource Management and Employee Perception: The Influence of Manager and Line Managers

“…It is not surprising to find that policies and practices developed on the basis of SR were shown to correspond, mostly, to employees' commitment. These results validate the arguments of the literature which suggests that SR-HRM activities can have a significant influence on individual performance [32][33][34][35][36].…”

“…The evidence shows that a social orientation on HRM, in general, is positively associated with employee commitment. For example, considering the components of organizational commitment [32]; the positive feeling about ethical treatment [33]; the employee-oriented CSR practices [34]; the role of the psychological contract [35]; and the creation of organizational health [36]. These studies are of great significance because they show that achieving a competitive advantage depends on the ability of the company to respond in a balanced manner to different stakeholders, prioritizing those that are more relevant to employees due to the important role that they play in the proper functioning of the company [22,37].…”

Perseguindo a Maturidade nas Organizações: Dimensões Integrais do Desenvolvimento Humano

“…Desse modo, a busca pelo desenvolvimento da maturidade visa a possibilitar a organização saudável (Schuyler, 2004) Além da organização saudável descrita por Schuyler, pesquisas demonstram que componentes-chave da maturidade emocional estão associados com a efetividade e o progresso, ou crescimento gradual (Yukl, 2006;Bennis;Nanus, 1985). A expressão maturidade emocional, salienta Yukl (2006), abrange uma série de motivos, traços e valores de uma pessoa.…”

Socially Responsible HR in Action: Learning from Corporations Listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World 2018/2019

“…[1] (p. 95). Some say that made by company makes more sense than made in country, considering it is companies that source materials, technologies, and talent, regardless of national borders, and imprint their name and image in the minds of people across the globe [2,3]. As aggressively stated by Deetz (1992) [4], the "corporate colonization of everyday life" has spread widely to the point that it is nearly impossible to live a life free from the influence of corporations.…”