premjan
May 31, 2007, 05:06 AM
This was a thought triggered by untermensche's observation that judges should be elected by a democratic process rather than appointed.
It seems to me that organizations can in some cases be distinguished based on whether the individuals composing them are all essentially doing similar jobs or different onces. For instance a firm of lawyers consists mainly of lawyers. There will be some support staff for administration etc. but generally speaking I presume that most of them will be actually certified to practice law. Again, a research lab will consist mainly of PhD holding practicing scientists or engineers. This is what strikes me as more of a guild-based or specialities-centric organization. I think doctor certification takes place through guild-style organizations, and they decide what are the standards of skill a doctor has to meet.
Then there is the other kind of organization - a general corporation for instance or a government office. There will be people of more diverse skills. The boss may be e.g. someone from marketing, if profit is the driving motive. There will be specialists too, but they may play a smaller role, unless their skills are for some reason, not a commodity. The CEO could easily detach himself or herself from this organization and go on to head another organization whose speciality is rather different - e.g. the CEO of (say) Boeing could perhaps without great difficulty, go and become the CEO of Coca Cola Corp.
Is there any discussion of the different types of organizations in, say, organizational theory texts? Theoretically all organizations could be skills-centric though probably the commercial aspects would end up suffering to an extent.
It seems to me that organizations can in some cases be distinguished based on whether the individuals composing them are all essentially doing similar jobs or different onces. For instance a firm of lawyers consists mainly of lawyers. There will be some support staff for administration etc. but generally speaking I presume that most of them will be actually certified to practice law. Again, a research lab will consist mainly of PhD holding practicing scientists or engineers. This is what strikes me as more of a guild-based or specialities-centric organization. I think doctor certification takes place through guild-style organizations, and they decide what are the standards of skill a doctor has to meet.
Then there is the other kind of organization - a general corporation for instance or a government office. There will be people of more diverse skills. The boss may be e.g. someone from marketing, if profit is the driving motive. There will be specialists too, but they may play a smaller role, unless their skills are for some reason, not a commodity. The CEO could easily detach himself or herself from this organization and go on to head another organization whose speciality is rather different - e.g. the CEO of (say) Boeing could perhaps without great difficulty, go and become the CEO of Coca Cola Corp.
Is there any discussion of the different types of organizations in, say, organizational theory texts? Theoretically all organizations could be skills-centric though probably the commercial aspects would end up suffering to an extent.