Links between person-thing orientational, organizational images, and allocation of organization activities

The main objective of this study is to examine links between the orientation of people to their environment, the images they hold, and the way they allocate time to organizational activities. Emphasis is upon the neglected role of human capacities and energies (such as sense-making) and its relationship to organizational phenomena. Sensemaking is seen in terms of one's primary orienting ideology. This part of the study draws upon empirically supported results which suggest that people do orient themselves to the environment in general on the basis of two primary independent phenomena. Sensemaking is enriched by one's rational and arational energies. Organization design is seen as being influenced by the tension between rational-arational polarities - the 'strategic choice' which Child (1972b) proposes as the critical variable in understanding organization design differences. Use is made of stories of peoples' images of their ideal organizations. This part of the study draws upon theoretical support for the impact of one's subjective processes, in particular, images, metaphors and fantasies, on one's enactment/behavior. Profiles of time allocation provide one approximation of organization design. The findings of this study may provide another way of understanding why organizations are the way they are. Differences in organization form can be related to factors of environment, size, and technology - plus the subjective processes of the individuals who are making sense of their organizational world. The implications and uses of the current study with some suggestions for the direction and focus of future studies are discussed.Business, Sauder School ofGraduat