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Organizational triage: The development of a descriptive and prescriptive theory for understanding the dynamics of the complex organization in change
Abstract
After a general review of the dynamics of personal crisis and change, a theory of how complex organizations decline into a crisis state was developed. The premise is that misalignment of dominant elements work to establish a degenerative state. Such a state causes the organization to become maladaptive. As the maladaptive condition increases, change inhibitors begin to form. The level of organizational decline determines what inhibitor or combination of inhibitors evolve. The primary organizational change inhibitors identified are: inappropriate defense patterns and defense mechanisms; traumatized leadership; organizational blockages; and organizational syndromes. As misalignment increases, assisted by the negative coping mechanisms or inhibitors, a point is reached where a state of disharmonic resonance is established (the negative of synergy) and a crisis state is created or organization utility equals zero. This descriptive theory was then translated into a prescriptive model of degenerative intervention called "organizational triage" (OTR). Triage refers to an efficient process of identification of the most significant dominant elements that will have the greatest impact on reversing the decline and the selection of the most appropriate intevention protocol--salvage, treatment, or surgery--to realign these dominant elements. The degenerative intervention model identified seven major stages: equilibrium misalignment occurrence, pre-crisis, crisis, stabilization, regeneration, and new equilibrium. The pre-crisis and crisis stages were further broken into four phases. Intervention and alignment strategies and observations about the model were developed. Special emphasis was placed on the stabilization of an organization in crisis as a triage component needed to prepare an organization to accept the realignment intervention. Last, a review of applications, and further areas of research and conclusions were presented.
Subject Area
Management|Occupational psychology
Recommended Citation
Bartell, Roderick Jason, "Organizational triage: The development of a descriptive and prescriptive theory for understanding the dynamics of the complex organization in change" (1988). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8822636.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8822636