Critical Analysis Of Strategic Choice And Deterministic Theories In Essay.

Strategic Choice Theory and Organizational Development

Question:

Discuss about the Strategic Choice And Deterministic Theories.

The essay is concerned with the critical analysis of the strategic choice and deterministic theories. The analysis will clarify the understanding of the actions taking place in the organization and how they will contribute to the development of the organization. The strategic choice theory describes the maintenance of industrial relations and coping up with the uncertainties using the strategic approach. Thereafter the deterministic theory shall be analyzed and all its 3 theories i.e. resource dependency theory, industrial theory and population ecology which is a broader aspect and inculcated variety of options. The best suitable approach for organizational development and accomplishment of actions will be selected and the reason for the selection of the particular theory will be quoted. In nutshell, the essay will discuss the various aspects and approach that affect the business and if wise steps are taken then profit maximisation could be initiated and employee engagement might be gained as well which might result beneficial for the organization as a whole.

Strategic choice is an important factor for the development of an organization. It highly contributes to determining the organizational actions and assists the manager's inadequate decision making. For developing the clear understanding of the organization and controlling its internal and external affairs the strategic choice theory has been developed. This particular theory has been developed in U.S. at the time when the changes in the industrial relations were taking place rapidly (Wheelen & Hunger, 2017). The strategic choice theory focuses on the external forces that are directly and indirectly related to the organizational affairs and assists in building up the relations between the employer-employee and creating the betterment in employer-employee relations as well. The changing external environment is analyzed and accordingly, the competitive strategies are designed to fight with the dynamic market. The manager undertakes the changes in the competitive strategies which result in the emergence of various values, beliefs, philosophies, and innovation in decision-making techniques (Pisano, 2017). The companies now adopt the decentralization method where the part of responsibility followed by authority is rendered to the employees so that they may also take the decision and even their decision-making skills get improved. The suggestions and ideas from the low-level employees result in the betterment of the relations and the employee engagement with the organization gets increased. This develops the belongingness of employees within the firm and the time that has been saved in making small decisions is invested in certain more important deals which lead to the development of the organization as a whole. While making the strategic changes the crucial points that need to be noticed are decision making groups and immediate management of the uncertainty that could strike the business (Jinjisoshiki, 2017). There is a certain strategic approach that could be learned for the betterment of the business:

Different Strategic Approaches for Organizational Development

The first strategic approach is the immediate decision making in the particular situation using the limited resources. Strategies are the planning and plotting of the decision for the particular thing or accomplishment of the predefined objections. But there are situations that occur on the sudden basis and the rapid decision has to be taken. At that point, the intellectual skills and risk-taking power of the person could be analyzed (Tatham, 2017). The second approach towards the strategic choice is to deal with the uncertainties and how the manager deals with the unpredictable situations. The nature of problem needs to be analyzed whether it is a technical, political or procedural event and how each one could be repaired on the urgent basis by adding on the profit is the time where the skills of an efficient manager could be ranked. The third strategic approach is incremental in nature and the framework designed for this is known as commitment package (Cook, Salter & Stadler, 2017). In these kinds of strategies, the priorities have been set and accordingly the problems and uncertain situations could be solved out. The balance has been derived from the decisions that need to be inculcated currently and some decisions could be left pending for the near future. The final fourth approach is interactive in nature and it is not meant for the experts of the field who are settled in the back office and handling the management, this strategy is for those people that have come from the divergent backgrounds and efforts have been made to initiate the communication between them (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). It designs the collaboration to collect people at the place and harmony gets created in the organization. Better the internal communication of the organization strong will be the internal organizational structure. Through the medium of interaction, the hesitation among the peers, superiors, and subordinates is lowered and many latent things get discovered which at last prove to be the gem for the organization (David & David, 2016). The knowledge expansion takes place along with the enhancement in the interpersonal skills and abilities of the employees which will be beneficial from the perspective of the individual as well as the organization (University of Cambridge, 2016).

Deterministic theories are those positions within an organization that defines the entire practices that are happening in the organization along with the present these theories helps in assessing the practical positions that happened in past and are likely to happen in the near future. It could be linked up with the law of Newton where once the entire specifications have been rendered the nearby aspects could be evaluated. Though the exact thing cannot be predicted the relevant hypothesis could be drawn (Chen, Du & Tang, 2015). There are three different theories involved in the deterministic theories which are resource dependency theory, institutional theory and population ecology which helps in the development of the organization and defining the further actions of the organization (Philosophy to go, 2011).

Deterministic Theories and Organizational Actions

Resource dependency theory investigates the connection between the organization and the resources involved in the organization for the operational purpose. Resources are many types and forms it involves the usage of raw material for the manufacturing purpose, labor and the finance required to continue the working and run the business in an effective manner. No business could flourish without the resources, each type of resource is necessary enough for the accomplishment of the organizational objective (Jajja, Kannan, Brah & Hassan, 2017). Without the natural resources and direct material, manufacturing will not be able to take place and the basic product and services might get lack. But care has to be taken with regards to the scarcity of these natural resources and sustainable development must be adopted and for that sake use of advanced technology should be made so that depletion is not caused and the resources do not get wasted and recycling may be possible. Then comes the labor which is another crucial resource and hard to find the competent one and even harder to retain the one. The human resources are the asset for the company and better relationship must be developed with them by adopting the adequate labor policies and equality must be focussed along with rendering the better working quality to the employees. Another important resource on which the organization’s development is highly dependent is financial resources. It is rightly said that finance is the blood of the organization, thus the best source of finance should be selected. Investors could be attracted through the books of the companies and the books must be maintained wisely and evasion should be avoided as it is not only for the individual purpose but the country is also concerned with each and every organization’s earnings as their earning cumulatively affects the GDP of the nation. As discussed the companies are dependent on these resources and so much dependency is also the risk factor and brings about the uncertainty in the business as the supplier and providers might play a trump card against the business thus the backup plan should always be there with the company to lower the risk and stay in win-win situation (Voss & Brettel, 2014).

An institutional theory is an internal environment within the organization. It is that formal atmosphere that is required in the organization for its development. It involves the definite structure and culture that is to be followed in the company. By structure is meant the management hierarchy, policies, and procedures of the company. These policies must be formulated and the employees must strictly abide by these policies to maintain the discipline and strengthen the organization. Also, the second aspect of the institutional theory is that the organizational formal plan needs to be constructed keeping in view the environment and prior structure of the organization and accordingly changes must be implemented (Keohane & Martin, 2014). Over budget and showcasing plan must be avoided.  The last deterministic theory is population ecology theory which focuses on the dual aspects involving the adaptation and selection of the environment for the organization. The adaptability theory focuses on the adaptation of the changing environment within and outside the environment, it is resistant to changes. The selection technique is somewhat opposite of the adaptation technology, in it, the environment for the organization has to be selected as per the suitability of the organization (MacCormick & Weinberger 2013). The adaptation theories have been initiated which supports the selection method as well. An adaptation theory involves the strategic options which include setting up of the standard structure for the betterment of the organization. The population ecology is based upon the population prevailing within the organization and adopting the environment accordingly. The population analysis could be done by creating the census within the company. The census can be developed by measuring the changes taking place in the organization, the death rates and turnover rate of the employees (Garcilazo, 2011).

Resource Dependency Theory for Operational Purpose

The most likely to choose perspective for the betterment of the organization is a deterministic theory. This theory comprises of wider aspect and covers the broad scope within the organization. The three theories of deterministic theory involve the strategic choice as well. The resource dependency theory focuses on the sustainability and optimum utilization of the resources. The care should be taken while selecting the sources of collecting resources and plans need to be made such that in the case of uncertainty the loss could be prevented. The institutional theory is concerned with the internal structure and culture of the organization and how it could be efficiently managed and changed to implement development in the organization. Whilst making the institutional changes it must be kept in mind that changes are in accordance with the status of the organization and suitable within the set budget. Unnecessary implementation of heavy organizational structure within the institute is worthless with concern to the small organization. The population ecology argues over the census within the organization and the turnover rate of employees. The census could be measured by calculating the overall population of the organization and death rate taking place within the company. The average presence rate could be evaluated with this which will compare the number of incoming employees over the outflow of the employees. Population ecology also considers the environment within the organization and adaptability towards the changes. It argues over both the internal and the external environment of the company. Therefore the deterministic theory is considered to be the most suitable one in the context of the organizational development and performing the adequate actions for the betterment of the company. The wider aspect covers every possible measure of the institute and many valuable things get implemented in an organization (MacMillan & Komar, 2017).

Hence, from the above essay, it could be concluded that strategic choices are based on the adoption of various strategies. The strategies differ as per the nature and size of eth organization. The strategic choice theory has been developed that states the development of industrial relations and enhancing the employer-employee and peers relationship within the organization so that belongingness of employees with the organization gets increased. Strategic choice also defines the uncertainty likely to occur in the business and how the managers are going to deal with it. Accordingly, the strategic approaches have been discussed as well quoting the four various approaches that might render the magnificent results when applied. Thereafter the deterministic theory has been elucidated which involves the 3 theories within it that are resource dependency theory, institutional theory, and population ecology. The resource dependency theory discusses the importance and sustainability of the natural, human and financial resources. But more of the dependence is also not as beneficial for the organization as then the supplier of resources might increase their terms and conditions and change the demand by analyzing the changing market situation. The institutional theory quotes about the organizational structure and culture and how the hierarchy within the company contributes to the development of the business. The organizational strategies should be such that met the objective of the organization and is suitable for the company. The population ecology is concerned with the census within the organization and what are the incoming and joining people and what are the death and leaving rates. It is also concerned with the adaptability of changes taking place in the internal and external environment of the organization.

References

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