2.5 A Source of Disorganization: Legitimacy Loss

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Time to Reorganize! Understand Organizations, Act, and Build a Meaningful World.

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HEC Paris

Time to Reorganize! Understand Organizations, Act, and Build a Meaningful World.

48 notes

We are in constant relationship with many organizations. Our world is submitted to regular changes as organizations evolve, come and go. Understanding your memberships and attachments to organizations will help you act on your world. You'll learn how to evaluate the influence of organizations around you and how to transform your relationships to reach a stronger coherence. Do you feel sometime that the world around you is disorganized? Can you make sense of all the information at your reach and have an impact on this situation? Have you ever thought that this conundrum may be due to all the organizations that emerge, strive or wane, and disappear every day? Organizations are ubiquitous, from clubs and associations to firms and public agencies. Organizations confer meaning to all of us, and our attachment and membership to organizations have a profound effect on all areas of our lives. But in our increasingly turbulent world, these organizations run the risk of disappearing or losing their legitimacy, steering a sense of pointlessness and absurdity. This course develops an integrative approach to understanding organizations and their behaviors, termed ‘orgology’. It explains that organizations can act strategically to protect and renew the sense of membership and attachment of individuals. So doing, organizations that survive and thrive impose their logics of action onto society, thereby influencing what is legitimate or not. In turn, individuals, you, all of us, must reinterpret our multiple associations with organizations and contribute to reinforce or inhibit social evolutions. This new way of understanding organizations’ relationships with society results in reconsidering management and the role of individuals in building their future. There is no prerequisite to this course, you are all welcome ! Students and people interested in the fields of management, sociology, strategy, economics leadership etc… will benefit a lot from this course. For the session of this course starting on January 11th, Professor Rodolphe Durand will actively be participating and interacting with learners. He will be offering "office hours" sessions through google hangouts and answering learner questions from the forums. We hope this direct interaction will add to your learner experience! Please enroll today!

À partir de la leçon

When an Organizations-based World Gets Disorganized

Let's explore the public space that is where we meet organizations and where they interact. Organizations follow sets of rules and practices that are of prime concern to them, to us, and to society: the logics of actions.

2.4 Logics of Actions and the Legitimacy of Organizations9:10

2.5 A Source of Disorganization: Legitimacy Loss7:28

Rencontrer les enseignants

Rodolphe Durand
Strategy Professor. GDF-SUEZ Chair holder.
Strategy and Business Policy department.

We have seen that legitimacy of a logic of action is at the heart of the development and

stability of an organization.

But how does the individual fit into this?

Well organizations consist of individuals : members, workers,

managers, partners and so forth.

At the receiving end of what the organization offers,

there are also individuals.

Organizations offer solutions used as res-sources by individuals.

When individuals do not invest meaning in the service or product offered by

the organization, when they withdraw their support to the organization, in turn,

it weakens the legitimacy of the logic of action the organization embodies.

When we join an organization, for instance, our first move is to

charge ourselves with the moral virtues, or philosophical thoughts, or

values it promotes, we reinforce the legitimacy of its logic of action.

At some point, if we find ourselves at odd with the organization's logic of action, disenchanted,

we start rejecting all that the organization stands for and undermine its legitimacy.

In a nutshell, as individuals, through our memberships and attachments to

organizations, we enhance or deplete the legitimacy of their logics of action.

In France, for

many years, the national railway company has been very poorly rated in polls.

There have been within the organization multiple social conflicts that have

affected the users over the years.

The strategy of repeated and systematic strikes, led to a weakening of legitimacy

for the state-owned nature and public service logic claimed by the company.

The same goes also when a customer or any kind of user of a service or

product, is in contact with an organization.

If the logic of action of this organization starts to appear illegitimate,

for instance, excessive profits,

the clients are rebelling against the company practices either by severing their

relationship with the company or by seeking the help of other organizations,

whose logic of action would be to push for better practices.

When American consumers started to realize that Nike's sportwear products were

made in countries where labor practices enabled the exploitation of children,

pressure was applied to the organization to amend its way, and

logic of action, of Nike in this case, was condemned by the consumers because they

did not find any legitimacy in the fact that the products they bought for

tens of dollars were produced at under a dollar using unfair labor practices.

So, when are individuals in the position to challenge the legitimacy of

the logic of action of an organization?

-When they are part of the organization.

-When they are trading, exchanging with the organization.

-In both cases.

Yes, the answer is the third one.

Organizations are in need of individuals as a means to carry their logic of action,

and the individual is an insider.

But they also need to convince the individual, as an outsider, that their

logic of action is legitimate.

So the individual, although he is rather insignificant taken

in isolation does have an influence, both direct and indirect on organizations.

There has been recently on TV shows and in movies a certain number of

characters who act as free agents within the organization employing them.

Individuals that are keen on disrespecting these organizations logic of actions.

Dr. House, The Mentalist and the Sherlock Holmes portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.

are examples of these type of characters.

Probable facts or pure fiction?

While the understanding of the world is deeply rooted in professional practices,

House as a doctor, Patrick Jane the mentalist, and

Sherlock Holmes try constantly to escape some constraining rules of

their respecting professional worlds.

In these fictions they manage to do so

because they are over achievers in sheer performance term.

In any modern organization's logics of action the test of performance

is currently a dominant issue and this as we'll see later in our course,

maybe a source of legitimacy conflict with others logics, logic of the state,

of professions, of family and so forth.

Nevertheless, let's just note at this point that when these main characters of

fictions disrupt the logic of action of their respective organizations,it is

often a source of stress for their coworkers.

The ability to adhere to a logic is a constitutive principal of

the professional group.

When the logic becomes illegitimate, or

is strongly challenged, the existence of the group is endangered.

And the individuals are experiencing doubt and

stress because exclusion from the group can be extremely costly on

their own identity, economic situation or well being.

As a result, when an individual challenges strongly and

repetitively the logic of action of his or

her organization, the group would rather cast him away even if proven right.

Wistleblowers, as Edward Snowden, exemplify the situation.

To denounce what they believe is a complete legitimacy conflict,

they first have to extract themselves from the organization.

They often also have to seek the support of other organizations, like the press,

media, other countries even, if they wish to avoid becoming complete outcasts.

As we mentioned early, individuals taken in isolation are rather insignificant.

It is an illusion to believe that the lone person can shake up

an organization's logic of action.

They need, these individuals, other organizations to relay their actions,

it can be federation in sports, media, political parties and so forth.

To understand the articulation between society and the individuals,

it is therefore crucial to observe organizations and the way they operate.

How they enroll individuals into their logic of action.

And when, where and whether these logic of actions are legitimate and why.

As we explain, using a bottle of sparkling water at the beginning of this week,

society, the public space, organizations are elements of a fully integrated universe.

Loss or conflict of legitimacy affects the whole ensemble.

So in conclusion of this week, how would you define the individual?

-As insignificant and constrained by its organization context.

-As supporting organization's logic of action as much as

organizations provide this individual their, with res-sources and meaning.

-Both of the above.

-None of the above.

I hope it is by now clear in your mind that the correct answer is the third one.

Next week we will explore other sources of disorganization.

after a legitimacy loss : competition. When done, we shall be able to work at

reorganizing our own world and change it, hopefully for the best.

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