A SOCIAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF THE PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT HYPOTHESIS

Abstract

At the core of most organizational theories is the hypothesis that “normally the worker and the organization appear to be constantly at war”. This paper examined the pertinence and the veracity of this hypothesis using the social systems analysis popularly referred to as the theory of human behaviour in organizations developed by Jacob Gentzel’s and Egon Guba in 1957. The paper showed an understanding and appreciation of the critical question of fitness which poses, in many ways, one of the critical dilemmas of administration. It is not enough to know only the nature of the roles and of the expectations but it is also important to know the nature of the individuals inhabiting the roles and reacting to the expectations as well. While human needs may be described as great, the expectations of the organization can be perceived to be too much. There appears to always be a problem with the organization roles and expectation on the one hand and the satisfaction of personal needs on the other hand. Theoretically, the individual and the organization (Church, workplace, family) can be perceived to be are” constantly at an endless war” due to roles and personality. It is obvious there are some needs you must suppress to satisfy the expectation or job demand. Thus, a worker either “kills” his personal needs to meet public expectation or completely forgo his job in order to satisfy his needs disposition. The paper posits that effective manager must ensure a balance between the organization and the worker to avoid tension such that the organization would not “kill” the worker and the worker will also not “exploit” the organization. The tenets of social behaviour requires that a person does things in the right, good and positive way always.