6.3.1 Organisations and Their Parts

In Understanding Organisations, first published in 1976, Charles Handy brings the subject of organisational dynamics into a form which is accessible to those of us who live and work in the everyday of organisations, and takes firmly into account the humanity that underpins society (Handy 1999). He considers the following factors that might influence organisational effectiveness, and that can be examined to facilitate understanding aspects of organisation:

• Individuals
  
  
  
  • Who are the people that form the organisation?
    
  • How might they be categorised, e.g. by age, gender, ethnicity, culture, values, needs, aspirations, capabilities, roles?
  
  
• Motivations
  
  
  
  • What drives the organisation?
    
  • What is it there to do?
    
  • What is the output that is greater than the sum of the parts?
  
  
• Relationships
  
  
  
  • What size is the organisation?
    
  • What are the relationships within the organisation?
    
  • How do those relationships manifest?
    
  • How is communication achieved and maintained?
  
  
• Systems and Structures
  
  
  
  • How is the organisation administered?
    
  • What (if any) are the systems for exercise of power, reward, and control?
    
  • How is safety and wellbeing attended to?
    
  • How do people join and leave the organisation?
  
  
• Environment
  
  
  
  • What is the physical environment of the organisation?
    
  • Where does the organisation fit in the economic environment (micro‐ and macro‐)?
    
  • What is the technological environment?
  
  
• Leadership
  
  
  
  • Who performs leadership?
    
  • Who is responsible?
    
  • Who is accountable?
    
  • How is leadership achieved?
    
  • How is leadership perceived?
  
  
• Power and influence
  
  
  
  • Who has influence and how is it manifest?
    
  • Who has what sort of power?

Handy (1999) delves deeper into these areas and, throughout this book, I touch on different aspects relating to the areas above. In Chapter 4, types of power are discussed, and, in Chapter 5, I look at the individuals that comprise an organisation and consider motivations and drivers. In Chapter 7, I examine strategy in more detail and consider the importance, and associated constraints, of available resources. And in Chapter 8, I look at ‘Communication and Engagement’. The rest of this chapter covers other factors in Handy’s schematic.

6.3.2 Organisations and Professional Work

In professional services the nature of the work influences the organisational structure (Table 6.1). This stratification and segmentation may be applied to veterinary organisations. Taking commercial clinical practice as an example, at the standardised (also known as commoditised) end of the spectrum we might include vaccination clinics where professional (regulated) work is offered at a competitive price as opposed to the ‘rocket science’ of advanced referral/specialist clinics. Leverage refers to the ratio of experienced professionally qualified (to perform the primary task) versus less experienced or non‐professionally qualified colleagues in the organisation and typically reduces as the level of task complexity increases.

Because professionals generally have a high need for achievement and are constantly wanting to better themselves and gain skills and expertise, there is a drive for innovative procedures to become commoditised over time. Organisations at the rocket science end of the spectrum must accordingly innovate and find new ways of solving old problems, or even new problems to solve, in order to maintain a market for their services. Research and development are a significant feature of, and cost to, these organisations. The differing needs and expectations that come from working in these contrasting service segments, mean that it can be very difficult to hold organisations together that try to cover too wide a market, other than by careful delineation and structuring of systems, people and processes.

Although the model outlined in Table 6.1 is considering professional service firms selling to corporate clients, the principals may be applied to veterinary professionals practicing in any number of circumstances and using professional services for organisational goals. In this respect, the model offers another way of thinking about how, and why, we do what we do.

6.3.3 Organisations and Interconnectedness

The McKinsey 7S model (Figure 6.1) was developed in the 1980s as a tool for assessment and diagnosis of organisational dynamics so that consultants might advise on how to facilitate change. It recognises that organisations are far more than sets of simple linear structures and begins to bring into focus the complexity and interconnectedness of organisations; one factor does not operate in isolation to, or override, others (Waterman et al. 1980). It is a useful framework for analysis of even small organisations and considering how different facets are interconnected and impossible to change in isolation. The 7S’s are somewhat arbitrary and considered ‘hard’ (strategy, structure, systems) and ‘soft’ (staff, skills, style, and shared values). We can look at each these in turn in veterinary contexts and consider how changes might manifest:

• Strategy is the what of what we do. It is the overall direction of travel, the place in the ‘market’, the point of differentiation, and it will have a major impact on the look and feel of an organisation (see 6.3.2). When the strategic direction changes then other factors must re‐align to make the change successful. An animal health company, for example, which decides to bring new products to market as a change from its previous strategy of re‐labelling of generic products, might have to employ people with new skill sets, create systems for R&D, and take a longer‐term view of its anticipate return on investment, for example, all of which will have profound impact across the entirety of the organisation. Strategy is considered in more detail in Chapter 7.
  
• Structure references the classic organisation chart. Who reports to whom, who occupies which role, etc.? Veterinary professionals might occupy any number of positions in an organisational chart and their influence on the organisation will vary accordingly. Changing the structure, e.g. by adding, removing, or reassigning roles will alter communication structures, transfer of information, relationships, and any number of potentially unpredictable variables.
  
• Systems refers to the how of getting things done. In a veterinary practice, it might include information technology (IT) and practice management systems, how records are maintained and accessed, means of communication, how clients interact with the organisation, rotas, backup, and how information is accessed. Changing a system (e.g. updating a practice management system or adopting a new way of assigning work) can have a profound impact on individuals, the work they do, and the overall activity of an organisation.
  
• Staff looks at the people in the organisation. Who are they, how are they bought into the organisation and ‘socialised’ to the community, and how are they developed? Whilst this suggests, perhaps, that a formal structure is in play, in many circumstances integration into, and development within, organisations will happen informally, in relationship to others and as a result of both implicit and explicit expectations and examples of how to be and to behave. This is not necessarily healthy or positive for either the individual or the organisation. In the veterinary context, it can occur, for example, in meetings, at the stables, in the car, across the laboratory, in the seminar room, or in theatre. It will be influenced by what is acknowledged and rewarded. The ‘Hidden Curriculum’ in veterinary education fits into this category (Mossop et al. 2013; Roder and May 2017). Rewards may be material (e.g. salary or promotion) or might include access to sources of power and influence, to rank, status, or recognition. Uncovering, acknowledging, and modifying the ‘hidden’ dynamics around human relationships in organisations is by no means soft!
  
• Skills are the capabilities and attributes available to an organisation. These will include the base skill sets assumed for veterinary professionals, but these will be modified by further training, development, and experience, as well as the non‐veterinary skill sets that are present. These might include financial management, epidemiology, IT, etc. Undoubtedly, a veterinary charity delivering general practice support to underprivileged members of society and their animal companions will have a different (but most likely overlapping) skill profile to a racing camel practice in the Middle East. Changing the skill profile available to an organisation will potentially change its focus and direction, and to effect change then it might be necessary to utilise different skillsets.
  
• Style reflects the way things are done. It could include how members of the organisation dress, communicate, adhere to rules (or not), ask for help and spend time. The style of an organisation is a reflection of what is considered important and what is attended to. Consider the differences you might notice between the styles of a veterinary organisation, which is part of the military and a start‐up that is bringing virtual technology to clinical practice. Culture, another aspect of style, is considered below.
  
• Shared values (or superordinate goals, as it was originally conceived) reflect the underlying purpose of the organisation. What is it there to do? It would be naïve to assume that, for many organisations and their stakeholders, the purpose the organisation serves aligns completely (or even at all) with what is stated in the marketing material or in the company’s mission statement. As has been explored elsewhere (see Chapter 2), there are many conscious and unconscious factors at play that define an organisation’s purposes.

The 7S model is deliberately laid out in a non‐hierarchical pattern (Figure 6.1) emphasising that no one aspect overrides any other and that there are myriad threads of interconnectedness and complexity. It is a useful tool and successful alignment of the areas in an organisation is likely to promote strength and stability. Until, at least, the external environment changes, in which case it might be necessarily to realign all the areas to avoid catastrophe.

6.3.4 Organisations and Metaphor

As complex, interconnected entities, organisations can sometimes defy easy description and categorisation with linear, logical thinking, and language. The use of metaphor can add to our understanding of an organisation (Figure 6.2); creating an artistic representation of an organisation can, for example, perhaps with the necessary facilitation and support (e.g. with a coach or organisational consultant), reveals insight which had previously escaped attention.

In Images of Organisations, Gareth Morgan examines organisations from differing metaphorical perspectives (Morgan 2006).

6.3.4.1 Organisations as Machines

Systems, processes, workflows. The production line. Pull lever A to create effect B. The conception of organisations as machines where there are specified relationships and defined outcomes from specific actions infuses the early years of management science, before recognition that humans were not rational, predictable, replaceable cogs. Nevertheless, looking at an organisation as a machine with input, output, energy, design, and moving parts might be useful. Classic management theory emphasises examination of structure, creation of centralised bureaucracy, and ‘scientific’ management. Managing and leading organisations as if they were machines has limitations of lack of agility/adaptability, creation of an unquestioning bureaucracy, can create conflict between the organisational and individual goals and can be dehumanising.