MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION

AND
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 2
ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES
Organization is a group of people
working together to achieve common
objectives through decision of labor.
There are organization theories which
are used to provide an
interdisciplinary focuses. They give us
intellectual ideas.
 Organization theories focus on;

i. The effects of social organization on the

behavior and attitude of individuals in
the organization.
ii. Effects of individual characteristics and
actions on organizations
iii. Focus on performance in the
organization, success and survival of the
organizations.
iv. Focus on the mutual effects of the
environment (i.e how the environment
affect the organization and vice versa)
including resources, tasks, political
issues, tasks, political issues, cultural
environments on organization and vice
versa.
 The Organizational Elements

a) People.
All organizations need people with the
right talents, skills of making appropriate
decisions, desired culture skills, good
respects, good team working and client
set up so as to achieve the organization
goals.
b) Goals and Objectives
Goals
All organizations should have goals which
have to be achieved, whether public or private
goals.
The goals can be for profit making, discovering
of knowledge etc,
The goal is needed in order to have a focus.
Objectives
Each organization should have objectives
which are time based. These are
measurable actions that support the
completion of goals
c) Expectations
 We need expectations of the members of an
organization. Example, teachers, students and the
organization itself have independent
expectations.
d) Interactions
 There should be interactions among the people or
members in an organization so that it can work.
e) Tasks/Activities
 There should be tasks or activities to be
performed so as to achieve the organization
goals.
Example, Administrators, managers tasks
etc.
f) Structure
 In an organization there should be a
hierarchy (structure), i.e Management-
administrators-subordinates etc. which
enable to run the organization in a smooth
way in order to perform those tasks.
g) Resources
 There should be resources needed in order to
achieve the set goals of an organization.
 Any organization use a combination of four (4)
kinds of resources
i. Human resources
 Include managerial talents and laborers
(people with different skills and workers)
ii. Financial resources
 Capital needed to finance the activities in
an organization, eg, scholarships, schools
fees etc
iii) Physical resources
 These include raw materials, production of
facilities, furniture, building materials etc.
iv) Informational Resources
 Usable data needed to make effective
decisions in organization like researching
boards, publications, news papers, internet
etc.
 Educational Organizations
Refer to the group of people in a given place
who are coordinated by the purpose of giving
knowledge, skills and attitude to the learners
in order to achieve the free determined
education goals.
 Characteristics of Education
Organizations.

a) Goals
 The goals give directions and focus
 They are mostly stated in the syllabi,
education policies and other official
documents.
 Types of Educational Organization
Goals.

i. Performance.
 These are outcomes.
 They are stated in the subject learning outcomes
including passing examinations.
ii. Maintenance goals.
 Refers to the activities necessary to sustain the
organization and support its development.
 Eg, the performance in the co-curricular activities,
good disciplinary among teachers and students etc.
b) Technology
 Education organizations should have
technology. We need technology in education
technology.
Technical levels
 Refer to activities related to technical skills.
 Competent teachers skills in order to perform
educational activities.
 Managerial level,
 It provides management skills which can be
used to help to run the organization effectively
in order to achieve the organization goals.
Institution level
 Provides the leadership skills to lead the
education organization or institutions to
provide overall activities in an organization.
c) Division of labor/tasks
 Labor is divided among organization members,
teachers , administrators, managers, students,
etc.
d) Power centers
 Include the people who have responsibilities in
establishing the organization goals,
responsibilities to allocate resources, monitoring
and evaluations etc.
e) Environment.
 Include internal and external environment.
 Organizational Theories
1. System Theory
 This theory describes an organization as a
system.
 A system is an interrelated set of elements
which are functioning as a whole thing.
 It is a combination of different parts (elements)
forming a complex as a whole thing. Example
education organization has different departments
etc.
 Organization as a system combines four (4)
major elements (basic element of a system)
i. Input
ii. Transformation process
iii. Output
iv. feedback
a) Inputs
Materials, human resources, financial
resources, information resources, students,
teachers, books, etc.
b) Transformation process
The inputs are transformed into outputs.
They are transformed through technology,
teaching, management process etc.
c). Output
Include the products, services, profits,
d). Feedback
The client react to the products or output
Services offered by an organization (eg.
Students’ services, teachers from a certain
university)
 Sub-Systems in an
Organization
 Sub-system elements/components of a larger
system
 A school is a sub-system of a system of
education.
 Also a department can be a sub-system as it has
sub-systems in it.
 A system is usually supposed to import or export
energy from the outside environment if it is to
continue existing. This is called an open system
because it is interacting with people from outside.
 Open system theory refer to the concepts that
organizations are influenced by the external
environment.
Question: With examples discuss education organization as an open
system.
 Closed system theory (opposite of the above)
 This refer to the concept that organizations
are not influenced by the external
environment. They can generate the lost
energy, hence they can die. It is locally based.
 These are organizations which are not able to
interact with people from the external
environment.
 Education System Sub-Systems
1. Human social sub-system
2. Administrative structure sub-system
3. Information decision making sub-system
4. Economic technology sub-system
1. Human social sub-system
 Focus on motivational and the needs of the
workers of the organization and leadership
skills concerned with human behavior.
2. Administrative structure sub-system
 Focuses on the authority structure and
responsibilities among people within an
organization ( i.e who do this, tells that etc)
3. Information decision making sub-
system
 The information decision making in
an organization emphasizes on the
key decisions and the information
needed to keep the system alive,
research, publications etc.
4. Economic Technical sub-system
 Deal with economic return in an
organization
The above discussed systems work
together and affect each other. The change
of one sub-system can affect the whole
system.
Each sub-system is important.
 Importance of using system theories
on the Educational Organizations.

i. It ensures that the resources are well

organized, coordinated and utilized effectively
in transformation process for best output.
ii. Feedback received from services benefactors
help the organization to know where to
improve.
iii. Provide quality services for best results/output
iv. The theory set a challenge to work harder
so as to meet the expectations of the
clients, customers etc.
v. Add more
 2: The School Organization and
its Environment

Each organization is affected by the

environment (Internal or External
environment)
The external environment is everything
outside the environment organization that
might affect it.
 External Environment

 The external environment has;

i) The general tasks of an environment that might affect
the Organization (Positive or negative) are;
a) Economic dimension
 Price
 Unemployment
 The cost of the school fees
 Grants
 Financial issues
b) Technology Dimension,
 Methods of teaching
 Innovations
 Computers
 Well equipped laboratories
 etc
c) Social cultural dimension,
 Customs and traditions
 Ethics
 Values
 Democratic characteristics
d) Political legal dimension
 Nature of the government policies
 Taxation
 Budget for education
 Political stability
 Government revenues (support from
governmental leaders e.g Presidents,
ministers etc
e) International Dimension.
The extent by which an organization (the
business) is affected by external countries.
E.g high price of learning materials, foreign
competitions etc.
ii.Task environment
 These are activities with the aim of shaping the organization in
order to achieve its goals. Activities involve;
1. Competition
 These are the competitions which the organization/school can
face.
 The organization has to compete with other organizations. This
affects the organization. e.g competition for resources,
customers, personnel/workers etc. e.g universities competing
for students etc.
2. Clients/customers
 This is another type of task environment
 You can buy them to your organization.
3. Suppliers.
 These are the people who provide resources to
other organisation.eg books etc.
 If they supply poor materials, then they
contribute to organization failure.
4. Regulators/agencies
 Task environment is conditioned to control
or protect the public from a certain rights
- TCU protect the rights of universities,
etc.
5. Pressure groups
• E.g Haki Elimu helps to rectify matters
concerning educational organizations
6. Strategic Partnership
 Two or more organs that work together in a
joint venture partnership in a similar
management.
 By so doing, one group can be able to benefit
from the other one.
E.g. Organization that share workers, resources
etc.
 Internal Environment
 These are forces or conditions of the
surrounding within the boundaries of an
organization.
 This environment consists of the;
i. Owner

ii. Board of directors

iii. Employees

iv. Culture
i. Owner
 People who have invested in education
organizations, company etc and have the
property rights and claims of the
organization.
 Owners can be individuals or group of
people who decided to invest in education
matters.
 They may influence educational
organization as they can have expectations
which influence it positively or negatively.
ii. The board of directors.
 These are elected by the stake holders and they
are given the responsibilities of seeing the general
management of an organization to ensure;
a. It is run according to the interest of the
organization.
b. They set the policies, strategies and see if they are
well implemented.
c. They review important decisions made by
the top managers and also determine the
payment of the top managers.
iii. Workers in education organizations.
 Are the major element of the organization internal
environment.
 If not well treated, they have an impact on it.
iv. Culture
 Connective behavior of members of an organization
and the values, vision, habits, feelings attached to
their actions. They help in shaping the success of an
organization.
 3. Bureaucracy Theory
(Organizational Bureaucracies)
 Founded by a German sociologist, Max Weber in
1864
 It is a system of an organisation that deals with a well-
defined hierarchy levels and roles in order to maintain
efficiency and effectiveness in an organisation.
 It is an administrative system designed to accomplish
large scale administrative tasks by systematically
coordinating the work of many people.
 The bureaucratic management theory is
mainly focused on the hierarchy and strong
line of authority and control. E.g in army and
police services are examples that follow this
type of theory.
 Max Weber introduced three types of power
in an organization.
1. Charismatic Power/Authority
 He believed that, the authority comes from the
personality and leadership qualities of an
individual.
 A leader has a perception that people obey
him/her so they believe in him/her.
2. Traditional authority.
 The power of the authority com from
tradition. A form of power in which the
authority of the ruling regime is tied to the
traditions/customs (they have been chosen
because their clan/family have been rulers
3. Legal authority.
 Power of authority comes from legally
attached to a certain position.
 Institutions make use of powers by virtue
of offices that they hold. . E.g the president
is elected according to rules.
 It means obedience to the office rather
than the office holder.
 Characteristics of Bureaucracy
Theory

i. Job Specialization
 It is a bureaucratic system where there are
different people who do different activities.
 Advantage of job specialization is that the
duties and responsibilities of each person are
clearly defined, no situation of overlapping
or conflicting job duties.
Disadvantage
 Parents and workers to recognize and care
about the problems which aren’t in their
responsibilities.
 The employees do not develop belongings in
an organization as they only deal with what is
under their care.
ii. Hierarchy of authority.
 According to Weber, each level in an
organization is controlled by the level
above it. Each lower office is supervised
by higher office in an organization.
Advantage
 It classifies and shows who is the authority or in
command.
Disadvantage
 It prevents the employees to contribute to the
decision making in an organization.
 Allow errors to be hidden in the organization. i,e
mistakes of an organization will not be reveled
easily.
 It takes time to implement a change in a
programe.
iii. Employment and Career.
 According to Weber, all personnel are
selected and promoted on the bases of
their qualifications.
 The employment in a bureaucracy is based
on the competence and qualifications.
iv. A formal written record
 All rules, regulations, procedures, decision
and actions taken by an organization are
written to preserve the accountability and
persistency so that everyone knows what
is required to them.
Advantages
 It creates an organization history that
doesn't depend on individual memory
because they have been written.
 Employees do what is expected to them
 Disadvantages
 It delays innovations and creativity because
you cant change what is written.
 Recording prevents flexibility and
adaptability in the new situation. You
should follow what is written.
v) Impersonal
 You get what you deserve i.e what you are
required to get according to whom you are.
 The actions taken upon to individuals
should be fair to all and not indifferent.
 If you violate organization rules you will
be responsible regardless of your personal
relation to your boss.
 Advantage and Disadvantage of
Bureaucratic Theory

A. Advantages
 The rules and procedures are decided for
every work or activities. This leads to the
consistency in the employees behavior.
 The duties and responsibilities of each job
are clearly defined. No question of
overlapping ideas, or conflicting job
duties.
 The issue of selecting people and promoting
them according to their qualifications assist
in putting people in their right job.
 Division of labor/job specification assist
workers to become experts in their jobs.
Disadvantages.
 The organization suffer too much of paper
work- too much is written.
 The employers cant develop belongness in the
organization.
 The issues of relaying on rules and regulations
prevents the initiatives and creativity of the
employees.
 The employees become so used to the
system which resist to any change and
introduction of the new technical for
production.