Organizational Perspective

The symbolic frame brings inspiration and makes their employees excited to work and commit to a place that has a unique identity. Symbolic leaders are passionate about

Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective focused on the meaning people associate to objects, events and

Bolman and Deal (2013) noted that for the symbolic model organizations were depicted as cultures, rituals, and ceremonies instead of rules and policies. Degn (2015) stated that managers created stories to boost and maintain a positive self-image. Degn also noted that managers would look for problems and goals that matched their strengths to enhance the feelings of self-efficacy. Problems were raised when rituals and symbols lost their meaning to the individuals in the organization, and faith had to be restored in the organization (Bolman and Deal, 2013).

Society has always used symbols to communicate. Caveman used drawings(symbols) to communicate and document their lives. Today we use symbols in our everyday lives. Company logos are just one kind of symbol that we see every day. These logos become so familiar that we don’t even need a name to know what company the logo or symbol stands. Two Sociologists wo developed this theory are Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead. The definition of symbolic interactionism by our book is that symbols-things to which we attach meaning. ( J. Henslin). Four such examples of symbols or logos that I have chosen were chosen for different reasons. Two logos are brand names of the item themselves and not the correct terminology of the item. The other two are logos that are so familiar across the world that anyone would know the company they stand for.

This paper discussed both Bolman and Deal’s four frames of organizations and Morgan’s metaphors to make sense of Apple Inc by applying interrelationships of frames with metaphors. Under the lens of both theories, Apple's structural framework in relation to the political system metaphor while the human resource frame used with the machine metaphor to indicate the practical shortcoming being encountered in the company on a day-to-day basis. In addition to perceiving problems in the company, possible solutions and recommendations also presented.

Symbolic Interactionism (1)- The theory of symbolic interactionism conveys how society is made up of symbols that create meaning, develop communication, and produce world views. At the North Hanover Mall all interactions and even moods were established because of simple symbols. The overall mood of the mall was almost the same form person to person, a look of boredom was on the faces of many whether young or old. The attitude seemed to appear in people shortly after they entered the mall, once they had observed other individual’s body language and expressions, they shifted theirs as if they were trying to fit in with the crowd. Contrastingly when an employee

Businesses are facing a dichotomy between wanting to chalk out an all-time structure and strategy for their organization, and recognizing that their world is in a constant state of flux [3]. For most of the 20th century they were largely focused on the static elements of this dichotomy. However, in the last decade changes have become more frequent and more dramatic, so much so that a whole branch of management is now devoted to the subject of change itself.

The symbolic interaction theory relates how individuals correlate actions and items to symbols they create. This association takes place between humans and the society they live in. Individuals can have the same situation going on, but associate different meaning through symbols of how they view what is going on. It is important to note that individuals will act differently based on the meaning of the interaction for the people or things around them. There is also a huge component of the symbolic interaction theory that takes into consideration how individuals think they are perceived. “In symbolic interactionism, this is known as "reflected appraisals" or "the looking glass self," and refers to our ability to think about how other people will think about us” (Boundless, 2015). This will also govern the symbols that we associate with different groups of people that we will encounter.

He conveys that there are many stakeholders to a business besides investors and that they all “define the purpose of the business in terms of its own needs and desires.” This makes his audience think of the business as a whole, rather than owners, investors, and profits. Analogies are used a couple times in his essay to help readers see his points more clearly. The first compares his wife’s happiness to his family and the customer’s happiness to the company, which is a very personal and emotional. The second compares small, egocentric children with profit-focused companies and mature people with companies that care and love the society around it, which puts very vivid values in readers’

Organizational metaphors help researchers to shape concepts of behaviors, management, and structure in a simple and easy for the perception image. Organizational theorists broadly utilize this tool to classify different types of companies in the contemporary world and to reflect their evolution throughout the history of organizational development. The metaphors of machine and organism have been used most frequently to facilitate understanding and communication about the complex phenomenon of organization (Smircich, p. 340).

The challenge to an institution or leader operating in the symbolic frame, though, is to create meaning, and this is where Bennington College has struggled. Edmundson (1994) admits that “it is mainly…for trying to sustain [its ideals] that the college has come to grief.” Even Liz Coleman, the president of Bennington College (with whom Edmundson often seems to disagree), acknowledges the importance of symbolism to her institution. “‘Bennington,’ Coleman said, ‘has got to do something that no one else is doing,’” or, in other words, Bennington needs an image, it needs direction, and it needs symbolism (Edmundson, 1994). Although different individuals have different ideas about what that “something” ought to be, there seems to be consensus around the idea symbols lend value, foster an image, and bolster organizational mission. In short, symbols matter to institutions.

In Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan, he talks about the importance of metaphors in regard to organizational theories. Morgan uses metaphors to support his theories and offer new approaches to goals that are complex. There are three strong reasons that Morgan provides as to why the metaphorical analysis of organizations holds value. The first reason according to Morgan, is that metaphors use images that people can relate to in some perspective. Metaphors are used consistently because they “tap familiar ways of thinking” (Morgan 6).

The one concept that I believe affects me the most was the four-frame model. Specifically, the symbolic frame stuck out the most when thinking of my business model canvas. The symbolic frame creates culture, meaning, and significance. This frame is very accurate when thinking of the pharmacy trade association’s mission and the reason why I became a pharmacist. At the association, we pride ourselves on the fact that “pharmacists are the face of neighborhood care”. The significance and meaning of that mission statement is that when a patient thinks of a pharmacist, that patient is comforted by the fact that their community pharmacist is someone that they can trust and is highly trained and educated. At the association, we advocate and stand

This paper evaluated symbolic meaning to be interpreted into a designed product or experience. The ambition is to pull apart symbolic meaning to reveal connections with design and its users. (Kujala, S., Nurkka, P. 2012, p15). Through verified observation on two case studies, one a sports heart monitor and the other a plastic plate collection, it examines sentence completion to assess users symbolic meaning. Referring to reviewed literature for research purposes, the paper analyses the interview process as a method to identify the symbolic meaning the user has with a product or experience. It indicated that perhaps a more in-depth analysis was needed therefore a specific research method may be appropriate. The reviews revealed the challenges in symbolic meaning evaluations, therefore they approached these challenges by introducing the sentence completion technique to two case studies. Data triangulation becoming evident in this analysis from the use of secondary research and the sentence completion study conducted.

Over the past decades, organizational changes have become recurrent. It then became decisive for managers to perfectly understand this phenomenon in order to lead organizations to efficiency.