The imperative of organizational harmony: A critique of contemporary human relations theory

Abstract

Disharmony in an organization is an obvious liability. Seemingly, then, harmony should be a noncontroversial good. This conclusion, however, is less than secure. Harmony is not a univocal concept, there are many ways it can be interpreted and there are many different areas within an organization where it can be pursued. Before one can assess harmony as a value one must have prior understanding of what it means and where it is to be sought. For purposes of discussion let us understand an organization as a group of people that functions as a complex goal seeking unit? Even within this general characterization there are a number of distinct areas where harmony could be an issue. There is the question of harmony on goals, on the means of seeking them, on the function of the parts of the complex unit, etc. The aspect of the organization that is of interest for this paper is what has been called its human dimension. Specifically, this paper will examine the value of harmony as it is applied to the relationship between the individuals within an organization and the goals of that organization. Harmony remains equivocal even when one focuses upon a specific aspect of the organization. In order to resolve this the paper will use the ideas of Douglas McGregor as a vehicle for examining a view of harmony which has become pervasive in much of contemporary organizational theory. This is a view generated primarily by the human relations movement and given theoretical expression by McGregor and numerous other writers. With noteworthy consistency, his theory contains the basic assumptions of a large number of writers, a group collectively referred to as contemporary human relations theorists. Included in this group, in addition to McGregor, are such people as ~ ' . Bennis, R. Likert, C. Argyfis, R. Blake, j. Mouton, A. Marrow, H. Leavitt, F. Herzberg, and others. The value commitment to harmony rests implicit in the writings of these theorists. The paper will not examine all of these writers individually but will, through the means of McGregor's ideas, consider some salient features of their shared assumptions. What the paper will show is that the overriding goal of the prescriptions for organizational reform is harmony. We can see how this value is understood by exploring the assumptions and implications of the proposals for organizational change. Presupposed by these proposals and by the overriding goal is a certain view about human nature. As the paper will argue, this view is determinative both for how harmony is understood and for why it is valued so highly. The paper also will argue that this view about humans is mistaken and go on to suggest that it is exactly this basic theoretical misconception that explains why the application of human relations concepts to organizations has not produced the results that were predicted.