Reframing Organizations (Bolman and Deal)

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Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands

The Four-Frame Model of Bolman and Deal

In a nutshell: Bolman & Deal described 4 distinctive "frames", lenses, filters, view points, from which people view the world and from which organizations can be seen or constructed. Here is a short explanation of each of their 4 frames:

THE STRUCTURAL FRAME: sees organizations as structures with responsibilities, rules, prelacies and procedures. Origin: sociology, management science. The main challenge is to make the structure fit to the situation.
THE HUMAN RESOURCE FRAME: sees organizations as an extended family. How to tailor organizations to satisfy human needs, improve Human Resource Management, and build positive interpersonal and group dynamics. Origin: psychology. The main challenge is to tailor the organization to people while still get he job done.
THE POLITICAL FRAME: sees organizations as arena, contests or jungles. How to cope with power and conflict, build coalitions, hone political skills, and deal with internal and external politics. Origin: political science. The main challenge is to avoid situations where the power is in the wrong hands or too broadly dispersed.
THE SYMBOLIC FRAME: sees organizations as tribes theaters or carnivals. How to shape a culture that gives purpose and meaning to work, stage organizational drama for internal and external audiences, and build team spirit through ritual, ceremony, and story. Origin: social and cultural anthropology. The main challenge is avoiding that the actors play their part badly, that symbols, ceremonies and rituals lose their meaning.

Reframing Organisational Process (Bolman & Deal)

Source: Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal (2008) "Reframing Organisations, Artistry, Choice and Leadership"

FREDDY VILLAVICENCIO
Business Consultant, Venezuela

Implementing Bolman and Deal's Four Frame approach

Once you have a model chosen you might look for a method to put in practice. Prof. Michael Porter introduced PROCESS FLOW MAPPING and it is widely used around the world.
Depending on the size of the company, the task will ask for effort and resources. The bigger the company, the harder the implementation.

Based on @Jaap de Jonge (Editor)'s post I would like to add you should find a way to correlate the four perspectives given by Bolman and Deal's Four Frame approach to assemble a strong organization which uses a living hood model, based on COOPERATION RATHER THAN ON SUBORDINATION. Subordination models like organigrams typically work against workforce creativeness and innovation, while both are key to improve the enterprise's competitiveness.

Alex Har
Business Consultant, Singapore

Reframing Organisations

The framework provides useful vocabulary to describe a company situation (situation analysis).
It is not normative in nature, i.e. telling people what to do. A company can be a Jungle and choose to remain a Jungle, but it may all decide to attempt to become more Structured or Symbolic in some aspects of its process management.

Dr. Alan Williams
Professor, Thailand

I Wonder About the Words 'Reframing the Organization' Because of Past Experiences

I suggest 'reframing' doesn't have a firm/specific meaning, and it very possibly leads to concerns and even job security thoughts/panic. Why generate these thoughts without a very good reason.
My suggestion, proven in my past positions ( in Snr. M/ment, CEO, Director Positions) is to use phrases like 'aligning the organization to business goals', or 'aligning the organization to business strategies', and at the same time frequently use the words ' better focus' 'performance', 'performance management'. In fact, my last working position was regional director in a big and highly credible international management consultancy. I had many CEOs ask me to do an organizational audit and use that to give them suggestions. On many occasions I quickly discovered that at a full organizational level and at job level the focus wasn't correct.
One simple example, a large company which had a very bad reputation for customer service conducted a big TV/magazine campaign saying things like 'customer service & customer satisfaction like never seen before'. I searched the organization chart; not one job anywhere specifically focused on customer service! And it was not even not mentioned in even 1 job description. I asked the switchboard operator where she transferred public incoming calls which were complaints? Her answer 'I don't know where to send these calls so I transfer them to the internal services supervisor' (cleaning, transport coordination etc). I shared my discovery with the CEO, he put his face in his hands and put his head on his desk. With some further help he created a specific customer satisfaction team which reported direct to him and the 2 supervisors involved had full authority to replace faulty products the same day without question, and more. It worked and gradually the company built a new image of customer delight.
My story shows the major benefit of regularly conducting exercises to 'align the organization to business goals', or 'align the organization to business strategies'. The CEO started a compulsory annual process.

Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands

Don't Just Claim if You are Aligning the Organization, also Take Actual Measures

@Dr. Alan Williams: Thank you for sharing this story which I found very informative and funny too. Amazing that no one ever thought of actually improving the customer service when customers complained a lot, but instead started a marketing campaign claiming it was exceptionally good.
I see this happening each day that companies claim in their advertisements what they are NOT offering in reality. From now on I'll have your story in mind.