Organization Man: Past & Present Workplace

This assignment examines William Whyte's seminal work, 'The Organization Man,' analyzing its key concepts and comparing them to contemporary workplace dynamics. Students are tasked with assessing the influence of societal shifts on organizational behavior, highlighting the evolving nature of individualism, risk-taking, and technological impact within modern organizations.

Organization Man’s Analysis 1
ORGANIZATION MAN’S ANALYSIS
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Organization Man’s Analysis 2
The Organization Man’s Analysis
Organization man reveals a lot about the past and the present
workplace perceptions. The world has continuously revolved in the labor
market with a major shift from the dominant office work perception to the
freelance labor market. Despite the fact that several things have changed,
some people still hold to the opinion and would rather opt to have the white
collar jobs rather than the business world where a significant amount of
people have registered. However, it is evident that the present world and
population has shifted from the career perception held in high esteem.
The Organization Man presents the dilemma detained by the group
ethos which had a distinct perception and belief in the corporate world. In his
book, he predicts the present shift in the society which has moved from the
pleasure of living in a leafy suburb and with a neighborhood that resembles
their corporate world (Cummings and Worley 2014). The American world has
undergone tremendous challenge right from the early 90s, where the rule of
large corporate became increasingly irrelevant. The present generation has
shifted to the entrepreneurship world, where fortunes emanate from the use
of technology.
Organization man view on the corporate world culture seems relevant
in the present world as the business world begins to slowly collapse. The
present scenario of outsourcing labor indicates the significant shift that has
forced individuals to embrace the latest technology and options to
compensating the situation (Singh, Wall, and Dhillon 2014). Moreover,
people have shifted from the office culture where individuals always had to
remain in official regalia in their respective positions. However, the present
populations fancy in work at home opportunities where casual clothing has
become the order of the day. Besides, the present day generation does not
fancy living in a leafy suburb but rather in locations where socialization with
different people remains live. In this respect, the views expressed in the
book at the time fail to apply in the present times.
Organization Man’s ideas remain true and applicable to specific people
in the world, who still hold true the corporate culture. Some parents still
demand to have their kids take up courses that would lead to the office jobs
according to the culture that raised them (Whyte 2013). Moreover, the
ethical status that existed at the time seems to be appealing to the present
times where people took their respective careers seriously. The present state
of ethical standards remains worrying thus validating the thoughts expressed
in the book.
Organizations behavior revolves around the shared beliefs, values, and
assumptions which a given workplace holds dear. In this respect, group

Organization Man’s Analysis 3
behavior refers to the interaction between people in an organization. Several
issues affect the organizational culture which affects the way they behave.
Motivation theory is one of the theories which look at the incentives and
encouragement that individuals gain in a certain work environment. At the
time, individuals were motivated by the ethical and the promise of white
collar jobs, which has shifted in the present times.
On the other hand, organization culture affects the way people behave
in groups. People who work in a similar organization tend to live in one
environment, have their families hang out in similar locations and live in the
same neighborhood. As such, the respect that goes with a particular career
then tends to become the culture of the people thus affecting the way they
dress and find pleasure in the same.
Thus, to resolve the present work state, individuals need to go
according to the trend in the wake of a collapsing work environment and
understand the new tactics to survival. The case is evidenced through the
book’s view on the present culture and the shifts that people have taken
from the corporate culture of the present technology (Ladge, Humberd,
Watkins and Harrington 2015).
At the same time, the times recorded in the book have changed where
in the previous case women, married to the professionals understood their
task and were readily available at home (Wittkower 2015). However, the
present economic times have changed things to the extent that women also
busy themselves with economic activities to make up for the extra income.
Optimism and the challenging economic times have shifted the nature of
workplace where people can be able to bundle several tasks and conduct
from the comfort of their homes.
Furthermore, the social behavior has changed where people no longer
stick to their organizational social friends but rather try to expand their
circles to achieve individual benefits. Additionally, individuals in the present
times have forgotten the loyal culture practiced earlier. In the present state,
people opt to move from one career to another based on the benefits rather
than the pride of working in a specific career (Leinberger and Tucker 1991).
Money has become the sole reason for working thus transforming the past
behavior to the present state.
The organization behavior has shifted from the collectivism to the
individualism state where people would prefer to follow their personal goals
as opposed to those that appease to the general public. The shift records a
new means to solve organization problems through the use of technology
which has opened up the job market thus moving away from the previous
corporate culture.

Organization Man’s Analysis 4
Therefore, the views expressed in his book apply to the present times
where some expressed fail to materialize. The ideas regarding individualism
seem to have taken shape as evidenced by the individual creativity needed
for advancement. The collectivist mentality among the executives is slowly
fading away giving way to the present invention of new things. Risk-taking
becomes normality according to the views of Whyte where people liberate
themselves from the corporate world.
The book has an enormous impact on the present culture in
management among the Americans. The current occurrences and inventions
in the technology work register the new changes which remain viable
evidence to the influence of Whyte. Individuals discovered that organizations
only created individual incentives to hold them towards the groups, but later
took thought for the fact to come up with their options to fit in the present
economic times.

Organization Man’s Analysis 5
References
Bowditch, J.L., Buono, A.F. and Stewart, M.M., 2007. A primer on organizational behavior.
Wiley.
Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage
learning.
Jones, G.R. and Jones, G.R., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change.
Ladge, J.J., Humberd, B.K., Watkins, M.B. and Harrington, B., 2015. Updating the organization
MAN: An examination of involved fathering in the workplace. The Academy of
Management Perspectives, 29(1), pp.152-171.
Leinberger, P. and Tucker, B., 1991. The new individualists: The generation after the
organization man. HarperCollins.
Singh, R., Wall, J. and Dhillon, G., 2014. Archetypes to Inform Information Security: The
Organization Man and the Innovator.
Whyte, W.H., 2013. The organization man. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Wittkower, D.E., 2015. Social media and the organization man. APA Newsletter on Philosophy
and Computers, 14(2).