The Organisation Man: Relevance in the Contemporary Business World

This essay examines the relevance of William Whyte's 'The Organisation Man' in the context of the contemporary business environment. It begins by introducing the concept of organizational culture and the societal influences on workplace behavior, contrasting cooperative and individualistic approaches. The essay then delves into Whyte's book, 'The Organisation Man,' which provides insights into mid-20th-century corporate culture, emphasizing collectivism and group thinking. The core argument explores how the business world has changed since the book's publication, shifting from an emphasis on group conformity to a focus on individual talent and knowledge. The essay contrasts the past, where loyalty and obedience were valued, with the present, where personal growth and exceptional skills are prioritized. It highlights the impact of technological advancements, outsourcing, and the rise of small businesses on the evolving business landscape. Ultimately, the essay concludes that while the 'Organisation Man' concept is less relevant today, it offers valuable lessons about the changing dynamics of business culture and the importance of adapting to new paradigms.

Organisations and Behaviour
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Relevance of “The Organisation Man’ in the wake of changing business environment.................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
Organisational culture is a reflection of the attitude, beliefs and shared values which governs the
workforce behaviour in an organisation (Wiewiora, 2013). The attitude of a whole society also
reflects in the way work is done in an organisation. In certain organisations people work in teams
and their attitude is to cooperate (Stanford, 2011). On the other hand, in certain other
organisations personal development governs organisational culture. Organisation Man is a book
written by William Whyte which gives an insight into the corporate culture of the mid twentieth
century (Eldridge & Crombie, 2013). The book gives many insights about the changes which
take place in organisational culture over the years.
Relevance of “The Organisation Man’ in the wake of changing business environment
‘The organisation Man’ was written by William Whyte in 1956 (Whyte, 2013). The book
addresses the organisational culture in American large organisations like IBM and Ford in the
mid twentieth century (Whyte, 2013). Mid twentieth century was an era of large scale economic
and job growth in America (Douglas & Douglas, 2010). According to this book, this situation led
to shift is corporate culture which saw an increase of organisational culture of collectivism.
To elaborate further, it can be observed from the book that in mid twentieth century, the notion
that individual talent can lead to growth was being replaced by the notion that all issues could be
solved by organisational or group thinking (Whyte, 2013). According to William Whyte, the
employees of the organisations believed in group thinking, hence they were loyal, dedicated and
considered their talents as an attribute which was to be used for the service of the group or
organisation (Whyte, 2013). In this background the aim of this essay is to understand the
relevance of the organisation man concept in today’s business world.
Business world has seen many changes from the time of publication of this book in mid
twentieth century (Mohin, 2012). In more than sixty years, work culture has completely changed.
According to various thinkers of management , the current era of business is no longer an era of
the employee who melts into a group and becomes a part of it; giving his lifelong talent and
service to the group with utmost dedication and obedience (Petrakis, 2014). Therefore, business
culture has definitely changed through the years.
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According to William Whyte, corporate America was looking at a corporate culture where
employees were not overly brilliant but just obeyed the organisational goals and did as they were
told (Eldridge & Crombie, 2013). In other words, they lived a disciplined, rule oriented business
life style without giving any importance to personal talents and individual growth (Blackford,
2012). According to Whyte’s book, corporate America had become culturally stuck in group
behaviour and all members of the organisation believed that group or organisational growth
meant the growth of all employees (Whyte, 2013). However, in today’s business world talent and
knowledge is given more importance (Johnson, 2014). Those individuals rise to higher level
management who have exceptional talent and a drive for individual achievement.
In continuation to the above argument, it has also been observed that recruiters from large
organisational like Google and Apple hire those management graduates who are highly skilled
and have knowledge in the area (Thompson, 2013). Hence, it can be said that, organisations give
more importance to personal talent (Douglas & Douglas, 2010). Organisations have realised that
personal growth of the employees will lead to organisational growth and not the other way round
as William Whyte has mentioned in his book more than sixty years ago.
Considering the changes in the business world pertaining to rapid growth in IT infrastructure,
outsourcing, job hopping and growth in small business enterprises, concept of new organisation
man is being propounded by some thinkers (Drucker, 1988). Business houses now understand
and appreciate the talent of their employees. The belief that people will work in groups to
achieve predetermined goals without applying their own ideas is long gone (Laloux, 2014).
Firms do not expect lifelong loyalty from employees as they understand that talented employees
work for an organisation as a choice (Blackford, 2012). Therefore, personal talent has taken
precedence over group problem solving of the business world of the twentieth century.
Business world in Whyte’s times was more predictable (Blackford, 2012). Production was
managed in a certain way and profits could be envisioned to large extent. Therefore, it suited
corporate America to be monotonous in their business conduct (Eldridge & Crombie, 2013).
People could work in groups in the same organisations for years because methods of work did
not change. Technological progress was there but it was not revolutionary and fast paced
(Mohin, 2012). Therefore, group culture was seen in organisations and people used to be
dedicated to one organisation for a life time. However, rapid and revolutionary changes in
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technology changed the business pattern and made it more talent and individual oriented
(Blackford, 2012). Hence, it can be deduced that changing business scenario lead to a shift in
thinking of employees and management.
The generation in the mid twentieth century had come out of a difficult war and tough economic
depression (Eldridge & Crombie, 2013). Therefore, their aim was to seek prosperity and
stability. Consequently, business in that era was focused on survival through dedicated service to
an organisation (Eldridge & Crombie, 2013). Due to the need for stability there was no attempt
by the people to focus on personal talents. People submerged individual ambition (Drucker,
1988). Organisational conformity became way of life for that generation.
The needs of the present generation have changed from need to survive to need excel.
(Blackford, 2012) This is because this generation is a product of a more prosperous and stable
society. They do not have the baggage of war and depression behind them. Hence, this
generation of today is not interested in submerging their talents. They are focused on personal
accomplishments and individual career growth (Mohin, 2012). Joining large fortune 500
companies for a life time for stability is no longer the aim of this generation (Stanford, 2011).
Due to changes in global business culture, individual contribution is again becoming an
important part of business function.
In the present business scenario Whyte’s Organisation Man seems irrelevant. However, it holds
certain business and cultural lessons for the current business and society (Blackford, 2012). It
narrates a tale of a corporate culture where business’s aimed at being big. However, in today’s
scenario if a company aim at becoming a large conglomerate without paying attention to
knowledge pool among its workforce, it will become ineffective (Johnson, 2014). This is because
there would be many other organisations that would be looking at snatching the talent of this
organisation (Laloux, 2014). Therefore, William Whyte’s book ‘Organisation Man’ gives an
insight into the changing dynamics of business culture. As this book gives comprehension about
culture and gives an interesting basis to research on cultural change, it cannot be called
completely irrelevant.
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Conclusion
Organisation Man concept has been rendered irrelevant due to business culture changing towards
individual talent and personal career growth. However, the book gives a good understanding of
the manner in which business culture has changed and how the thinking of workforce has
undergone a paradigm shift.
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References
Blackford, M. G., 2012. The Rise of Modern Business: Great Britain, the United States,
Germany, Japan, and China. North Carolina: university of north carolina Press Books.
Douglas, H. & Douglas, C., 2010. Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build
Breakthrough Brands. Oxford: OUP.
Drucker, P. F., 1988. The Coming of the New Organization. Harward Business Review.
Eldridge & Crombie, 2013. A Sociology of Organisations (RLE: Organizations. New York:
Routledge.
Johnson, M., 2014. Winning The War for Talent: How to Attract and Keep the People to Make
the Biggest Difference to Your Bottom Lin. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Laloux, F., 2014. Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the
Next Stage in Human Consciousness. St, Millis: Nelson Parker.
Mohin, T. J., 2012. Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger's Guide to Working in
Corporations. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Petrakis, P. E., 2014. Culture, Growth and Economic Policy. New York: Springer Science &
Business Media.
Stanford, N., 2011. Corporate Culture: Getting It Right. Melbourne: John Wiley & Sons.
Thompson, V., 2013. Find (and Keep) Top Talent for Your Business (Collection). New Jersy: FT
Press.
Whyte, W. H., 2013. The Organization Man. Reprint ed. Pennsylvani: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
Wiewiora, A., 2013. Organizational culture and willingness to share knowledge: A competing
values perspective in Australian context. International Journal of Project Management, 31(8),
pp. 1163-1174.
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