Next Management Issue Within The Structural Frame example essay topic

, In the case of "Diversity Programs at the New England Aquarium", all four frames - structural, human resources, political, and symbolic- show a different perspective of the underlying management issues surrounding the New England Aquarium. The issues that surround the structural frame are based around the aquarium's goals and mission, as well as the actual organizational structure and coordination. The human resource frame will be used to view the relationships and balance between the needs of the organization and the needs of the people involved at the aquarium. Next, we will look at the political frame in order to better understand "the battle" for the tight resources, and the political arena that exists in the aquarium. Lastly, we will discuss the symbolic frame to view the symbols at the aquarium and show their affect the organization. Within the assumptions of the structural frame we will use it The first and most notable structural management issue is the goals that were setup by the aquarium.

The original goal of the aquarium, as stated in the first mission statement, was, "make known the world of water through education, research, and exhibition". Since the aquarium wanted to attract a diverse population into the aquarium the mission statement was amended to say a "responsive community resource to attract the broadest possible audience", and a "culturally diverse staff". There were many different types of programs to reach the goals of the aquarium, but they all seemed to fall short of attracting the diverse staff and visitors to the aquarium. Not reaching the goals, as stated in the structural frame, can maximize issues within the organization. The next management issue, within the structural frame, lies in the structural tensions at the aquarium. There are two design issues that are in the core of the organizational structure: differentiation, and integration (Bol man p 49).

The first issue with differentiation comes up with the interns in the organization. There was a time where the interns where not making well use of time, and it wasn't till the intern's responsibilities were restructured that the interns were able to make use of the time, and make the most out of their positions. The next group that had difficulties was the finding proper and suitable work for the incoming diversity program students. This was, in part, due to the fact that there was no planning or specific program created for the unskilled students. However, the next year there was a quick growth in the number of students in the program making their tasks more difficult to specialize.

Specialization of the student's jobs was one of the initiatives that Williams planned for the new incoming students. These included creating specific jobs -with goals- such as education assistants and Teen Ambassadors. Another management issue that was apparent in the organization was the coordination of the aquarium's structure. The aquarium was a classic laterally coordinated organization, and there were issues that arose when the students came into an already slack structure. The students did not receive the proper authority or supervision to keep them inline and also make sure they were doing their job. There was a need to change the coordination of the organization so that the students were kept inline The human resource frame details many management issues at the aquarium, the area of focus will be based on the relationship of the aquarium with the incoming students.

At the core of the human resources frame is finding the balance of all the aquarium workers needs and aquarium's needs. It is very apparent before Williams entered the program that the students' needs were not being met, and nor were the aquarium's needs being met. The underlying issue was the fact that the aquarium was not providing meaningful work for the students, and the students for the most part were not providing the aquarium with energy or effort. Williams created an initiative to create meaningful work for the students. into the According to Williams the students felt very uncomfortable and not welcome in this environment, and keeping someone comfortable is a big part of catering to the needs of the students. The key to balance in the needs of both was clearly making the students motivated to work in the organization. Williams was able to restructure the program to include a better screening process to get the students who were motivated to change their lives.

The students need for pay was the only need being met. There are issues of mistrust in the organization between the staff and students, which would be a clear violation of the psychological contract. In the eyes of the students, they felt they were constantly being check upon, and this was a result of past experiences with the students needing constant reprimanding.