| Autonomy
and Hierarchy
The term autonomy when loosely interpreted raises
questions for some people. Some believe that granting autonomy
to employees will result in an unorthodox behavioral pattern,
which will eventually bring down the effectiveness of the organization.
The argument here is that if the company is truly committed to
running an autonomous organization, they should allow even janitors
to make executive decisions. In other words, people may attempt
to exercise freedom outside of those "reasonable organizational
constraints" suggested by Burke (1997,
p.7). Based on my reading, I came to a conclusion that autonomy
is not to be granted to every member of the organization. Furthermore,
it seems that hierarchy in and of itself is not the problem. Rather
the problem is that most organization’s hierarchies are
characterized by an autocratic behavioral pattern that is insensitive
to an individual's sense of empowerment. The important thing to
take into consideration when granting autonomy is that the organization
empowers the right individuals who can use it to produce a positive
outcome. Every organization has different needs and therefore
it is difficult, let alone impractical, to establish set standards
for autonomy. Needless to say, setting a specific frame for incorporating
autonomy also defeats the very purpose of keeping the working
environment free of stringent corporate guidelines and procedures.
 
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