The Systems Psychodynamics of Organizations


Book Description

This authoritative source book on the learning and creative application of the systems psychodynamic perspective defines the field, presenting the key concepts, models, and social methodologies that derive from it, together with their theoretical and conceptual underpinnings in psychoanalysis, group relations and open systems theory.




An Introduction to Systems Psychodynamics


Book Description

This book provides an introduction to systems psychodynamic theory and its application to organisational consultancy, research and training, outlining systems dynamics methods and their historical and theoretical developments. Systems Psychodynamics is an emerging field of social science, the boundaries of which are continually being refined and re-defined. The ‘systems’ designation refers to open systems concepts that provide the framing perspective for understanding the structural aspects of organisational systems. These include its design, division of labour, levels of authority, and reporting relationships; the nature of work tasks, processes and activities; its mission and primary task; and the nature and patterning of the organisation’s task and sentient boundaries and the transactions across them. This book presents a critical appraisal of the systems psychodynamics paradigm and its application to present-day social and organisational difficulties, showing how a holistic approach to organisational and social problems can offer a fresh perspective on difficult issues. Bringing together the theory and practice of systems psychodynamics for the first time, this book provides an examination of the systems psychodynamics paradigm in action. This book gives an accessible and thorough guide to understanding and using systems psychodynamic ideas for analysts, managers, policy makers, consultants and researchers in a wide range of professional and clinical settings.




Private Selves in Public Organizations


Book Description

This book explores organizations as not simply rational, technological structures and networks for organizing people around tasks and services; it defines organizations as relational, experiential, and perceptual systems.




Executive Coaching


Book Description

Executive Coaching focuses on the coaching applications of systemic-psychodynamic theory in the context of organizational life that is both goal-orientated and held in a managerial/leadership context.




Family Psychodynamics in Organizational Contexts


Book Description

This fascinating book shows how an understanding of the psychodynamics of the extended family, from parental relations to sibling rivalries, can provide insight into many of the key issues faced by organizations today. Covering topics such as change management, creativity, autonomous groups, leadership and democracy, it shows how deep-rooted family dynamics unconsciously frame the way we relate to each other in the workplace, and how they can have a profound influence on the broader trajectory of organizations. This book features: Examples on how to use the extended family as a framework for understanding organizational behaviour. A look beyond parental relationships to discuss sibling relationships as well. Examples to illustrate key topics of practical relevance to consultants and managers. Family Psychodynamics in Organizational Contexts is an important read for students and scholars of organizational psychology, organizational studies and psychodynamics, as well as consultants and coaches working in organizational contexts.




The Workplace Within


Book Description

In this revealing study, Larry Hirschhorn examines the rituals, or social defenses, organizations develop to cope with change. Using extended ease studies from offices, factories, and social services, he describes why these often irrational practices that fragment and injure individuals within the workplace exist, how they operate, and how they can be reshaped to enhance people's work experience.




Psychodynamic Organisational Theory


Book Description

On the surface, people go to work and come home again. They sometimes manage people while most are managed themselves. But beneath the function and structures of the work itself, a whole range of emotions affects the success of the relationship between employee and manager and ultimately the organisation they both belong to. Psychodynamic Organisational Theory: Key Concepts and Cases provides a comprehensive but accessible introduction to this fascinating field of study. Featuring case vignettes which bring the various concepts to life, the book is divided into four parts. Part I looks at how the individual relates to the organisation and the unconscious energies they bring, while Part II examines group dynamics and how they affect productivity, including a chapter on meetings. Part III explores the realm of leadership and what roles a manager can play in managing their staff, while Part IV introduces the idea of personality and describes how the manager’s personality influences management dynamics as well as the wider organisational culture. Central to the book, as well as the idea that organisational phenomena are often unconscious, is the understanding that relationships are always reciprocal. Through complex psychological dynamics manager and employee influence and change each other during the process of managing and being managed. This text will be essential reading for students and scholars of leadership, HRM, and organizational psychology, as well as consultants and managers looking for practical insights into how human relationships affect the success of every organisation.




The Organizational Life of Psychoanalysis


Book Description

The Organizational Life of Psychoanalysis is a wide-ranging exploration and examination of the organizational conflicts and dilemmas that have troubled psychoanalysis since its inception. Kenneth Eisold provides a unique, detailed, and closely reasoned account of the systems needed to carry out the tasks of training, quality control, community building, and relationships with the larger professional community. He explores how the freedom to innovate and explore can be sustained in a context where the culture has insisted on certain standards being set and enforced, standards that have little to do with providing effective pathways to cure. Each chapter in this collection addresses a specific dilemma faced by the profession, including: Who is to be in charge of training and who will determine those who succeed the existing leadership? Which theories and practices are to be approved and which proscribed and censored? How is the competition with alternative methods, including psychotherapy informed by psychoanalysis, to be managed? Several chapters are devoted to exploring the reciprocal influence of Freudian psychoanalysis and Jungian Analytical Psychology. Others explore the specific dilemmas and difficulties affecting the field currently, stemming from the massive restructuring of the health care industry and the changes affecting all professions, as they are reshaped into massive organizations no longer marked by personal relationships and individual control. The Organizational Life of Psychoanalysis will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and anyone interested in the future of psychoanalysis as a profession. It will appeal greatly to anyone who has assumed full or partial responsibility for the management of a psychoanalytic institute or association.




Leading Contemporary Organizations


Book Description

Why do organizations fail? What hinders otherwise responsible leaders from recognizing looming disasters? What prevents well-intentioned people from responding properly to an emerging crisis? Using systems psychodynamics to analyze an array of international crises, Amy L. Fraher explores ethical challenges at Silicon Valley tech companies, the Wall Street implosions that led to the 2008 financial industry crash, and a wide range of social crises, policy failures, and natural disasters, offering a crisis management philosophy applicable in diverse settings. Rather than viewing crises as anomalies that cannot be anticipated, Fraher persuasively argues that crises can, and should, be embraced as naturally occurring by-products of any organization's change management processes. If leaders do not proactively manage organizational change, they will inevitably manage crisis instead. This accessible textbook will appeal to business students and researchers studying leadership, change and crisis, as well as progressive-minded business leaders keen to improve their own organizations.




The Psychodynamics of Organizations


Book Description

Author note: Larry Hirschhorn is Principal of the Center for Applied Research, Inc., a faculty member at the William Alanson White Institute's Program on Organizational Development and Consultation, and the author of several books, including The Workplace Within. Carole K. Barnett is a Ph.D. candidate in the Organizational Psychology Program at the University of Michigan and co-editor of Globalizing Management: Creating and Leading the Competitive Organization.