Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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Demands-Control-Support (JDCS) model of organisational stress (see Chapter II, Section
1b.1, as originally conceptualised by Karasek in 1969). Based upon the Management
Standards as developed by the HSE, a Management Standards Indicator Tool (MSIT) was
also developed (see Chapter VI, Section 2a). Therefore, in accordance with the
Management Standards as set out by the HSE the project is going to adopt the Job Demands-
Control-Support as a reference framework for working, although it is understood that the
JDCS is no catch-all for the explanation of workplace stress.
Understanding the structure of an organisation is important because it allows
researchers and management alike to plan the effects that events such as organisational
change initiatives may have on the workplace. According to Charles Handy’s
conceptualisation of organisational structure and culture, the PAO would fit perfectly into the
‘Role Culture’ (see Chapter V, Section 2b). As a government organisation, PAO runs as a
classic bureaucracy with clearly defined layers of employment. Chapter V, Section 2 shows
how PAO fits into this Role Culture, which is depicted by Handy as a Greek temple. The
individual in overall charge of the organisation, the Chief Executive, is represented pictorially
by the peak of the roof of the Greek chapel. The executive directors who are in charge of two
‘services’ each are represented by the base of the roof structure, and are held up by the pillars
which lead to the ground. Individuals who conduct the everyday work within the
organisation, perhaps that which the general public see and encounter, are represented by the
pillars of the organisation, without which the organisation could not function and as such the
Temple would not be able to stand. The knowledge of PAO working in a Role Culture is
important because it helps to inform the types of organisational development and change
initiative that should be introduced to PAO.
Soft Systems Models of Change (SSMC) were first described by Peter Checkland
(1969) as a contrast to Hard Systems Methodologies (HSM, see Chapter IV, Section 2b.2).
While HSM view the world as systematic and are used as a means of defining a problem, soft
systems methodologies (SSM) views the world as complex, and takes the dynamic nature of
organisations (and the employees which comprise the organisation) into account in the
change process. Therefore, in contrast to HSM, both qualitative and quantitative research
methods are coveted. As already demonstrated, the PAO is an organisation which is everchanging.
The following chapter will critically discuss the conceptual framework to be taken
into consideration throughout this thesis, as well as a detailed description of the type of
organisation which takes part in the presented thesis.