| Course | PSY-3600 Organizational Theory |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Written assignment: organizational environments, effectiveness and culture |
| Length | About 496 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PSY 3600 Module 5
Different Units, Borrowed Forms and Competing Values: Reading a Moving Company's Environment and Culture
Student Name
Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, Thomas Edison State University
PSY-3600: Organizational Theory
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Different Units, Borrowed Forms and Competing Values: Reading a Moving Company's Environment and Culture
Why Sales and Operations Differ
Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) studied firms in industries with different rates of change and found that effective firms differentiated their units to fit each unit's part of the environment, with different goals, time horizons and structures, and then integrated them through mechanisms such as liaison roles and teams. The more differentiated the units, the more integration they needed. Our sales unit faces a fast, uncertain market of customers deciding in days; operations faces a predictable daily routine. Their differences are appropriate, but the company has no integrating role. A move coordinator who follows each large job from estimate to delivery would provide the integration Lawrence and Lorsch found in effective firms.
Why We Copied the Van Lines
DiMaggio and Powell (1983) argued that firms in one field grow alike through three pressures: demands from regulators and big customers, imitation of whoever seems to succeed when the path is unclear, and norms spread by professions. Our company adopted a moving association's quality certification, uniform style and claims process after a large van line did, partly because military relocation customers expected them and partly because the van line seemed to know what worked. Some of these changes help; others, such as a twelve-page claims form, mainly signal legitimacy.
Judging Effectiveness
Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) found that people judge organizational effectiveness along competing values: flexibility versus control and an internal versus an external focus, producing models that emphasize human relations, open systems, internal processes or rational goals. Our owners judge effectiveness by rational goals, revenue per truck and profit, while crews judge it by internal process and human relations, no damage claims, safe lifting and fair overtime. Neither view is wrong; the competing values model shows why they disagree.
| Concept | What it explains in our company |
|---|---|
| Differentiation and integration | Sales and operations differ appropriately but need a move coordinator |
| Institutional isomorphism | Certification and procedures copied from larger van lines |
| Competing values | Owners value profit; crews value careful work and fairness |
| Levels of culture | Crews' shared pride in damage-free moves |
Culture
Schein, whose model of organizational culture is reprinted in Shafritz et al. (2016), read culture in three layers, from what can be seen, to what people say they value, to the premises nobody states. Our crews' artifacts include a board in the warehouse listing "zero-claim" moves. The espoused value is care for customers' belongings. The deeper assumption is that a good mover is judged by what he or she does not break. That assumption explains why crews resist pressure to finish faster and why the owners' push for more moves per day meets quiet resistance.
Conclusion
The company's environment and culture explain much of what the owners find puzzling. Recognizing appropriate differences between units, questioning which borrowed forms add value, accepting that effectiveness has more than one definition and respecting the crews' culture would help the owners lead more effectively.
References
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Differentiation and integration in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(1), 1-47. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391211
Quinn, R. E., & Rohrbaugh, J. (1983). A spatial model of effectiveness criteria: Towards a competing values approach to organizational analysis. Management Science, 29(3), 363-377. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.29.3.363
Shafritz, J. M., Ott, J. S., & Jang, Y. S. (Eds.). (2016). Classics of organization theory (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Reading the PSY 3600 Module 5 assignment instructions
Environments, effectiveness and culture make up PSY-3600's fifth module, and this is the written assignment that goes with it. You will apply theories of how environments shape organizations, such as contingency and institutional theory, compare ways of judging effectiveness and analyze an organization's culture. The classic readings, including Lawrence and Lorsch, DiMaggio and Powell and Schein, together with Tolbert and Hall's chapters, provide the theories. Use each theory to explain something specific about your organization, and expect similar essay questions on the final exam. Apply at least one theory each to environment, effectiveness and culture. Explain culture below the level of slogans and visible symbols. Use the classic readings as well as the textbook.
Inside the PSY 3600 Module 5 example
The paper uses four theories, each to answer a question about the company. Lawrence and Lorsch explain why sales and operations differ and why a move coordinator would integrate them. DiMaggio and Powell's isomorphism explains certifications and procedures copied from larger van lines, separating what helps from what signals legitimacy. Quinn and Rohrbaugh's competing values show owners and crews using different criteria of effectiveness. Schein's three levels explain crews' pride in damage-free moves and their resistance to speed. A four-row table summarizes the applications, and the conclusion offers four lessons for the owners. The four lessons at the end turn the analysis into advice. Each theory answers a question the owners have asked. A table summarizes what each concept explains about the company.
PSY 3600 Module 5 rubric: what earns full marks
The marks follow how well environment, effectiveness and culture theories are applied to the one firm, and APA form. Pairing every theory with one question about the firm beats summarizing the readings. Distinguishing useful borrowed practices from symbolic ones shows critical thinking about institutional theory. Explaining disagreements through competing criteria rather than blame shows maturity. Analyzing culture at more than the visible level shows command of Schein's model. Mentors also look for practical lessons drawn from the theories, so the analysis ends somewhere useful. Reaching the assumptions beneath visible culture shows command of Schein's model. A clear lesson per theory shows synthesis.
PSY 3600 Module 5 help from the desk
Students lose marks by summarizing each classic reading in turn, by treating isomorphism as always bad or by describing culture only through slogans and events. Ask a question about your organization for each theory to answer, separate useful from symbolic adoptions, show how different groups judge effectiveness and reach the assumptions beneath visible culture. A free first draft of your PSY-3600 Module 5 written assignment can be built on your organization. End with lessons a manager could act on, one for each theory you used. Separate useful borrowed practices from those adopted mainly for appearance, since institutional theory predicts both. One lesson per theory works well.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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PSY 3600 Module 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free PSY 3600 Module 5 sample paper?
The written assignment above applies contingency, institutional, competing values and culture theories to a moving and storage company.
What did Lawrence and Lorsch find?
Effective firms differentiated units to fit their environments and then integrated them, with more integration needed as differentiation grew.
What is institutional isomorphism?
DiMaggio and Powell's term for organizations in a field becoming similar through coercive, mimetic and normative pressures.
What is the competing values framework?
Quinn and Rohrbaugh's model of effectiveness built on flexibility versus control and internal versus external focus.
What are Schein's three levels of culture?
Artifacts, espoused values and basic underlying assumptions.