On the Theory of Organisation
By Ghazi Kerfaï, Consultant

There is, perhaps, no better description of the organisation of an enterprise than recalling that, such as we conceive of it nowadays, it is defined as a social system. We speak of a system, since its components are interdependent. By definition, there can be no organisation without individuals. The term ‘individual' refers to the feelings, values and competencies of each employee assigned to a given working situation. These are feelings, values and competencies arising from his/ her personal experience and his/ her perception of his/ her environment. Yet, it is not the individuals as such, but the behaviours, actions, or influences of the persons that have to be considered as basic components of organisations. The organisation, whether simple or complex, remains an impersonal system which co-ordinates the human efforts and behaviours. There must always be an objective as a unifying and co-ordinating principle.

An organisation comprises several components. The latter comprise, in turn, two dimensions: a technical dimension and a human dimension. The components of an organisation meet two logics or modes of interaction: formal logic and informal logic.

Formal logic is the outcome of the enterprise's rules, policies, routines and codified knowledge. This mode of interaction is connected with a formal and systematic language. It illustrates the modes of relationship within the groups of employees, as well as between the groups of distinct hierarchical levels or the sets of different functions. A careful examination of the actions of human beings in our society--movements, languages, thoughts, emotions--reveals that most of them are determined or directed in relation to formal organisations.

Informal logic is the outcome of social interaction between the various members of a working group, or of a larger production system. It is often overlooked, ignored or decried. Yet, the truth is that, without it, no formal logic would survive long. An organisation is born when there is a number of persons capable of communicating between one another and determined to participate in actions intended to help achieve a common objective. The constitutive elements of an organisation are therefore: communication and the will to serve towards the achievement of a common objective. Informal logic illustrates the specific and systematic relationship born of the co-operation between them, or between a larger number of persons, with a view to achieving at least one common goal.

In this respect, formal organisation and informal organisation are two dimensions that are interdependent with social interaction.

Any enterprise is a forum of ideas, beliefs and values which take expression under the form of symbols and rituals that determine to a large extent the behaviours. Such ideas, values, beliefs or norms obey logics that are quite different from those of cost or of efficiency. It is according to such « feelings » that the multilateral relationships between executives and employees are defined, an interface between the formal and informal organisations of the enterprise. This is, indeed, a subject worth meditating.

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