Posted: April 6th, 2016

Using Bolman and Deal’s (2008) frames, discuss the nature of UTS (e.g. size, sector, organisational structure, employees, leadership, etc.) that makes a particular metaphor appropriate/inappropriate. What aspects of the organisation does your metaphor focus your attention on?

Discuss which of Morgan’s (1997) metaphors or Bolman and Deal’s (2008) frames would best describe the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) as an organisation. Discuss the ‘goodness of fit’ of a number of metaphors.  Remember to take a position and back it up with evidence.
You may draw from literature and theories covered in Weeks 1 and 2 lectures. If you are using visuals, include them as appendices to your essays.
Use the following questions to guide your thinking in preparing for your essays. Answers to these questions are critical to your analysis. However, do not use the questions as sub-headings for your written work.
1.    Using Bolman and Deal’s (2008) frames, discuss the nature of UTS (e.g. size, sector, organisational structure, employees, leadership, etc.) that makes a particular metaphor appropriate/inappropriate. What aspects of the organisation does your metaphor focus your attention on? What aspects of the organisation does your metaphor ignore?

2.    Imagine yourself working in this organisation.  What communicative genres would you expect to see?  What might be management’s preferred style of communication?  What patterns might you expect to see in such an organisation’s communication with its employees?  You may wish to draw on Putnam’s metaphors (1999) for communication.