Organization

Group 1: Organization Paper

Deb Howell – Group Leader, Community and University Outreach, Writer

Abdulmajeed Alomayri - Community and University Outreach, Assist Writer with Content

Wafa Alrasheed - Community and University Outreach

Ashley Pilmore - Recorder, Community and University Outreach, Writer

Introduction

The overall purpose of the organization project was to find, research, and obtain support from various organizations within the Muncie Community for The Big Read initiative.  The Big Read initiative is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and managed by Arts Midwest.  The primary goal of The Big Read is to broaden “our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book” and to offer grants that “support innovative community reading programs designed around a single book” (About, 2015, para. 1).  The anchor text for this year was Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.  Fahrenheit 451 is a story about “a society gone awry, in which firemen burn books and the state suppresses learning” while “the citizenry sits by in a drug-induced and media-saturated indifference” (Description, 2015, para. 1).

            When searching for potential community organizations, we decided as a group to focus on community organizations that have similar visions, missions, values, or interests as The Big Read initiative.  After much research and discussion, our group chose to primarily target Minnetrista, Books-A-Million, Muncie Central High School, Sysco, and TEAMWork for Quality Living.  The following paragraphs highlight each organization’s individual characteristics and how they would be natural partners with The Big Read as well as with adult and community education.

Minnetrista is an organization located in Muncie, Indiana that strives to be “a gathering place that focuses on the exploration of nature, history, gardens, and art; where vibrant, audience-centered experiences honor our heritage and inspire the future of our region” (Vision, 2015, para. 1).  We chose to reach out to Minnetrista primarily because its vision, mission, and values were very similar to those of The Big Read initiative.  Both entities value building better communities, exploration, and diverse perspectives.  Our group also chose to reach out to Minnetrista because it is a well-known and well-respected organization within the Muncie community.  Its commitment to life-long learning and exploration make it an invaluable resource within the adult and community education circle.  Both entities share a similar purpose: to educate and inspire growth.  They also cater to a similar audience.

            Books-A-Million (BAM) can be found in 31 states, including Muncie, Indiana.  As with any bookstore, BAM’s main goal is to sell books and other texts in various mediums.  Being a bookstore, our group felt that BAM would be an ideal partner and one that would be interested in supporting The Big Read initiative since the initiative itself is focused on the impact made by books and the stories that they tell.  Its connection to adult and community education is quite simple…they provide the community with books.

            Muncie Central High School is one of twelve schools within the Muncie Community School systems.  Muncie Central High Schools strives “to provide all students with skills necessary to think critically, solve problems, access information, and become life-long learners” (About, 2015, para. 1).  Even though Muncie Central High School was already a supporter of The Big Read initiative, we felt that this relationship could be extended further to our group and its upcoming workshop.  Our group member Deb Howell felt that our topic of “electronic book-burning”, or the phenomena where electronic book copies eliminate their hard copy counterparts, would create a wave of diverse and interesting conversation amongst Muncie Central’s students and teachers.  She also felt that this workshop topic would assist Muncie Central High School achieve its mission of creating an environment that elicits critical thinking and problem-solving.      

            Sysco is an organization located in Indianapolis, Indiana that strives to be their customer’s “most valued and trusted business partner” (Mission, 2012, para. 1).  Looking to Sysco was a bit of a stretch for our group because they are not necessarily located within the Muncie community, but do in fact provide it with support from time to time.  Despite the fact that Sysco is a supplier of food products, it is still a business that values community, community partnerships, and community involvement.  Sysco does not necessarily maintain the same community focus as The Big Read initiative, but the overall goal remains the same: to build better communities.  Whereas The Big Read focuses on reading as a medium for building better communities, Sysco focuses on “hunger relief, education in the food industry, and agricultural and environmental sustainability” (Community, 2012, para. 1).  Finding its connection within the adult and community education circle was a bit of a stretch for us as well.  After much thought, we concluded that its commitment to providing educational opportunities was as close a connection as we were going to find.

            TEAMWork for Quality Living is an organization located in Muncie, Indiana whose mission is to empower “people in poverty toward self-sufficiency” (Mission, 2015, para. 1).  We were introduced to TEAMWork by a group of fellow classmates who had previous connections with the organization.  Our group chose to pursue this organization because like The Big Read initiative, this organization is focused on building better communities, collaboration, and diverse perspectives.  Their commitment to educating the Muncie community, like Minnetrista, makes them an invaluable resource within the adult and community education circle.

Organization Structure and Management Features

              Once we had decided upon which community organizations we wanted to pursue, we then focused more closely on each organization’s individual structure and management features.  Our group theorized that this information would assist us in approaching these organizations as well as potentially help us determine our success rate of gaining their support. The following paragraphs detail each organization’s structure and management features.

When considering Minnetrista’s overall organizational structure, it is clear from their stated values alone that they primarily follow an open systems model.  According to Tompkins (2005) the open systems model:

Is one that achieves both internal integration and external adaptation; it is one that maintains an optimal fit between its mission and strategies, its internal systems and structures, and the forces in its external environment that create both opportunities and threats. (p. 6) 

Minnetrista fits this particular model due to its focus on “adaptability”, “stewardship”, and “entrepreneurship”.  Minnetrista also uses a few aspects of the human resources model which focuses on enhancing organizational performance “by developing each worker’s unique talents” (Tompkins, 2005, p. 6).  This can be seen in Minnetrista’s commitment to facilitating the growth and support of all people, including their own employees.  Minnetrista’s individual management features include a Board of Trustees comprised of a chair, vice chair, secretary, and other supporting members.  Minnetrista’s other management features include activity directors and community volunteers.

When considering BAM’s overall organizational structure, it is clear they operate as a complex organization based upon their corporate size and decentralization.  According to Tompkins (2005):  A complex organization is an organization so large and structurally differentiated that a single individual cannot manage it effectively.  They provide consumer goods and services that contribute in important ways to the material well being of society.  Top and middle management define organizational goals and performance. (p. 1) 

BAM’s management includes Corporate Officers, which comprised of an executive chairman, chief executive officer and president, chief financial officer, and executive vice president of real estate and business development.  BAM’s other management features include a Board of Directors with five members.  BAM is publicly owned company.  Information, reports, and forms are filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.

                                                     

Figure 1: The Competing Values Framework: Four Models of Organizational Effectiveness. Reprinted from Organization Theory and Public Management (p. 119) by J. Tompkins, 2005, Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

When considering Central High School’s overall organizational structure, it was clear they primarily follow the internal process model.  The Muncie Community School systems operates with an Administrative Office, which includes a superintendent, chief academic officer, chief financial officer, chief security and operations officer, eight directors, and a number of supporting individuals as well.   Muncie Community Schools has an elected Board of Trustees, which includes a president, vice president, two members and administrative assistant.  According to Tompkins (2005), an internal process model asks managers to fulfill the organization’s integrative function by serving as monitors and coordinators.  The board of trustees as well as the administrative office oversees all activities, instruction, and communication at Muncie Central High School.  It definitely follows the internal process model.

When considering Sysco’s overall organizational structure, it is made clear through their stated goals and values.  Sysco focuses on marketing and delivering “great products to customers with exceptional service”, make it a follower of the quality management model.  The quality management model states that its “primary values include product or service quality, continual improvement, collective problem-solving, and customer satisfaction” (Tompkins, 2005, p. 6.).  Sysco’s individual management features include a CEO, chairman of the board, senior vice presidents of various departments, executive vice presidents of various departments, supervisors, and laborers.  Sysco’s individual management features allude to the fact that they are also an organization that contains aspects of the administrative management model.  The administrative management model states that “organization performance is enhanced by establishing an administrative structure characterized by clear lines of authority from top to bottom, a distinct division of labor among departments, and delegation of power and authority to administrators commensurate with their responsibilities” (Tompkins, 2005 p. 5-6).

When considering TEAMWork for Quality Living’s organizational structure, it too is made clear through their stated goals and values.  Like Minnetrista, TEAMWork primarily follows the open systems model.  TEAMWork fits this particular model due to its focus on creating a “healthy community”.  TEAMWork’s individual management features include a Board of Trustees comprised of a chair, secretary, treasurer, and other members of the Muncie community.  TEAMWork’s other management features include staff members and volunteers.

Actions

                Prior to reaching out to these community organizations, our group put together an action plan.  This action plan included outreach assignments for each group member, potential talking points with community organization contacts, and the creation of “hand-out” packets containing Dr. Chang’s letter of support, The Muncie Big Read brochure, information about The Big Read initiative, information about the NEA grant that funded our immersive learning project, and information about our immersive learning group.  The table below summarizes our group action plan and its results.

Table 1

Group 1 Action Plan and Results

Group Member	Community Organization	Type of Support	Handouts	Results
Deb Howell	·    Book-A-Million	·    Promote The Big Read and group workshop	·    Packet	·    Denied Support – The local store could not donate.  Their corporate office requires all requests be made to them. There is a form to be completed and sent in at a minimum of 6 six weeks prior to needed timeframe.
Deb Howell	·    Muncie Central High School	·    Provide location and participants for group workshop ·    Promote The Big Read and group workshop	·    Brochure	·    Since Central was already a Big Read supporter Dr. Chang did not want us to partner with them.
Deb Howell	·    TEAMWork for Quality Living	·    Provide location and participants ·    Promote The Big Read and our workshop	·    Packet	·    Agreed
Ashley Pilmore	·    Minnetrista	·    Provide location for Muncie Big Read workshops ·    Promote The Big Read	·    Packet	·    Agreed – promote The Big Read
Ashley Pilmore	·    Sysco	·    Provide food and drink for group workshop	·    Packet	·    Denied – received no response

 

Reflection

This assignment has certainly been difficult for our group.  We did a lot of work up front even before the group plan.  Since the beginning of the semester our group met a minimum of two hours outside of class.  We utilized e-mail, blackboard and texting to share resources and information we gathered.  We have found that this type of project requires a lot of dedication and as we go forward we will at least increase our meeting times by two.  Furthermore, we were left with a lot of food for thought.  One of our major take-a-ways, was the realization that our “effective plan of action” was not effective enough.  Our initial plan consisted of reaching out to our potential partners via email and explaining to them what we were attempting to accomplish with this project.  It was clear by the lack of responses that we received, that our initial plan had fallen flat.  Our contact from Sysco even stated that he was hesitant to move forward with a partnership due to the lack of information provided as well as our inability to confirm a date and time for our workshop.  Upon further reflection and discussion, we concluded that we needed to step up our outreach efforts and to do so in a much more professional manner.  As a group, we decided to make an effort to visit our chosen organizations in person as well as put together a folder containing information about The Big Read initiative, our EDAC 632 class, and our workshop that can be handed out to our contacts.  On the other hand, we feel that we did a great job researching various topics and avenues prior to beginning this project.  We started out by reading and discussing the various themes presented in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and then moved on to speaking with various individuals on campus.  Our group spoke to Dr. Peggy Rice, Associate Professor of Elementary Education, regarding the book and literacy workshops as well as Mr. Derek Berger, Associate Vice President of Development, regarding community outreach and funding.

Community Organization	Organizational structure and Management features	Main ideas of the organization/management theories which reflect the features of Muncie organizations	Action: How can we utilize Muncie organizations to support the Big Read based on the features of their organization structure/their management features.
Books-A-Million	·    Rational Goal Model	·    Primary goals are productivity, efficiency and profit.  Their management values of structural control and external focus.	·    Books-A-Million can provide the initiative not only in Muncie, but across the United States to read.  The different divisions within their organization can deliver books in any format the reader wants them.
Minnetrista	·    Open Systems Model ·    Human Resources Model	·    They value better communities, exploration and diverse perspectives.	·    The Minnetrista Board of Directors promotes the very essence that The Big Read promotes.  This provides the opportunity to reach out to individuals that will have interest and will more than likely spread the word to other organizations they are involved in outside of the Minnetrista.  They may possibly provide us other organizations that want to work with us.
Muncie Central High School	·    Internal Process Model	·    Hierarchy, requires approval through Administration and Board of Trustees.	·    Any school system, not just Muncie Community Schools, has a vested interested in getting our youth reading.
Sysco	·    Quality Management Model ·    Administrative Management Model	·    They value building better communities and providing educational opportunities.	·    Sysco could provide food and drink for Big Read workshops and other events.
TEAMWork for Quality Living	·    Open Systems Model	·    They value building better communities.	·    TEAMWork could provide location and participants as well as promote The Big Read and our workshop

References

About The Big Read. (n.d.). The Big Read. Retrieved from http://www.neabigread.org/about.php

Community Involvement. (2012). Sysco. Retrieved from http://www.sysco.com/about-sysco/community.html

About Us. (2015). Muncie Central High School. Retrieved from http://www.muncie.k12.in.us/

         chsweb/AboutUs

Description. (2015). The Big Read. Retrieved from http://www.neabigread.org/books

         /fahrenheit451/

Mission. (2015). TEAMWork for Quality Living. Retrieved from http://teamworkql.org/about-

         us/mission/

Mission and Vision. (2012). Sysco. Retrieved from http://www.sysco.com/about-sysco/mision

         vision-and-strategy.html

Tomkins, Jonathan. (2005). Organization theory and public management. Belmont, CA:

Cengage Learning.

Vision, Mission & Values. (2015). Minnetrista. Retrieved from http://www.minnetrista.net/

vision-mission-values/