Organism Metaphor And Its Effects On Educational Organizations

Abstract

A metaphor is the description of a social reality figuratively through similes. Metaphors look at organizations from different perspectives and thus secure that different aspects of organizations are revealed. Based on literature review, this study focuses on organism metaphor likening an organization to a bush; and it considers briefly theories concerning and approaches to metaphor. This study also discusses the effects of organism metaphor on educational organizations. Even though organism metaphor is criticized for such reasons as ignoring the activities of organization employees in the process of adaptation to the environment and not considering organizational conflicts and organizational division, its contributions to the field of management cannot be denied. Organism metaphor has introduced clarity and flexibility into management. Besides, it is also valuable due to the fact that it emphasizes the importance of interaction between organizations and their close environment, of human relations in organizations and of relations between organizations.

Keywords: Metaphor, organism metaphor, educational organizations