The organization's face

The organization's face concept first time introduced in 2011 by Professor Mohammad Ali Sarlak in a multi-volume book entitled: The new faces of organizations in the 21st century.^[1][2]

Definition of face

In Merriam Webster dictionary, face defines as a means of identification.^[3] The face considered as people identification’s factor and a distinction means between individuals.

Definition of organization's face

The concept of organization’s face represents something that identifies and distinguishes the organization from other similar organizations.

The origins of organization's face

The concept of organization’s face is based on tow underlying metaphors:

1. The organization as a natural system.^[4]
2. The organization as an organism^[5]

The Organizations as living entity such as humans can be distinguished by face factor from each other.

What factors determine the organization's face?

Figure 1. the organization’s pillars

The question is what are the factors that determine an organization’s face? To answer this question, Professor Sarlak uses the organization’s pillars model that is derived from the Lewitt model.^[4] The pillars of an organization are shown in Figure 1.

Based on the organization's pillars model, the organization has at least five following pillars:

1. People
2. Goals
3. Structure
4. Technology
5. Environment

Types of organization's face

Figure 2.Types of organization's face

As shown in Figure 2, with an emphasis on each of the organizational pillars, a specific type of organization’s face is formed.

Based on Figure 2, organizations can demonstrate five general face, simultaneously or separately:

1. Humanistic face
2. Goal oriented face
3. Structure oriented face
4. Technology based face
5. Environment based face

Each of these faces is divided into more specific faces:

Humanistic face

The Ethical face of organizations

The Engaged employee face of organization

The Empathic face of organization

The Smart (emotional) face of organization

The Affective Face of Organizations

The Justice-Based Face of Organizations

The Trustworthy Face of Organizations

The Wise Face of Organizations

The Wisdom-Based Face of Organizations

The Virtuous Face of Organizations

The Value-Based Face of Organizations

Goal oriented face

The Strategy-Focused Face of SMEs

The Pluralistic face of organizations

The Hybrid Face of Organizations

New Innovative Face of Organizations

The Innovative Face of Public Organizations

The Learning Face of Organizations

The Knowledge Intensive Face of Organizations and Businesses

The Effective Face of Organizations

The Customer-Centric Face of Organizations

Structure oriented face

The Team-Based Face of Organizations

The Professional Adhocratic Face of Organizations

The Networked Face of Organizations

Technology based face

The ICT-Based Face of Public Organizations

The Virtual Face of Organizations

The Content-Based Face of Organizations

The Process-Based Face of Organizations

The Supply Chain Centric Face of Organizations

Environment based face

The Multicultural face of organizations

The Complex face of organizations

The Risk Managing Face of Organizations

The Outsource–Based Face of Organizations

The Pentatomic Face of Organizations

References

1. Sarlak, Mohammad. A. (2011). The New Faces of Organizations in the 21st Century (Volumes:1,2,3). Canada: NAISIT Publishers.
2. Sarlak, Mohammad. A. (2012). The New Faces of Organizations in the 21st Century (Volumes:4,5). Canada: NAISIT Publishers.
3. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face
4. Scott, W. Richard. (1998). Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems, 4th edn . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
5. Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Images of Organization. Newbury Park. CA: Sage Publications.