Monkey dey Work, Baboon dey Chop: A Perspective on Organisational Behaviour in George Orwell's Animal Farm
Animal Farm is often considered a classic tale of organisational behaviour which depicts the ways the animals interact and react to positive and negative experiences within the farm. The new regime, which can be likened to a management buy-out takes over but soon becomes divided because of the inexperience of the new managers.
At the beginning of the narrative, Manor Farm is under the sole ownership of an often inebriated Mr Jones who is soon ousted by the animals at an opportune moment, a direct consequence of his increasingly ineffective management of the farm and gross negligence of duty. The seeds of rebellion that lead to the take over are sown by Old Major – the Prize Boar - who can be described as a visionary and whose leadership qualities were “… so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say.” Old Major dies soon after his revelation of blissful times ahead. However, his teachings take root and provide a sense of purpose which the “more intelligent animals on the farm” develop into a mission statement and core set of values in which all animals are regarded as equals.
This initial declaration of equality among animals by the new management inspires all the animals as is the decision to rename the Farm “Animal Farm” in order to reflect the current values of inclusiveness, sincerity of purpose and equality, thereby giving every animal on the farm a stake in the success of the group. In addition, all symbols of bondage or which are considered to be denigrating to animals are jettisoned. The take-over is largely successful, the pigs who have assumed leadership and constitute the management level win the trust and confidence of the rest of the animals, perhaps with the exception of Benjamin – the donkey – who views the new managers with caution. Nonetheless, the group works together as a team with a common purpose. “All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were as happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master.”
The team’s initial success can be attributed to positive team spirit and the willingness of all team members to play their part, even if it entails more work for some than others. Boxer – the carthorse – is a major strength of the group. In addition to being physically strong, he is a loyal and committed worker who commands respect within the group and is quite often able to motivate others to work. Mollie on the other hand is an indolent and foolish mare; yet she has a place within the team who recognise her weaknesses and accommodate her as best they can until she defects from the farm. Benjamin is a steadfast worker who will do no more or less than is required of him while Moses and Squealer are devious and basically sycophants. Despite the mix of the team, the group remains united with a sense of purpose and pride.
The first signs of lack of cohesion within the group appear when the pigs begin to set themselves apart by establishing their headquarters in the harness room. Their inexperience in human resource management also starts to become apparent when Snowball sets unrealistic and unachievable goals for the various committees he has formed, the composition of which do not take cognisance of the skills and competencies of the animals. However, the fatal blow to the group comes when the leadership becomes divided and animals themselves begin to take sides. Snowball is the more eloquent and ingenious of the two leaders but Napoleon, who has been scheming and working for self-advancement, seizes power with brute force and assumes dictatorship of the farm.
Napoleon’s regime marks the beginning of harsh and inflexible resource management on the Farm. He lacks the ingenuity of Snowball whose ideas he immediately appropriates as his own. He resorts to coercion and manipulation of the animals, through his mouthpiece – Squealer, whose main strategy for intimidating the animals the animals into not questioning dubious changes in policy is to conjure the spectre of Snowball. Gradually, the farm becomes shrouded in an atmosphere of fear and insecurity which soon leads to pockets of mild resistance within the group but not for long as opponents are soon singled out and punished mercilessly without due process. The situation goes from bad to worse as communication breaks down between the management and shop floor when Napoleon segregates his kind from the rest of the animals and gives them special privileges such as having milk in their mash. He also enhances the status of the pigs, and makes them superior to the other animals.
As Napoleon’s regime deviates from the original vision and core values of the group, the rules are rewritten to justify the actions of the dictatorship. Deceit and outrageous lies become institutionalised. There are no incentives for the animals not even recognition of their bravery during the second attack on the Farm. Instead Napoleon takes the credit for successfully overcoming the threat to the existence of the Farm by conferring on himself the Order of the Green Banner. The height of treachery to the animals is in an unfulfilled promise of retirement benefits for aging animals. Boxer, who has just qualified for retirement and has worked the hardest to ensure the success of farm projects such as building the windmill, is cruelly disposed of as soon as he is no longer useful on the farm.
The culmination of the atrocities is in the official abolition of the original core values of the group which are replaced by just one commandment which infringes on any rights the animals may have thought they had of equality and dignity on the farm. “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others,” is a clear statement of entrenchment of exploitation of the weak and the poor by a dominant minority for self-enrichment.
Animal Farm gives an invaluable insight into how badly managed ventures with a poor record of human resource management can outwardly appear to be successful simply because they record impressive profit and loss margins. The book should also make those in management positions reflect on whether organisations structured around transparent and flexible principles fare better or not.
At the beginning of the narrative, Manor Farm is under the sole ownership of an often inebriated Mr Jones who is soon ousted by the animals at an opportune moment, a direct consequence of his increasingly ineffective management of the farm and gross negligence of duty. The seeds of rebellion that lead to the take over are sown by Old Major – the Prize Boar - who can be described as a visionary and whose leadership qualities were “… so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say.” Old Major dies soon after his revelation of blissful times ahead. However, his teachings take root and provide a sense of purpose which the “more intelligent animals on the farm” develop into a mission statement and core set of values in which all animals are regarded as equals.
This initial declaration of equality among animals by the new management inspires all the animals as is the decision to rename the Farm “Animal Farm” in order to reflect the current values of inclusiveness, sincerity of purpose and equality, thereby giving every animal on the farm a stake in the success of the group. In addition, all symbols of bondage or which are considered to be denigrating to animals are jettisoned. The take-over is largely successful, the pigs who have assumed leadership and constitute the management level win the trust and confidence of the rest of the animals, perhaps with the exception of Benjamin – the donkey – who views the new managers with caution. Nonetheless, the group works together as a team with a common purpose. “All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were as happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master.”
The team’s initial success can be attributed to positive team spirit and the willingness of all team members to play their part, even if it entails more work for some than others. Boxer – the carthorse – is a major strength of the group. In addition to being physically strong, he is a loyal and committed worker who commands respect within the group and is quite often able to motivate others to work. Mollie on the other hand is an indolent and foolish mare; yet she has a place within the team who recognise her weaknesses and accommodate her as best they can until she defects from the farm. Benjamin is a steadfast worker who will do no more or less than is required of him while Moses and Squealer are devious and basically sycophants. Despite the mix of the team, the group remains united with a sense of purpose and pride.
The first signs of lack of cohesion within the group appear when the pigs begin to set themselves apart by establishing their headquarters in the harness room. Their inexperience in human resource management also starts to become apparent when Snowball sets unrealistic and unachievable goals for the various committees he has formed, the composition of which do not take cognisance of the skills and competencies of the animals. However, the fatal blow to the group comes when the leadership becomes divided and animals themselves begin to take sides. Snowball is the more eloquent and ingenious of the two leaders but Napoleon, who has been scheming and working for self-advancement, seizes power with brute force and assumes dictatorship of the farm.
Napoleon’s regime marks the beginning of harsh and inflexible resource management on the Farm. He lacks the ingenuity of Snowball whose ideas he immediately appropriates as his own. He resorts to coercion and manipulation of the animals, through his mouthpiece – Squealer, whose main strategy for intimidating the animals the animals into not questioning dubious changes in policy is to conjure the spectre of Snowball. Gradually, the farm becomes shrouded in an atmosphere of fear and insecurity which soon leads to pockets of mild resistance within the group but not for long as opponents are soon singled out and punished mercilessly without due process. The situation goes from bad to worse as communication breaks down between the management and shop floor when Napoleon segregates his kind from the rest of the animals and gives them special privileges such as having milk in their mash. He also enhances the status of the pigs, and makes them superior to the other animals.
As Napoleon’s regime deviates from the original vision and core values of the group, the rules are rewritten to justify the actions of the dictatorship. Deceit and outrageous lies become institutionalised. There are no incentives for the animals not even recognition of their bravery during the second attack on the Farm. Instead Napoleon takes the credit for successfully overcoming the threat to the existence of the Farm by conferring on himself the Order of the Green Banner. The height of treachery to the animals is in an unfulfilled promise of retirement benefits for aging animals. Boxer, who has just qualified for retirement and has worked the hardest to ensure the success of farm projects such as building the windmill, is cruelly disposed of as soon as he is no longer useful on the farm.
The culmination of the atrocities is in the official abolition of the original core values of the group which are replaced by just one commandment which infringes on any rights the animals may have thought they had of equality and dignity on the farm. “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others,” is a clear statement of entrenchment of exploitation of the weak and the poor by a dominant minority for self-enrichment.
Animal Farm gives an invaluable insight into how badly managed ventures with a poor record of human resource management can outwardly appear to be successful simply because they record impressive profit and loss margins. The book should also make those in management positions reflect on whether organisations structured around transparent and flexible principles fare better or not.
posted by Wunmi Segun at 3:34 AM
3 Comments:
I was at the Reading Club this afternoon and reviewed Animal Farm from the point of view of organisational behaviour. I'll be back with my thoughts as expressed in the interesting session. Good work meanwhile.
"All Animals are equal but some are more equal than others"
I was a JSS1 student when I first read this great book and I since then; I owed it as a duty to myself to read it once in three years. This book so much chronicles man's existence and his imperfections. I just hope we can learn because we end up most times perpetrating the same ills we used to condemn!
well reading this once again reminded me of the fact that those who really work hard dont really get the gains as expected
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