Mechanistic Organization & Mad Cow Disease

I would like to discuss the disastrous effects of imposing a mechanistic organization onto an inherently organic one. I am speaking of the cattle industry. They have adopted the best practices of the manufacturing industry, which has historically been wildly successful. Some of these innovations include assembly line production, quotas, use of unskilled labor, etc. This has led to corporate ranching and the wholesale slaughter of millions of head of cattle every year. And it has also allowed the U.S. to create a surplus of products in this area for consumption and exportation. However the negatives of mechanistic organization far outweigh the positives in this particular industry. Contingency theory states that the organization's type should be determinant on its environmental situation. If it is a highly stable environment it is wise to adopt mechanistic practices to optimize performance. In a less stable environment, i.e. any industry that relies on Mother Nature for its success, one should take a more organic approach.

The dangers to the mechanistic operation of ranching and the meat processing industry are many. In order to keep costs down and production high this industry employs the unskilled and oftentimes illiterate. These employees do not always understand the proper safety and regulatory laws of the industry and in order to meet their quotas corners are often cut. This can lead to severe on the job injuries as well as the improper handling of meat. And since this industry is now large enough for a few dozen plants to supply the entire United States with meat, tainted meat from one plant could potentially harm hundreds of thousands of people. The mad cow scare of a few years back brought to light some of the unsavory practices of the meat industry. However there are many more food borne illnesses that could potentially harm us, some of the know culprits are E. coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Cryptosporidium parvum, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella. The mechanistic nature of today's cattle ranching and meat packing plants makes a perfect breeding ground for a future health epidemic.

Understanding organization theory is important in helping us to discover why certain organizations work better than others do and in what circumstances they should adopt changes. I realized (while reading the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser) that in the case of the cattle industry it would be advantageous for the overall health of our nation if they would scale back their mechanistic output and implement some organic practices. But in order for the necessary changes to take place we need to challenge their social legitimacy.

A. Thompson