The machine metaphor applies most to mechanized, routinized organizations like factories and the public service. Characterized by a need to create clearly defined roles for workers, these organizations tend to perform at high levels while dehumanizing their workers. F.W Taylor, considered the father of scientific management and author of "The Principles of Scientific Management" in 1911, took a systematic approach to management, suggesting each individual in an organization could be isolated and improved to better the organization as a whole, similar to fixing a specific part for a broken car.
In "Images of Organizations," Morgan suggests organisms, unlike machines, are living entities reacting to their environment. This metaphor is examined in three parts. The contingency theory suggests organizations adapt to fit their environment. Natural selection is an adaptation of Darwin's theory focusing on the scarcity of resources and the need to compete. The organizational ecology perspective points out organizations interact with and are affected by their environment. This model helps when trying to understand the life cycle of an organization and how it evolves to new species, such as companies based on a 24/7 model.
This model highlights the information processing, learning, wit and intelligence of an organization. Morgan posed two helpful questions in exploring this metaphor: "Is it possible to design 'learning organizations' that have the capacity to be as flexible, resilient, and inventive as the functioning of the brain? Is it possible to distribute capacities for intelligence and control throughout an enterprise so that the system as a whole can self-organize and evolve along with the emerging challenges?" The brain is a complex organ capable of processing large amounts of information; therefore, this metaphor suggests organizations can handle change and should encourage a culture of risk taking.
This metaphor depicts the organization as a social construct created by the values, beliefs and behavioral patterns of its members. Morgan contrasted two organizations -- ITT, a company that focused on productivity without attending to its employees' problems, and Hewlett-Packard, a company that encouraged its employees to work together and support each other -- to illustrate the differences in organizational cultures. ITT's problems continued to plague them, leading to the development of subcultures, whereas HP succeeded in fostering an environment of shared power and influence.