Industrial and Organizational PsychologyOrganizational Development and Theory

Copyright Paul E. Spector, All rights reserved, March 15, 2005

Organizational Development, OD

• O.D.: System wide effort to apply social science principles to improve organization social system.

• Purposive and systematic change in organizational structure and/or functioning

• Change occurs constantly as organization adapts to internal and external environment

• Many changes not planned - reaction to inside and outside forces

• Planned change: Program to alter targeted aspect

•  Change agent: Usually outside person who introduces change

•  Specific techniques for change– Management by objectives

– Survey feedback

– Team building

– T‑groups

Management By Objectives

• Based on goal setting

• Interlocking goals across levels of organization

• Top officials set organization-wide goals

• Each level sets goals to achieve higher level goals

• Research suggests it leads to productivity gains

• Requires full management commitment

Management By Objectives Process

Survey Feedback

• Survey employees of organization on attitudes and opinions

• Results shared with employees as basis for change

• Steps– Design and conduct survey

– Produces report

– Presents results to organization

– Holds meetings to discuss possible actions

– Implement change

– Resurvey about reactions

• Studies suggest increased job satisfaction

Team Building

• Many techniques designed to enhance team functioning– Enhance performance

– Improve communication

– Reduce conflict

• Meetings of team with facilitator or trainer

• Team exercises to improve working together

• Results of team building are inconsistent across studies– Some have positive effects

– Some have no effects

T-Group

• Training or T-Group• Designed to enhance communication and interpersonal

skill• Conducted away from workplace for 3 days to 2 weeks• Usually strangers• Experiment with interpersonal behaviors• Positive effects on skills in training• No effect or detrimental effect at work• Some individuals hurt by experience• Concerns about ethics of requiring employees to attend

Organizational Theory

• Describe structure and functioning of organizations– Distinguishing characteristics

– Structure

– Interrelationships among people

– Interactions of people with technology

• Descriptive theory explains how organizations work

• Prescriptive theory indicates how organizations should work

Bureaucracy

• Max Weber, 19th Century

• Based on rationality in design of organization

• Rationality as efficiency

• Maximum results with minimum resources– 1. Division of labor to minute (low scope) tasks

• Minimum skill, easy selection

• Short training time

• Easily achieved criterion

– 2. Delegation of authority• Responsibility for specific functions

– 3. Span of control: Optimal

– 4. Line vs. staff functions

Theory X/Theory Y

• Focus on linkages and interpersonal relationships• Douglas McGregor• Relationship between belief system of supervisor and subordinate

behavior• Theory X

– Belief that employees are lazy and will avoid work unless watched– Basic incompatibility of worker & organization– Extrinsic motivation approach– Control via rewards and punishments

• Theory Y– Belief that employees seek challenge & responsibility– Worker & organization goals made compatible through meaningful work– Intrinsic motivation approach– Control via challenge, responsibility & trust

Open System Theory

• Daniel Katz & Robert Kahn

• Organization as an open system with 10 characteristics– 1. Importation of energy: Hire people

– 2. Through put: Transformation of energy (product creation)

– 3. Output: Produced goods and services

– 4. Cycles of events: Semesters: Raw material to finished product

– 5. Negative entropy: Tendency to run down

– 6. Information input: Marketing surveys

– 7. Homeostasis: Resistance to change

– 8. Specialization: Create different job positions

– 9. Differentiation: Movement toward specialization of function

– 10. Equifinality: System can evolve toward same end state from different initial conditions.

Sociotechnical Systems Theory

• Views organization as interplay of people and technology• Eric Trist• Studied British coal miners and technological change

– Move from short to longwall mining caused social disruption

• Joint optimization of social and technical systems– Not just fitting technology to people

• Unit control of variances– Exceptions should be handled at level encountered– Argument for greater autonomy and skill variety

• Interventions based on STS theory effective most of the time (Pasmore et al. 1982)– Improved attitudes, productivity, and safety