Organisational Behaviour

OB-1: The field of Organisational Behaviour

Evolution of Management Thought

Organizational Behavior

Human Relations

Hawthorne Studies

Scientific Management

1900’s

1940’s

1970’s

Classical Organization Theory

What is an Organization?

A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

The Organization as an Iceberg Metaphor

What is Organizational Behavior?

. . . a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.

What is Organizational Behavior?

Organizational Behavior is the study of– how people behave in

organizations (descriptive)– how to improve behavior to

accomplish organizational goals (normative)

The study of the actions of people at work

Fundamental Concepts of O.B.

• Individual Differences

• A Whole Individual• Behavior is Caused• Human Dignity• Organisations are

social system• Mutuality of Interest

Why Do We Study OB?

• To learn about yourself and how to deal with others

• You are part of an organization now, and will continue to be a part of various organizations

• Organizations are increasingly expecting individuals to be able to work in teams, at least some of the time

• You want to be a manager or entrepreneur

• Understanding of the organizational factors that influence work

• Understanding of how the work environment shapes organizational performance

Understanding and managing

individual behavior

Understanding and managing

group and social processes

Understanding and managing organizational processes and

problems

Organizational effectiveness

through continuous

improvement

Managers responsible for

achieving organizational

results with and through

others

External Environment (Cultural Context)Organization

(Structure, Culture, Change)

Why Do We Study OB?

Organizational Behavior

• Purpose: Achieve better understanding and management of people at work.

• Ultimately: It is all about Explain, Predict and Control

____________?

Basic OB Model, Stage I

Organization systems level

Group level

Individual level

Basic OB Model, Stage II

AbilityHuman

input

Values and attitudes

Motivation Individual

decision making

Personality Perception

Biographical

characteristics

Leadership

Work design

and

technology

Organizational

culture

Change and

stress

Group

decision making

Other

groups ConflictPower and

politics

Work

teams

Individual Level

Group Level

OrganizationSystems Level

Satisfaction

Organizational

commitment

Turnover

Absence

Productivity

Workplace

interaction

Human

output

CommunicationGroup

structure

Human resource

policies and

practices

Organization

structure

and design

Individual Differences

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

• Psychology

• Sociology

• Social Psychology

• Anthropology

• Political Science

Toward an OB Discipline

Social psychology

Psychology

Behavioural science

Contribution Unit ofanalysis

Output

Anthropology

Sociology

Political science

Study ofOrganizational

Behaviour

Organizationsystem

LearningMotivationPerceptionTrainingLeadership effectivenessJob satisfactionIndividual decision makingPerformance appraisalAttitude measurementEmployee selectionWork designWork stress

Group dynamicsWork teamsCommunicationPowerConflictIntergroup behaviour

Formal organization theoryOrganizational technologyOrganizational changeOrganizational culture

ConflictIntraorganizational politicsPower

Organizational cultureOrganizational environment

Behavioural changeAttitude changeCommunicationGroup processesGroup decision making

Group

Comparative valuesComparative attitudesCross-cultural analysis

Individual

Challenges Facing the Workplace

Workplace

Organizational Level

• Productivity• Developing Effective Employees• Global Competition• Managing in the Global Village

Group Level

• Working With Others• Workforce Diversity

Individual Level

• Job Satisfaction• Empowerment• Behaving Ethically

Evolution of 21st Century Managers

Primary resourcePotential problemView of People

Knowledge (technical and interpersonal)

Formal authorityPrimary Source of Influence

Skills, resultsTime, effort, rankCompensation Criteria

Continuous, life-long learning, generalist with multiple specialties

Periodic learning, narrow specialist

Learning and Knowledge

Facilitator, team member, teacher, advocate, sponsor, coach

Order giver, privileged elite, manipulator, controller

Primary Role

Future Managers

Past Managers

Evolution of 21st Century Managers

Cooperative (win-win)Competitive (win-lose)

Nature of Interpersonal Relationships

ForethoughtAfterthoughtEthical Considerations

Broad-based input for joint decisions

Limited input for individual decisions

Decision-making Style

MultidirectionalVerticalPrimary Communication Pattern

Future ManagersPast Managers

Evolution of 21st Century Managers

FacilitateResistApproach to Change

Share and broaden access

Hoard and restrict access

Handling of Power and Key Information

Future ManagersPast Managers

Team Activity

Is OB a commonsense?

Is OB commonsense?

1. People who are satisfied with one job tend to be satisfied with other jobs as well.

2. Because “two heads are better than one,” groups make better decisions than individuals.

3. The best leaders always act the same, regardless of the situation they face.

4. Specific goals make people nervous; people work better when asked simply to do their best.

5. People get bored easily, so they welcome organizational change.

6. Money is the best motivator.

7. Today’s organizations are more rigidly structured than ever before.

.

Is OB commonsense?

8. People generally shies away from challenging jobs.

9. Using multiple channels of communication adds on to confusion.

10. Conflict in organization is always disruptive

11. All individuals are most productive when their boss is friendly, trusting, and approachable.

12. Interviews are effective selection devices for separating job applicants who would be high-performing employees from those who would be low performers.

13. Most people are much more concerned with the size of their own salaries than with the size of other people’s salaries.

Is OB commonsense?

1. True2. False3. False4. False5. False6. False7. False8. False9. False10. False11. False12. False13. False

PUSHING PAPER CAN BE FUN

• At one of the sessions in a seminar was motivation- how we can get public servants motivated to do a good job/. The plight of police captain became the central focus of the discussion:

• I have got a real problem with my officers. They come on the force as young, inexperienced rookies, and we send them out on the street, either in cars or on a beat. They seem to like the contact they have with the public, the action involved in crime prevention, and the apprehension of criminals. They also like helping people out at fires, accidents, and other emergencies.

• The problem occurs hen they get back to the station. They hate to do the paperwork, and because they dislike it, the job is frequently put off or done ineffectively. This lack of attention hurts us later on when we get to court. We need clear, factual reports.

PUSHING PAPER CAN BE FUN

• They must be highly detailed and unambiguous. As soon as one part of the report is shown to be inadequate or incorrect, the rest of the report is suspect. Poor reporting probably causes us to lose more cases than any other factor.

• I just don’t know how to motivate them to do a better job. We’re in a budget crunch and I have no financial rewards at my disposal. In fact, we’ll probably have to lay some people off in the near future. It’s hard for me to make the job interesting and challenging because it isn’t- it’s boring, routine paperwork, and there isn’t much you can do about it.

• Finally, I can’t say to them that their promotion will hinge on the excellence of their paperwork. First of all, they know it’s not true.

PUSHING PAPER CAN BE FUN

• If their performance is adequate, most are more likely to get promoted just by staying on the force a certain number of years than for some outstanding act. Second, they were trained to do the job they do out in the streets, not to fill out forms. All through their career it is the arrests and interventions that get noticed.

• Some people have suggested a number of things, like using conviction records as a performance criterion. However, we know that’s not fair- too many other things are involved. Bad paperwork increases the chances that you lose in court, but good paperwork doesn’t necessarily mean you will win. E tried up team competitions based upon the excellence of the reports, but the officers caught on to that pretty quickly. No one was getting any type of reward for winning it.

PUSHING PAPER CAN BE FUN

• and they figured why should they bust a gut when there was no payoff.

• I just don’t know what to do..

PUSHING PAPER CAN BE FUN

• Discussion questions

1. What performance problem is the captain trying to correct/

2. Use the MARS model of individual behaviour and performance to diagnose the possible cause of the unacceptable behaviour.