Introduction To The Field Of Organizational Behaviour

Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior

What are Organizations?  Groups of people who work

interdependently toward some purpose 

 

Structured patterns of interaction Coordinated tasks Work toward some purpose

Why Study Organizational Behavior Understand organizational events

Organizational Behavior Research Influence organizational events

Predict organizational events

Trends: Globalization  Economic, social, and cultural connectivity with

people in other parts of the world  Effects of globalization on organizations:     

Greater efficiencies and knowledge sources Ethical issues about economies of developing countries New organizational structures and communication Greater workforce diversity More competitive pressure, demands on employees

Trends: Information Technology Blurs temporal and spatial boundaries between

employees and organizations Re-designs jobs and power relationships Increases value of knowledge management Supports telecommuting Supports virtual teams

Telecommuting An alternative work arrangement where employees

work at home or remote site, usually with a computer connection to the office Tends to increase productivity and empowerment, reduce stress and costs Problems with lack of recognition, lack of social interaction

Trends: Changing Workforce Primary and secondary diversity -- but concerns

about distinguishing people by ethnicity More women in workforce and professions Different needs of Gen-X/Gen-Y and baby-boomers Diversity has advantages, but firms need to adjust

Trends: Employment Relationship Employability  

“New deal” employment relationship Continuously learn new skills

Contingent work   

No contract for long-term employment Free agents, temporary-temporaries Minimum hours of work vary

Employability vs Job Security Job Security

Employability

• Lifetime job security

• Limited job security

• Jobs are permanent

• Jobs are temporary

• Company manages career

• Career self-management

• Low emphasis on skill development

• High emphasis on skill development

Trends: Workplace Values & Ethics  Values are long-lasting beliefs about what is

important in a variety of situations  

Define right versus wrong --guide our decisions Values relate to individuals, companies, professions, societies, etc.

 Importance values due to:    

Need to guide employee decisions and actions Globalization increases awareness of different values Increasing emphasis on applying ethical values Ethics -- study of moral principles or values

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility  Organization’s moral obligation toward its stakeholders Stakeholders  Shareholders, customers, suppliers, governments etc. Triple bottom line philosophy  Economic, Social & Environmental

Organizational Behavior Anchors Multidisciplinary Anchor Open Systems Anchor

Organizational Behavior Anchors

Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor

Systematic Research Anchor

Contingency Anchor

Open Systems Anchor of OB Feedback

Feedback

Subsystem

Inputs

Subsystem

Organization Subsystem

Subsystem

Outputs

Knowledge Management Defined Any structured activity that

improves an organization’s capacity to acquire, share, and use knowledge for its survival and success

Intellectual Capital Human Capital

Knowledge that people possess and generate

Structural Capital

Knowledge captured in systems and structures

Relationship Capital

Values derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

Knowledge Management Processes

Knowledge acquisition

Knowledge sharing

Knowledge use

• Grafting

• Communication

• Awareness

• Individual learning

• Communities of practice

• Empowerment

• Experimentation

Organizational Behaviour . . . a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. The Importance of Organizational Behavior 

  

People as organizations People as resources People as people

The Nature of Organizational Behavior

Challenges at 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

Workplace

The Rigour of OB OB looks at consistencies  What is common about behaviour, and helps predictability? OB is more than common sense  Systematic study, based on scientific evidence OB has few absolutes OB takes a contingency approach  Considers behaviour in context

Beyond Common Sense Systematic Study  Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence Behaviour is generally predictable There are differences between individuals There are fundamental consistencies There are rules (written & unwritten) in almost every setting

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field Psychology Sociology Social Psychology Anthropology Political Science

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field (cont’d)

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field (cont’d)

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field (cont’d)

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field (cont’d)

Summary and Implications  OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that

individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within an organization.  OB focuses on improving productivity, reducing absenteeism and turnover, and increasing employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment.  OB uses systematic study to improve predictions of behaviour.

The Historical Roots of Organizational Behavior  Scientific Management Era (early 1900s) 

Frederick W. Taylor Studied the efficiency and productivity of individual workers. Systematically studied jobs to eliminate soldiering. Promoted standardized job performance methods. Implemented piece-rate based incentive pay systems. Taylor’s innovations boosted productivity markedly.

 Other Pioneers   

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Henry Gantt Harrington Emerson

Scientific Management  Positive Attributes  

Facilitated job specialization and mass production. Demonstrated to managers their role in enhancing performance and productivity.

 Negative Attributes  



Labor opposed scientific management because its explicit goal was to get more output from workers. Critics argued that Taylor’s methods and ideas would dehumanize the workplace and reduce workers to little more than drones. Theorists later argued that Taylor’s views of employee motivation were inadequate and narrow.

The Historical Roots of Organizational Behavior Classical Organization Theory 



This perspective was concerned with structuring organizations effectively. Whereas scientific management studied how individual workers could be made more efficient, organization theory focused on how a large number of workers and managers could be organized most effectively into an overall structure.

Major Contributors to Classical Organization Theory  Henri Fayol 

French executive and engineer.

 Lyndall Urwick 

British executive.

 Max Weber  

German Sociologist. Proposed a “bureaucratic” form of structure based on logic, rationality, and efficiency that was assumed to be the most efficient (universal) approach to structuring for all organizations.

The Emergence of Organizational Behavior  Legacy of Scientific Management and Classical

Organizational Theory 



Rationality, efficiency, and standardization were the central themes of both scientific management and classic organization theory. The roles of individuals and groups in organizations were either ignored or given only minimal attention.

 The Hawthorne Studies (1927–1932)  

Focused attention on the role of human behavior in the workplace. Led directly to the emergence of organizational behavior as a field of study.

The Hawthorne Studies (1927–1932)  Involved two studies conducted by Elton Mayo at Western

Electric’s plant near Chicago:  

The effects of lighting on productivity. The effectiveness of a piecework incentive system.

 The studies yielded surprising results:   

In the lighting study, productivity went up because the workers were singled out for special treatment. In the incentive system experiment, social pressures caused the workers to vary their work rates. As a result of the Hawthorne studies, researchers concluded that the human element in the workplace was more important than previously thought.

The Emergence of Organizational Behavior  The Human Relations Movement     

People respond primarily to their social environment. Motivation depends on social, not economic needs. Satisfied employees work harder than dissatisfied employees. Douglas McGregor – Theory X and Theory Y Abraham Maslow – Hierarchy of needs

 Toward Organizational Behavior: The Value of People 

Organizational behavior reached maturity as a field of study in the late 1950s .

Contextual Perspectives on Organizational Behavior The Systems Perspective 

A system is an interrelated set of elements that function as a whole.

The Systems Approach 

Provides a framework for understanding how the elements of an organization interact among themselves and with their environment.

Contextual Perspectives on Organizational Behavior The Universal Perspective 

Suggests that whenever a manager encounters a problem, a universal approach exists that will lead to the desired outcome.

The Contingency Perspective 

Suggests that whenever a manager encounters a problem, the approach to use is contingent on other variables.

The Systems Approach to Organizations

Contextual Perspectives on Organizational Behavior Interactionalism: People and Situations  First presented in terms of interactional psychology, this view assumes that individual behavior results from a continuous and multidirectional interaction between the characteristics of the person and the characteristics of the situation.  Interactionalism attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and change various situations

There Are Few Absolutes in OB

x

Contingency Variables

y

The Independent Variables

Independent Variables

Individual-Level Variables

Group-Level Variables

Organization System-Level Variables

The Dependent Variables

y

x

The Dependent Variables (cont’d)

The Dependent Variables (cont’d)

The Dependent Variables (cont’d)

The Dependent Variables (cont’d)