ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0
CONTENTS 1. OVERVIEW 2. WHAT WHAT IS IS ORGAN ORGANIZA IZATIO TIONAL NAL BEHAVI BEHAVIOR OR 3. HOW
ORGANIZ NIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR
RELATES
ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT 4. HOW
ORGANIZATIONA ONAL
BEHAVIOR
RELATES
HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT 5. HOW ORGANIZA ORGANIZATION TIONAL AL BEHAVIOR BEHAVIOR RELATES RELATES ORGANIZAT ORGANIZATIONAL IONAL THEORY THEORY 6. HOW
ORGANIZ NIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR
RELATES
ORGANIZATIONAL
PERSONAL 7. REFERENCE
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 HOW DOES ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR RELATE TO ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, PERSONAL AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ? OVERVIEW Organizational Behavior studies encompasses the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods, and levels of analysis. For instance, one textbook divides these multiple viewpoints viewpoints into three perspectives: perspectives: modern, modern, symbolic, symbolic, and postmodern. postmodern. Another Another traditional traditional dist distin inct ctio ion, n, pres present ent espec especia iall lly y in Amer Americ ican an acad academi emia, a, is betw betwee een n the the stud study y of "mic "micro ro"" organizational behavior -- which refers to individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting -- and "macro" organizational theory which studies whole organizations, how they adapt, and the strategies strategies and structures structures that guide them. To this distincti distinction, on, some scholars scholars have added an interest in "meso" -- primarily interested in power, culture, and the networks of individuals and units in organizations -- and "field" level analysis which study how whole populations of organizations interact. In Europe these distinctions do exist as well, but are more rarely reflected in departmental divisions. Whenev Whenever er people people intera interact ct in organi organizat zation ions, s, many many factor factorss come come into into play. play. Modern Modern organization organizational al studies studies attempt attempt to understand and model these factors. factors. Like all modernist social sciences, organizational studies seek to control, control, predict, predict, and explain. explain. There is some controversy over the ethics of controlling workers' behavior. As such, organizational behavior or OB (and its cousin, Industrial psychology) psychology) have at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the power powerful ful.. Those Those accusa accusatio tions ns notwit notwithst hstand anding ing,, OB can play play a major major role role in organizational development and success. One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994) "to revitalize organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of organizational life."An life." An organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theory, and is concerned to help managers and administrators. 2
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR. The discipline of organizational behavior is concerned with identifying and managing the attit attitudes udes and action actionss of indivi individual dualss and groups groups,, lookin looking g partic particula ularly rly at how people people can be motiva motivated ted to join join and remain remain in the organizat organization ion,, how to get people people to practi practice ce effect effective ive teamwork , how people can accomplish their jobs more efficiently, and how employees can be encouraged to be more flexible and innovative. Attention is brought to these attitudes and actions in order order to help help manage managers rs identi identify fy proble problems, ms, determ determine ine how to correc correctt them, them, and change change behavior so that individual performance and ultimately organization effectiveness increase. As a field of study, organizational behavior is built on a succession of approaches or ways ways of thin thinki king ng abou aboutt peop people le.. Sinc Sincee the the earl early y 1900 1900ss thos thosee who who stud studie ied d beha behavi vior or in organizations have attempted to prescribe ways to effectively manage employees in order to achiev achievee the organi organizat zation ion's 's goals. goals. The early early approa approache ches, s, referr referred ed to as the classi classical cal view, view, promoted increased management coordination of tasks, strict specialization and standardization of work tasks, a strict chain of command, and centralized decision making at the manager level. During the 1920s and 1930s the next new school of thought began to emerge, which was referred to as the human relations movement. By and large this movement began with the famous Hawthorne studies at the Western Electric plant that demonstrated how psychological and social processes could affect productivity and work behavior. This new way of thinking looked at organizational behavior by advocating a more people-oriented style of management that was more participative and oriented toward employee needs. Contemporary organizational thought has shifted to a more integrative systems approach, which includes the consideration of external influences; the relationship of the organization with managers and employees; and organizational processes, which are the activities through which work gets accomplished. In other words, the best solution for the situation depends on many factors. The organization is depicted as a number of interrelated, interdependent, and interacting subsystems that are continually changing. Those who managed by the classical approach emphasized the critical role of control and coordination in helping organizations to achieve goals. Those who managed by the human 3
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 relations approach considered the risks of high levels of control and coordination, focusing instea instead d on the need for flexibil flexibility ity.. So where where do today' today'ss manager managerss fit in? A contemp contempora orary ry approach to management recognizes that there is no one best way to manage; management approaches need to be tailored to fit the situation. The manager's role is to effectively predict, explain, and manage behavior that occurs in organizations. Particularly, managers are interested in determining why people are more or less motivated or satisfied. Managers must have a capacity to observe and understand the behavior patterns of individuals, groups, and organizations; to predict what responses will be drawn out by managerial action actions; s; and ultim ultimatel ately y to use this this underst understandi anding ng and eventu eventual al predic predictio tions ns to effectively manage employees. Behavior can be examined on three levels—the individual, the group, and the organization as a whole. Managers seek to learn more about what causes people— individually or collectively—to behave as they do in organizational settings. What motivates people? What makes some employees leaders and others not? How do people communicate and make decisions? How do organizations respond to changes in their external environments? en vironments? Although it may be said that the responsibility for studying organizational behavior rests with researchers, assessing and increasing organizational effectiveness is a primary responsibility of managers. They need to collect data about the environment in which people work and describe events, behaviors, and attitudes in order to develop plans for changing and improving behavior and and atti attitu tude des. s. Mana Manager gerss can can begin begin to under underst stan and d orga organi niza zati tion onal al behav behavio iorr by accu accura rate tely ly describing events, behaviors, and attitudes. How can this be accomplished? Data can be gathered by observing situations, surveying and interviewing employees, and looking at written documents. These methods help to objectively describe events, behaviors, and attitudes—a first step in determining their causes and then acting on them. By direct observation, for example, managers can attend meetings and then describe what is happening, such as who talks most often, what topics are discussed, or how frequently those atte attend ndin ing g the the meet meetin ing g ask ask for for the the mana manager gers' s' view viewpo poin intt on the the topi topic. c. In addi additi tion, on, surv survey ey 4
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 questionnaires could be sent to employees; these might provide concrete data about the situation, proving more useful than relying solely on personal perception of events. Sending the same questionnaire to employees each year could provide some insight into changes in behavior and attitude over time. Employees could also be interviewed in order to examine attitudes in greater depth. Some valuable information about attitudes and opinions may also be gathered by talking informally with employees. Finally, data could be gathered from organizational documents, including annual reports, department evaluations, memoranda, and other no confidential personnel files. An analysis of these documents might provide some insight into the attitudes of employees, the quality of management, group interactions, or other possible reasons behind the problems or situation.
HOW ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR RELATES ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Organizational development (OD) is a planned, ongoing effort by organizations to change in order to become more effective. The need for organizational change becomes apparent when a gap exists between what an organization is trying to do and what is actually being accomplished. OD processes include using a knowledge of behavioral science to encourage an organizational culture of continual examination and readiness for change. In that culture, emphasis is placed on interpersonal and group processes. The fact that OD links human processes such as leadership, decision making, and communication with organizational outcomes such as productivity and efficiency distinguishes it from other change strategies that may rely solely on the principles of accounting or finance. The fact that OD is planned distinguishes it from the routine changes that occur in the organ organiz izati ation on,, part partic icul ular arly ly thro throug ugh h a more more effe effect ctiv ivee and and colla collabor borat ativ ivee mana managem gemen entt or organization organization culture with special emphasis emphasis on forming forming work teams. The focus on interperson interpersonal al and group processes to improve performance recognizes that organizational change affects all members and that their cooperation is necessary to implement c hange. 5
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 The forces compelling an organization to change can be found both inside and outside the organization. Internal forces toward change can affect changes in job technology, composition of the work force, organization structure, organizational culture, and goals of the organization. There are a variety of external forces that may require managerial action: changes in market conditions, changes in manufacturing technology, changes in laws governing current products or practices, and changes in resource availability. An organization can focus OD change efforts in several areas: changes to structure, technology, and people using a variety of strategies for development. Some of the more common techniques for changing an organization's structure include changes in work design to permit more specialization or enrichment, clarification of job descriptions and job expectations, increase or decrease of the span of control, modification of policies or procedures, and changes in the power or authority structure. Another general approach to planned change involves modifications in the the techn technol ology ogy used used as tool toolss to acco accomp mpli lish sh work work.. The The assu assump mpti tion on behi behind nd enha enhanci ncing ng technology is that improved technology or work methods will lead to more efficient operations, increased productivity, or improved working conditions. Examples of technological approaches to change include changing processes for doing work, introducing or updating computers or software, software, and modifying modifying production production methods. methods. The third third general general approach approach to change focuses on the people in the organization. This approach is intended to improve employee skills, attitudes, or motivation and can take many forms, such as introducing training programs to enhance work skills, increasing communication effectiveness, developing decision-making skills, or modifying attitudes to increase work motivation.
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 HOW ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR RELATES HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT To succeed in increasingly competitive domestic and global markets, organizations must create and motivate a workforce that is able to realize competitive advantage. What type of performance is necessary to attain such an adv antage is heavily dependent on the market a firm is in and the strategic choices a firm makes. Firms that operate in markets where, for example, price is the dominant performance indicator likely will opt for producing large quantities of a limit limited ed set of product productss or servic services. es. Standar Standardiz dizati ation on and repeti repetitio tion n of work work proces processes ses will will cont contri ribut butee to high high leve levels ls of effi effici cien ency cy,, and, and, thus thus add to comp compet etit itiv ivee valu value. e. Faci Facili litat tatin ing g outstanding routine performance requires an appropriate management of human resources by creating structures, rules and procedures so that work across individual employees and groups can be coordinated and controlled in effective and efficient ways. To give another example, if innovation and being innovative are prime performance indicators an organization may prefer a strategy to offer customer made products that fulfill the unique needs of individual clients. This will lead to work processes that are primarily nonroutine in nature and demand creative workers. Such a firm needs a HRM policy that stimulates employees to engage in creative and innovative courses of actions that may substantially deviate from fixed patterns of work behavior. Creating a high performing and innovative organization also requires cooperation among employees who differ in their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Cooperation implies knowledge sharing, finding solutions together, learning from one another and realizing synergy in creative and innovative processes. This implies that HRM policies should focus on interpersonal relations, interdependencies and processes such as trust, learning, communication, and information exchange between employees. In reality firms will often try to realize a complex mix of performance indicators where, for example, efficiency, innovation, quality and delivery performance may be part off. Moreover, such patterns of performance goals may vary for different departments or work units and also change over time within one and the same firm. This will result in highly diverse work settings and job design designs. s. Conseq Consequent uently ly,, organi organizat zation ionss have have to find find the right right balanc balancee betwee between, n, for 7
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 example, using rules and procedures to optimize routine work and giving employees the freedom to be creative and proactive, and, human resource policies and interventions may help to realize this balance. Although all the staff members of our Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior have a background in social sciences, the foregoing makes clear that we operat operatee in a Facult Faculty y of Managem Management ent and Organi Organizat zation ion.. Mainst Mainstrea ream m HRM resear research ch groups groups primarily focus on the design and effectiveness of all kinds of HRM instruments and policies and most OB oriented groups study behavior with little attention for work context. As the foregoing indicates, we much more relate these HRM policies and employee behavior to, for example, organization organizational al strategy, strategy, work design, design, teamwork, teamwork, task characteris characteristics, tics, goal setting, setting, performance performance management and organizational change management. Our profile is also affected by the larger rese resear arch ch grou group p we are are part part of and and in whic which h also also engi engine neer erss and and staf stafff with with an opera operati tion onss management background participate. In all of our research projects we focus on applied research questions that address the nature nature and consequ consequence encess of human human resour resource ce polici policies es and interv intervent ention ionss in an organi organizat zation ional al context. By doing so, we are able to develop new methods or interventions that will further enhance employee motivation and competencies to contribute to the performance aimed at. Our resear research ch projec projects ts take take account account of charac character terist istics ics of the indivi individual dual employ employees ees (leader (leadershi ship, p, personality, competence, commitment, learning, leadership), but also on properties of higherlevel units such a dyads (dissimilari (dissimilarity ty between between employees, employees, interdepende interdependence, nce, trust, trust, conflict) conflict),, teams (composition, coordination, performance, innovation), organizations (diversity, culture), or even groups of organizations (supply chain networks).
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 HOW ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR RELATES ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY Organizational theories are the backbone of the field of organizational studies, which has as its objective the investigation of organizations, particularly human organizations, in order to order to bette betterr underst understand and their their struct structure ures, s, functi functions ons and proper propertie tiess for the purpos purposee of enhanc enhancing ing productivity and satisfaction. Classical theorists of the field put forth that there is a single, genera generally lly-app -applic licabl ablee way in which which to create create and operate operate an organi organizat zation ion.. However However,, curren currentt theorists take a different approach, believing in the unique nature of each organization and, therefore, in the need to seek personalized solutions, taking into account elements such as its size,
technological
requirements,
environment,
nature
of
industry,
etc.
Organizational theories are interdisciplinary, based on knowledge from the fields of psychology psychology,, political political science, science, economics, economics, anthropology and sociology. They seek to explain behavior and dynamics in both individual and group contexts. This has become increasingly significant, especially when one considers the cultural diversity in today’s typical workplace and the the need need for for globa globall inte interc rcon onnec necte tedn dnes esss and and inte intera ract ctio ion. n. As with with othe otherr soci social al scie scienc nces es,, organi organizati zationa onall studie studiess employ employss the use of data data and modeli modeling. ng. Its theories theories are many, many, some some examples of which are the theory of faceted classification, the theory of terminology and the theory of concept. By the 1980s several new organizational system theories received significant attention. These included Theory Z, a blending of American and Japanese management practices. This theory theory was a highly highly visibl visiblee one, one, in part part becaus becausee of Japan's Japan's well-doc well-docume umente nted d product productivi ivity ty improvements—and the United States' manufacturing difficulties—during that decade. Other theories, or adaptations of existing theories, emerged as well, which most observers saw as indicative of the ever-changing environment within business and industry. The study of organizations and their management and production structures and philosophies continued to thrive throughout the 1990s. Indeed, an understanding of various organizational principles continues to be seen as vital to the success of all kinds of organizations—from 9
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 govern governmen mentt agenci agencies es to busine business— ss—of of all shapes shapes and sizes, sizes, from from conglom conglomera erates tes to small small bus busin ines esse ses. s. "As "As we obse observ rvee how how diff differ eren entt prof profes essi siona onals ls work workin ing g in diff differ erent ent kinds kinds of organizations and occupational communities make their case, we see we are still far from having a single single 'theor 'theory' y' of organi organizat zation ion develop developmen ment," t," wrote wrote Jay R. Galbra Galbraith ith in Compet Competing ing with with Flexi Flexible ble Latera Laterall Organi Organizat zation ions. s. "Yet, "Yet, a set of common common assump assumptio tions ns is surfac surfacing ing.. We are beginning to see patterns in what works and what does not work, and we are becoming more articulate about these patterns. We are also seeing the field increasingly connected to other organi organizati zationa onall scienc sciences es and discip discipli lines nes," ," such such as inform informati ation on technol technology ogy and coordi coordinat nation ion theory.
HOW ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR RELATES ORGANIZATIONAL PERSONAL Basi Basica call lly, y, orga organi niza zati tion onal al perso persona nall is the the cult cultur uree of the the orga organi nizat zatio ion. n. Pers Person onal al is compri comprised sed of the assump assumpti tions, ons, values values,, norms norms and tangib tangible le signs signs (artif (artifacts acts)) of organi organizat zation ion members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization. Personal is one of those terms that's difficult to express distinctly, but everyone knows it when they sense it. For example, the personal of a large, for-profit corporation is quite different than that of a hospital which is quite different that of a university. You can tell the personal of an organization by looking at the arrangement of furniture, what they brag about, what what memb member erss wear wear,, etc. etc. Simi Simila larr to what what you you can can use use to get get a feel feelin ing g about about some someon one's e's personality. Corporate personal can be looked at as a system. Inputs include feedback from, example; society, professions, laws, stories, heroes, values on competition or service, etc. The process is based on our assumptions, values and norms, example; our values on money, time, facilities, space and people. Outputs or effects of our culture are, example; organizational behaviors, technologies, strategies, image, products, services, appearance, etc.
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 The The conce concept pt of perso persona nall is part partic icul ular arly ly impor importa tant nt when when atte attemp mpti ting ng to mana manage ge organization-wide change. Practitioners are coming to realize that, despite the best-laid plans, organi organizati zationa onall change change must must includ includee not only only changin changing g struct structure uress and proces processes ses,, but also also changing the corporate culture as well. There's been a great deal of literature generated over the past decade about the concept of organi organizati zationa onall person personal al -- partic particula ularly rly in regard regard to learni learning ng how to change change organi organizat zation ional al personal. Organizational change efforts are rumored to fail the vast majority of the time. Usually, this failure is credited to lack of understanding about the strong role of personal and the role it plays in organizations. That's one of the reasons that many strategic planners now place as much emphasis on identifying strategic values as they do mission and vision.
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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 201 0 REFERENCE BOOKS : •
Organizati Organizational onal behavior behavior ; john middleton ;Capstone Publishing Publishing (a Wiley Wiley company), company), ISBN 1-84112-285-8.
•
Orga Organi niza zati tiona onall V.G. V.G. Konda Kondalk lkar ar,, Publ Publis ishe hed d by New New Age Age Inte Intern rnat atio ional nal (P) (P) Ltd. Ltd.,, Publishers; ISBN (13) : 978-81-224-2487-4.
•
John Bratton, human resource management; theory and practices 2nd edition, ISBN 08058-3862-7.
INTERNET •
Answers.com; organizational behavior and development ; http://www.answers.com/topic/organizational-behavior-and-development
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http://www.answers.com/Organizational Behavior and personal
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Wikipedia; Overview of Organizational.
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