Organizational Behaviour (Unit 1)

organizational behaviour & management

Organizations & Social Inventions

• O: social inventions for accomplishing common goals through group effort

• SI: involves cordinated presence of people (not things)

Orginizational Behaviour Focuses

• understanding people & manging them to work effectively

• how orgs can survive/adapt to change

• how to get people to practice effective teamwork

Behaviours Needed for Survival & Adaptation

• moviated to join/remain in org

• carry out basic work reliably

• willing to continuously learn

• flexible/innovative (most important)

Group Effort

• depend on coordination among people to accomplish goals

• most phys/intellectual work done in groups

Organizational Behaviour

= attitudes/behaviours of individuals & groups in org

• systemically studies (ex. anyonmous survey) a/b → provides insight into effectivley managing/changing them

• how org can be structured effectivley + impact of external enviorment

Human Resources Management

• programs/systems to aquire/motivate/retain employees

• OB provides theoretical basis

Human Capital v Social Capital

H:

• knowledge/skills/abilities (KSAs) embodied in orgs employees

• strongly related to org performance

S:

• social resources individuals gain from being involved in a social structure

• ex. interpersonal relationships→ creates value for individuals/org

3 Goals of Organizational Behaviour

• predict: scientific foundation to make predictions

• explain: need to be able to explain why to manage

• manage: address spec causes/manage to prevent in future

Evidence Based Management

using scientific evidence to create org practices

Classical Viewpoint

• early 1900’s

• experienced managers/consultants (military settings/factories/etc)

• ↑ specilization/efficency (orgs like machines)

• departments tend to own affairs, centralized decision making

• suggested: managers have few workers (except low level jobs → machine pacing substitutes for supervision)

Scientific Management

• Fredick Taylor (contributed to classical)

• system for using research to determine optimum degree of specilization & standadization of work tasks (minimize waste)

Bureaucracy

(before: management based on intuition, nepotism, favouritism)

Max Weber’s (manage rationally) ideal org:

• strict chain of command

• detailed rules

• high specialization

• centralized power

• selection/promotion based on tech competence

(workers must conform→ given fair chance of promotion)

Hawthrone Studies

• research in 1920s & 1930’s @ hawthorne plant of western electric

• began hr movement

• physiological/social processes affect productivity & work adjustment (know theyre being observed/people care)

Human Relations Movement

• critique of classical management/bureaucracy

• advocated management styles more participative/oriented to employee needs

4 points

• flexible

• open communication

• employee participation in decision making

• decentralized control

Contingency Approach

• recognizes there is no single best way to manage

• appropriate management style depends on demands of situation

Management Roles: Informational

ways managers recieve/transmit info

• monitor: scan in/ex enviornments → informed of new ideas (ex. attend professional confrence)

• disseminator: send info on facts/prefrences to others (ex. summarize what learned in confrence to employees)

• spokesperson: sends msgs into orgs external enviorment (ex. interview)

Management Roles: Interpersonal

establish/maintain interpersonal relations

• figurehead: serve as symbols of the org (not active decision makers) (ex. sign legal docs)

• leadership: select/mentor/reward/discipline employees

• liaison: maintain horizontal contacts in/out of org (ex. discuss project w colleage in another department)

Management Roles: Decisional

• entrepreneur: turn problems/oppurtuinties into plans for change (ex. suggest new product)

• disturbance handler: deal w problems stemming from employee conflicts or threats to resources

• resource allocator: decide how to deploy time/money/personnel/etc.

• negotiator: conduct negotiations w other orgs/people

Managerial Activities

• routine communication: send/recieve info (meetings) + paperwork

• traditional management: planning, decision making, controlling

• networking: interacting w people outside org & informational socializing

• HR management: motiviating/reinforcing, discipline/punish, manage conflict, training

(focusing on 1 led to managerial success)

Managerial Agendas (Kotter)

• agenda setting: devloped agendas of goals for org, more concerned w “people issues”

• networking: form network of people in/out of org , provides info/cooperative relationships (helped w agenda)

• agenda implementation: use network to implement agenda

(necessary: informal interaction + concern w people issues)

Thought Processes of Managers (Herbert Simon + Daniel Isenberg)

focus: mangerial intuition

• sense spec problem exists

• perform well learned mental tasks quick

• synthesize isolated info/data

• double check formal/mech analyses

International Managers

must adapt to cross-cultural differences to successfully interact with potential clients

Contemporary Management Concerns: Diversity (local & global)

• age/gender/race/LGBTQ/disabilites

• create new programs to adapt to change (ex. flexible benefit plans, compressed workdays, part time)

• important when going global (need to understand how workforce/customers in diff countries are diverse)

Contemporary Management Concerns: Employee Heath & Well-Being

• high level of absenteeism → could be due to increased stress levels + poor designed jobs

• more stress/unable to achieve work life balance (work related illness on rise)

• mental illness causes billions in loss/leading disability cause

• now implementing mental health initiatives → prioritize mental health

Essential Components of Psychologically Healthy Work Place

• work life balance

• health/saftey

• employee growth/devlopment

• employee recognition/involvement

Workplace Spirituality & Organizational Care

WS: workplace provides employees w meaning, purpose, sense of community

OC:

org values/principles focused on

• fulfilling employee needs

• promoting best interests

• valuing employee contributions

(helps w engagement/productivity/mental health)

Positive Orginizational Behaviour (POB)

• study/application of pos oriented HR strengths/psychological capacities

• capacities can be measured/devloped for improved performance

Psychological Capital (PsyCap)

• individuals pos psychological state of devlopment

• characterized by self efficacy, optimism, resilence (not fixed traits → spec work related)

• use PsyCap interventions (PCI) to enhance PsyCap

Contemporary Management Concerns: Talent Management & Work Engagement

• T: orgs process/practices for attracting/devloping/retaining people w required skills to meet current/future org needs

• W: pos work related state of mind, characterizied by vigour, dedication, absorption

(important for survival/competivness of org)

Contemporary Management Concerns: Alternative Work Arrangements

part time, temp/contract work

aka precarious work:

• risky/unpredictable for workers

• unstable/short term, low/unreliable pay, no benefits, inconsistent hours, few rights

• becoming more common (neg impacts)

Contemporary Management Concerns: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• org taking responsibility for impact of its decisions/actions of stakeholders (society, employee, community it opperates in)

• how org performs core funcs in socially responsible way

Organizational Structures: Organic

• not rigid

• little hierarchy

• employees: varitey of skills

• decentralized decison making

• company can be very innovative

Organizational Structures: Mechanistic

= cost minimization

• in stable enviornments

• tightly contolled costs

• limited unneeded innovation/marketing

• rigid

• lots of rules/hieracies

• centralized decision making

Other Fields Involved in OB

• psych: behaviour of humans

• social psych: how people influence eachother

• sociology: group behaviour in org

• anthropology: looks @ diff cultures/enviornments

Research Methods

• surveys: open/close ended q’s (c= eaiser to summarize/interpret)

• lab studies: controlled enviornment, hard to generalize findings

• case studies: descriptive study of person/sm group

• meta-analyses: summarize what others have found, finds overall conclusion

• field studies: research in org → observe real world

Management

getting tasks accomplished in org through others

• = analysis + action

• analyze problems systemically

• make decisions based on gathered info

Henry Ford

assembly line

• management controls sequence of tasks (workers lose control of pace/variety)

• more efficient → works hated (quit often)