by Donald Clark
Contents
Organisational Theory and Behaviour
Managers
are people who do things right, while leaders are people who
do the right thing.
- Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a
Leader"
Rationale
Organizational Studies, Organizational Behavior1, and Organizational Theory are related terms for the academic study of organizations, examining them using the methods of economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and psychology. Related practical disciplines include human resources (HR) and industrial and organizational psychology.
|
 |
Today's Videos
- Connect with us on http://www.youtube.com/finntrack
- Google's Playlists
Teaching and Learning Resources
Introduction
Organisational Behaviour is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organisations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organisation relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organisation, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organisational objectives, and social objectives.
As you can see from the definition above, organisational behaviour encompasses a wide range of topics, such as human behaviour, change, leadership, teams, etc. Since these many of these topics are discussed in other sections of this leadership guide, this section will not go into topics previously discussed.
Elements of Organisational Behaviour
The organisation's base rests on management's philosophy, values, vision and goals. This in turn drives the organisational culture which is composed of the formal organisation, informal organisation, and the social environment. The culture determines the type of leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the organisation The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which directs their degree of motivation. The final outcome are performance, individual satisfaction, and personal growth and development. All these elements combine to build the model or framework that the organisation operates from.
Models of Organisational Behaviour
There are four major models or frameworks that organisations. operate out of:
 |
Autocratic - The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The employee need that is met is subsistence. The performance result is minimal. |
|
Custodial - The basis of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefits and dependence on the organisation The employee need that is met is security. The performance result is passive co-operation. |
|
Supportive - The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The employees in turn are oriented towards job performance and participation. The employee need that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is awakened drives. |
|
Collegial - The basis of this model is partnership
with a managerial orientation of teamwork. The
employees in turn are oriented towards responsible
behaviour and self-discipline. The employee need
that is met is self-actualisation. The performance
result is moderate enthusiasm. |
Classifying/Modelling
Organisation Culture
Although there are four separate models, almost no organisation operates exclusively in one. There will usually be a predominate one, with one or more areas overlapping in the other models.
The first model, autocratic, had its roots in the industrial revolution. The managers of this type of organisation operate out of McGregor's Theory X. The next three models begin to build on McGregor's Theory Y. They have each evolved over a period of time and there is no one "best" model. The collegial model should not be thought as the last or best model, but the beginning of a new model or paradigm.
Social Systems, Culture, and Individualisation
A
social system is a complex set of human relationships
interacting in many ways. Within an organisation,
the social system includes all the people in it and
their relationships to each other and to the outside
world. The behaviour of one member can have an impact,
either directly or indirectly, on the behaviour of
others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries...it
exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment
around it.
Culture is the conventional behaviour of a society
that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge, and
practices. It influences human behaviour, even though
it seldom enters into their conscious thought. People
depend on culture as it gives them stability, security,
understanding, and the ability to respond to a given
situation. This is why people fear change. They fear
the system will become unstable, their security will
be lost, they will not understand the new process,
and they will not know how to respond to the new situations.
Individualisation is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by challenging the culture.
Low Individualisation High
|
Too little socialisation and too little individualisation creates isolation. |
|
Too high socialisation and too little individualisation creates conformity. |
|
Too little socialisation and too high individualisation creates rebellion |
|
While the match that organisations. want to create is high socialisation and high individualisation for a creative environment. This is what it takes to survive in a very competitive environment...having people grow with the organisation, but doing the right thing when others want to follow the easy path. |
This can become quite a balancing act. Individualism favours individual rights, loosely knit social networks, self respect, and personal rewards and careers. It becomes look out for number 1! Socialisation or collectivism favours the group, harmony, and asks "What is best for the organisation?" Organisations. need people to challenge, question, and experiment while still maintaining the culture that binds them into a social system.
Organisation Development
Organisation
Development (OD) is the systematic application of
behavioural science knowledge at various levels, such
as group, inter-group, organisation, etc., to bring
about planned change. Its objectives is a higher quality
of work-life, productivity, adaptability, and effectiveness.
It accomplishes this by changing attitudes, behaviours,
values, strategies, procedures, and structures so
that the organisation can adapt to competitive actions,
technological advances, and the fast pace of change within the environment.
There are seven characteristics of OD:
|
Humanistic Values: Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregor's Theory Y). |
|
Systems Orientation: All parts of the organisation, to include structure, technology, and people, must work together. |
|
Experiential Learning: The learners' experiences in the training environment should be the kind of human problems they encounter at work. The training should NOT be all theory and lecture. |
|
Problem Solving: Problems are identified, data is gathered, corrective action is taken, progress is assessed, and adjustments in the problem solving process are made as needed. This process is known as Action Research. |
|
Contingency Orientation: Actions are selected and adapted to fit the need. |
|
Change Agent: Stimulate, facilitate, and co-ordinate change. |
|
Levels of Interventions: Problems can occur at one or more level in the organisation so the strategy will require one or more interventions. |
Quality of Work Life (QWL)
Quality of Work Life is the favorableness or unfavorableness of the job environment. Its purpose is to develop jobs and working conditions that are excellent for both the employees and the organisation One of the ways of accomplishing QWL is through job design. Some of the options available for improving job design are:
|
Leave the job as is but employ only people who like the rigid environment or routine work. Some people do enjoy the security and task support of these kinds of jobs. |
|
Leave the job as is, but pay the employees more. |
|
Mechanise and automate the routine jobs. Let robots handle it. |
|
And the area that OD loves - redesign the job. |
When redesigning jobs there are two spectrums
to follow - job enlargement and job enrichment. Job
enlargement adds a more variety of tasks and duties
to the job so that it is not as monotonous. This takes
in the breadth of the job. That is, the number
of different tasks that an employee performs. This can
also be accomplished by job rotation.
Job enrichment, on the other hand, adds additional motivators. It adds depth to the job - more control, responsibility, and discretion to how the job is performed. This gives higher order needs to the employee, as opposed to job enlargement which simply gives more variety. The chart below illustrates the differences:
The benefits of enriching jobs include:
|
Growth of the individual |
|
Individuals have better job satisfaction |
|
Self-actualisation of the individual |
|
Better employee performance for the organisation |
|
Organisation gets intrinsically motivated employees |
|
Less absenteeism, turnover, and grievances for the organisation |
|
Full use of human resources for society |
|
Society gains more effective organisations. |
There are a variety of methods for improving
job enrichment:
|
Skill Variety: Perform different tasks that require different skill. This differs from job enlargement which might require the employee to perform more tasks, but require the same set of skills. |
|
Task Identity: Create or perform a complete piece of work. This gives a sense of completion and responsibility for the product. |
|
Task Significant: This is the amount of impact that the work has on other people as the employee perceives. |
|
Autonomy: This gives employees discretion and control over job related decisions. |
|
Feedback: Information that tells workers how well they are performing. It can come directly from the job (task feedback) or verbally form someone else. |
Recommended Texts
 |
Classics
of Organization Theory Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.
|
 |
The
Drucker Foundation : The Organization of the Future Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.
|
 |
Organizational
Behaviour - A Critical Introduction This book provides a critical, alternative introduction to Organizational Behaviour, drawing mainly on the sociology of work. Fiona Wilson examines issues including: what work means to both managers and workers; the history and logic of the rationalization of work; the influence of power, control and resistance; deviance; bureaucracy; unemployment; stress; and alternative organizational forms. This book is written for those lecturers and students who wish to break away from traditional approaches to Organizational Behaviour which set Perception, Motivation and Leadership as the core of the subject whilst neglecting sociological issues of power and control, gender and race, class and education. Illustrated by the cartoonist Angela Martin, this book seeks to reinstate sociological insight at the centre of the study of the workplace and will provide a welcome alternative to traditional student introductions to Organizational Behaviour. Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.
|
 |
Principles of Organizational Behaviour Resources Principles of Organizational Behaviour 3/e is a comprehensive and genuinely multi-disciplinary course book for undergraduate and post-experience students of business and management. Drawing on their academic and professional experience, Robin Fincham and Peter Rhodes bring their combined expertise to all aspects of the discipline, including occupational psychology, group dynamics, and work and organizations Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop. |
Resources
