organizational behavior

Organisational Behavior, Do Tien Long

What is Organizational Behavior?

Lecturer: Do Tien Long09 04 51 54 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


After studying this chapter, you shouldbe able to:

1. Describe what managers do.2. Define organizational behavior (OB).3. Explain the value of the systematic study

of OB.4. Identify the contributions made by major

behavioral science disciplines to OB.5. List the major challenges and

opportunities for managers to use OB concepts.

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What Managers DoWhat Managers Do

Managerial Activities• Make decisions• Allocate resources• Direct activities of others

to attain goals

Managerial Activities• Make decisions• Allocate resources• Direct activities of others

to attain goals

Managers (or administrators)Individuals who achieve goals through other people.


Where Managers WorkWhere Managers WorkOrganizationA 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.


Management FunctionsManagement Functions

PlanningPlanningPlanning OrganizingOrganizingOrganizing

LeadingLeadingLeadingControllingControllingControlling

ManagementFunctions

ManagementManagementFunctionsFunctions


Management Functions (cont’d)Management Functions (cont’d)PlanningA process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing plans to coordinate activities.


Management Functions (cont’d)Management Functions (cont’d)OrganizingDetermining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.


Management Functions (cont’d)Management Functions (cont’d)LeadingA function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.


Management Functions (cont’d)Management Functions (cont’d)ControllingMonitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.


Mintzberg’s Managerial RolesMintzberg’s Managerial Roles

E X H I B I T 1–1E X H I B I T 1–1Source: Adapted from The Nature of Managerial Work by H. Mintzberg. Copyright © 1973 by H. Mintzberg. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education.


Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles (cont’d)Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles (cont’d)

E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)Source: Adapted from The Nature of Managerial Work by H. Mintzberg. Copyright © 1973 by H. Mintzberg. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education.


Management SkillsManagement SkillsTechnical skillsThe ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.

Human skillsThe ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups.

Conceptual SkillsThe mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.


Skills Needed at Different Levels of Management

Topmanagement

Middlemanagement

First-linemanagement

Human

Human

Human

Technical

Technical

Technical

Conceptual

ConCeptual

Conceptual


Effective Versus Successful Managerial Activities (Luthans)

Effective Versus Successful Managerial Activities (Luthans)

1. Traditional management• Decision making, planning, and controlling

2. Communication• Exchanging routine information and processing

paperwork

3. Human resource management• Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing,

and training

4. Networking• Socializing, politicking, and interacting with others

1. Traditional management• Decision making, planning, and controlling

2. Communication• Exchanging routine information and processing

paperwork

3. Human resource management• Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing,

and training

4. Networking• Socializing, politicking, and interacting with others


Allocation of Activities by TimeAllocation of Activities by Time


Willson’s managerial skills on 11 observable categories

Skills Exhibited by an Effective Manager

1. Clarifies goals and objectives for everyone involved

2. Encourage participation, upward communication, and suggestion

3. Plans and organizes for an orderly work flow

4. Has technical and administrative expertise to answer organization-related questions

5. Facilitates work though team building, training, coaching, and support

6. Provides feedback honestly and constructively

7. Keeps things moving by relying on schedules, deadlines, and helpful reminders

8. Controls details without being overbearing

9. Applies reasonable pressure for goals accomplishment

10. Empowers and delegates key duties to others while maintaining goal clarity & commitment

11. Recognizes good performance with rewards and positive reinforcement


Evolution of the 21st Century Manager - Robert Kreitner & Angelo Kinicki

Past Managers Future Managers

Primary role Order giver, privileged elite, controller Facilitator, team member, teacher, sponsor

Learning & Knowledge Periodic learning, narrow specialist Long-life learning, generalist with multiple specialties

Compensation criteria Time, effort, rank Skills and results

Cultural orientation Monocultural, monolingual Multicultural, multilingual

Primary source of influence Formal authority Knowledge (technical and interpersonal

View of people Potential problem Primary resource

Primary com.cation pattern Vertical Multidirectional

Decision-making style Limited input for individual decisions Broad-based input for joint decisions

Ethical considerations Afterthought Forethought

Nature of interpersonal relationships

Competitive (win – lose) Cooperative (win – win)

Handling of power and key information

Hoard and restrict access Share and broaden access

Approach to change Resist Facilitate


Enter Organizational BehaviorEnter Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior (OB)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.


Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study

Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study

Systematic studyLooking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.

Provides a means to predict behaviors.

Intuition“Gut” feelings about “why I do what I do” and “what makes others tick”.


Influences on OB.

• Individuals

• Groups

• The organisation itself

• The environment


Individuals

• Are a central feature of OB• Are a necessary part of any behavioural set• Bring to the organisation their personality, skills and

attributes, values, needs and expectations• Can create conflict if their needs and the demands of

the organisation are incompatible


Management and the individual

Management’s task is to integrate the individual & the organisation, providing a working environment that permits the satisfaction of individual needs & attainment of organisation goals


Groups• Exist in all organisations

• Are essential to organisational working and performance

• Comprise a range of different individuals

• Can develop their own hierarchies and leaders


Groups

• Can have a major influence on behaviour and performance of individual members

• Have their own structures and functions, role relationships and influences and pressure

An understanding of group structure and behaviour complements a knowledge of individual behaviour


The organisation

• Individuals & groups interact within the structure of the formal organisation

• Organisational structure is created by management to:- establish a relationship between individuals & groups- provide order and systems to direct efforts of the organisation into goal seeking activities


The organisation

• The formal structure allows people/groups to carry out organisational activities to achieve aims & objectives

• Behaviour is affected by patterns of organisational structure


Environment

The environment affects the organisation through:

• technological & scientific development• economic activity• social & cultural influences• government activities


Environment

The effects of the operation of the organisation within its environment are reflected in the:

• management of opportunities & risks

• successful achievement of organisational aims & objectives


Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)

PsychologyThe science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.


Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field (cont’d)


SociologyThe study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.




Social PsychologyAn area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on oneanother.




AnthropologyThe study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.


Behavioural science – a multidisciplinary approach

Economics Political science

Personality system(psychology)

Social system(Sociology)

Cultural system(Anthropology)


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

• Some of you may want to be managers or entrepreneurs


The importance of the study of organizational behaviour

• In its concern for the way people behave in an organizational context, organizational behaviourcan be regarded as the key to the whole area of management

• The more technical a manager’s training, the more important organisational behaviour becomes


The organisational iceberg

Source: Don Hellriegel, John W. Slocum, Jr and Richard W. Woodman, Organizational Behavior, Eighth edition, South-Western Publishing © (1998), p.6. Reprinted with the permission of South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning: www.thomsonrights.com. Fax 800 730 2215.


The organisational icebergFormal (overt) aspects



The organisational icebergBehavioural (covert) aspects



The organisational icebergFormal (overt) aspects

• Customers• Technology• Formal goals• Organisational design• Financial resources• Physical facilities• Rules & regulations• Surface competencies & skills


The organisational icebergBehavioural (covert) aspects

• Attitudes• Communication patterns• Informal team processes• Personality• Conflict• Political behaviour• Underlying competencies & skills


Morgan’s 8 ways of viewing organizations

1. Machines2. Organisms3. Brains4. Cultures

5. Political systems6. Psychic prisons7. Flux & transformation8. Instruments of

domination

The metaphors are not fixed categories and are not mutually exclusive


1. Machines

• Organizations can be designed as machines with orderly relations between clearly defined parts

• This view can provide the basis for efficient operation in a routine, reliable and predictable way – bureacratic structure

However it may limit the development of human capacities


2. Organisms

• The organization is seen as a living system; in the same way that biological mechanisms adapt to changes in their environment

• Organizations operating within a turbulent and dynamic environment require a adaptable type of structure


3. Brains

• Involves thinking about the organization as inventive and rational, and in a manner that provides for flexibility and creative action

The challenge is to create new forms of organization capable of intelligent change and that can disperse brain like capacities


4. Cultures

• Sees organizations as complex system made up of their own characteristic sets of ideology, values, rituals, and systems of belief and practice

Attention to specific aspects of social development helps to account for variations among organizations


5. Political systems

• Create order and direct people, organizations are intrinsically political

• They are about authority, power, superior-subordinate relationships and conflicting of interests

This view helps in a understanding of day-to-day organizational life, the wheeling and dealing, and pursuit of special interests


6. Psychic prisons

• View organizations as psychic phenomena created and sustained by conscious and unconscious processes

• Organizations and their members are constrained by their shadows or “psychic prisons” and become trapped by constructions of reality

This view provides an understanding of the reality and illusions of organizational behaviour


7. Flux and transformation

• Everything is in a constant state of flux, embodying characteristics of both permanence and change

• Organizations can be seen as in a state of flux and transformation

• To understand the nature and social life of organizations, it is necessary to understand the sources and logic of transformations and change


8. Instruments of domination

• Organizations are associated with processes of domination, and individuals and groups impose their will on others

• A feature of organizations is a symmetrical power relation that result in the pursuit of the goals of the few through the efforts of the many


Management as an integrating activity


The psychological contract• The series of mutual expectations & satisfaction of needs

arising from the people / organisational relationship

• Process of giving & receiving by the individual & the organisation

• Covers a range of expectations of rights and privileges, duties and obligations that do not form part of the formal agreements but still has important influence of people’s behaviour

• The significant of the contract depends on the extent it is perceived to be fair


Group practice

• The class is divided into two groups:– Group 1 represents the organization: What

do you expect from the employees?– Group 2 represents the employees:

What do you expect from the organization?


Individuals’ expectationsProvide safe and hygienic working conditionsMake every reasonable effort to provide job securityAttempt to provide challenging and satisfying jobs and reduce alienating aspects of workAdopt equitable personnel policies and proceduresAllow staff genuine participation in decisions which affect themImplement best practice in equal opportunity policies and proceduresProvide reasonable opportunities for personal development and career progressionTreat members of staff with respectDemonstrate an understanding and considerate attitude towards personal problems of staff


The organization’s expectation

• To accept the ideology of the organization• To work diligently in pursuit of organizational

objectives• Not to abuse goodwill shown by management• To uphold the image of the organization• To show loyalty• Not to be betray positions of trust• To observe reasonable and acceptable standards of

dress and appearance


Process of balancing

It is unlikely that all expectations of the individual or of the organisation will be met fully

There is a continual process of balancing, and explicit and implicit bargaining


Formula for balancing unwritten needs of employees with the needs of the

organisation• Caring – demonstrating genuine concern for individuals• Communicating – really talking about what the company

hopes to achieve• Listening – hearing not only the words but also what lies

behind the words• Knowing - those who work for you, their families, personal

wishes, desires & ambitions• Rewarding – money is not always necessary

Stalker


There Are Few Absolutes in OB

Contingency variables: "It Depends!!!"


Challenges and Opportunities for OB

• Responding to Globalization– Increased foreign assignments– Working with people from different cultures– Coping with anti-capitalism backlash– Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-

cost labor– Managing people during the war on terror.

• Managing Workforce Diversity– Embracing diversity– Changing U.S. demographics– Implications for managers

• Recognizing and responding to differences


Challenges and Opportunities for OB (cont’d)

• Improving Quality and Productivity– Quality management (QM)– Process reengineering

• Responding to the Labor Shortage– Changing work force demographics– Fewer skilled laborers– Early retirements and older workers

• Improving Customer Service– Increased expectation of service quality– Customer-responsive cultures


What Is Quality Management?

1. Intense focus on the customer.

2. Concern for continuous improvement.

3. Improvement in the quality of everything the organization does.

4. Accurate measurement.

5. Empowerment of employees. E X H I B I T 1–6E X H I B I T 1–6


Challenges and Opportunity for OB (cont’d)

• Improving People Skills• Empowering People• Stimulating Innovation and Change• Working in Networked Organizations• Helping Employees Balance Work/Life

Conflicts• Improving Ethical Behavior


A Downside to Empowerment?


Basic OB Model, Stage I

E X H I B I T 1-6E X H I B I T 1-6

ModelAn abstraction of reality.A simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.


The Dependent Variables

x

y

Dependent variableA response that is affected by an independent variable (what organizational behavior researchers try to understand).


The Dependent Variables (cont’d)

ProductivityA performance measure that includes effectiveness and efficiency.

EffectivenessAchievement of goals.

EfficiencyMeeting goals at a low cost.



AbsenteeismThe failure to report to work.

TurnoverThe voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization.



Deviant Workplace Behavior Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and thereby threatens the well-being of the organization and/or any of its members.



Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization.


The Dependent Variables (cont’d)Job satisfactionA general attitude (not a behavior) toward one’s job; a positive feeling of one's job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.


The Independent Variables

IndependentVariables Can Be

IndependentIndependentVariables Can BeVariables Can Be

Individual-Level Variables

IndividualIndividual--Level Level VariablesVariables

OrganizationSystem-Level

Variables

OrganizationOrganizationSystemSystem--LevelLevel

VariablesVariablesGroup-Level

VariablesGroupGroup--LevelLevel

VariablesVariables

Independent variableThe presumed cause of some change in the dependent variable; major determinants of a dependent variable.


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

organizational behavior - session 1

Business

goals organisational

time organisational

othersorganisational

tien long09

contd e x h i b i t

nature of managerial

willsons managerial