introduction to the field of organizational behaviour
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to the Field of Organizational
Behavior
What are Organizations?What are Organizations?
Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose Structured patterns of
interaction Coordinated tasks Work toward some
purpose
OrganizationalOrganizationalBehaviorBehaviorResearchResearch
UnderstandUnderstandorganizationalorganizational
eventsevents
PredictPredictorganizationalorganizational
eventsevents
InfluenceInfluenceorganizationalorganizational
eventsevents
Why Study Organizational Behavior
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 relationshipsIncreases value of knowledge managementSupports telecommutingSupports 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-
boomersDiversity 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 SecurityJob Security
• Lifetime job securityLifetime job security
• Jobs are permanentJobs are permanent
• Company manages careerCompany manages career
• Low emphasis on skill Low emphasis on skill developmentdevelopment
EmployabilityEmployability
• Limited job securityLimited job security
• Jobs are temporaryJobs are temporary
• Career self-managementCareer self-management
• High emphasis on skill High emphasis on skill developmentdevelopment
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
stakeholdersStakeholders
Shareholders, customers, suppliers, governments etc.
Triple bottom line philosophy Economic, Social & Environmental
OrganizationalOrganizationalBehaviorBehaviorAnchorsAnchors
MultidisciplinaryMultidisciplinaryAnchorAnchor
Systematic Systematic Research Research AnchorAnchor
ContingencyContingencyAnchorAnchor
Open Open Systems Systems AnchorAnchor
Multiple Multiple Levels of Levels of Analysis Analysis AnchorAnchor
Organizational Behavior Anchors
OutputsOutputsInputsInputs
SubsystemSubsystemSubsystemSubsystem
SubsystemSubsystem SubsystemSubsystem
OrganizationOrganization
Open Systems Anchor of OB
FeedbackFeedbackFeedbackFeedback
Knowledge Management Defined
Any structured activity that improves an organization’s capacity to acquire, share, and use knowledge for its survival and success
Structural Structural CapitalCapital
Relationship Relationship CapitalCapital
Knowledge captured in systems and structures
Values derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.
Human CapitalHuman CapitalKnowledge that people possess and generate
Intellectual Capital
• Awareness
• Empowerment
• Communication
• Communities of practice
• Grafting
• Individual learning
• Experimentation
KnowledgeKnowledgeacquisitionacquisition
KnowledgeKnowledgesharingsharing
KnowledgeKnowledgeuseuse
Knowledge Management Processes
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
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
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 evidenceOB has few absolutesOB 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
PsychologySociologySocial PsychologyAnthropologyPolitical 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
ContingencyContingencyVariablesVariablesx y
The Independent Variables
IndependentIndependentVariablesVariables
IndependentIndependentVariablesVariables
Individual-Level Individual-Level VariablesVariables
Individual-Level Individual-Level VariablesVariables
OrganizationOrganizationSystem-LevelSystem-Level
VariablesVariables
OrganizationOrganizationSystem-LevelSystem-Level
VariablesVariables
Group-LevelGroup-LevelVariablesVariables
Group-LevelGroup-LevelVariablesVariables
The Dependent Variables
x
y
The Dependent Variables (cont’d)
The Dependent Variables (cont’d)
The Dependent Variables (cont’d)
The Dependent Variables (cont’d)